STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Bharti Airtel has said its subsidiary Nxtra Data Ltd has partnered with Bloom Energy to deploy low environmental impact fuel cell installation at its data centre in Karnataka, reducing carbon emissions through a cleaner, hydrogen ready fuel supply.
Nxtra by Airtel has a network of data centers in India with 12 large and 120 edge data centers across the country and will invest over Rs 5000 crore over the next four years to expand its capacity by 3X to over 400 MW.
Nxtra will be the first data center company in India to deploy fuel cell technology to reduce carbon emissions at its data centers while unlocking cost and sustainability benefits. Nxtra plans to start the unit on non-combusted natural gas and then switch to 50% hydrogen in future without any significant investment. The natural gas-powered cells will be used for primary generation with utility electrical grid and generators as backup sources.
Rajesh Tapadia, chief operating officer, Nxtra by Airtel said, “With an ambition to reach net zero by 2031, we have embarked on our sustainability journey by making all possible efforts to adopt innovative energy solutions.”
“Bloom Energy’s technology is distinctly capable of helping India meet its decarbonization objectives as it transitions to a hydrogen economy,” said Tim Schweikert, senior managing director, international business development, Bloom Energy.
The company has already invested and partnered with 8 organisations to develop renewable energy power plants across India to source more than 180,000 MWh of renewable energy and is committed to achieving 50% of its power requirements through renewable energy sources in the next 12 months.
