Infosys has announced the launched of a huge solar power plant at its Pocharam campus in Hyderabad, making it one of the first corporate campuses in India run completely on renewable energy.
Infosys, headquartered in India, is a multinational corporation providing business consulting, information technology, software engineering and outsourcing services. It’s a huge employer, with nearly 188,000 employees in 32 countries, including Australia.
The Pocharam campus installation is 6.6MW capacity, adding to an existing 600kW rooftop solar power system. Combined, the systems are expected to generate 12,000,000 kWh of clean electricity annually and avoid 9,200 tons of carbon emissions.
“Companies have a responsibility to the communities in which they are present and sustainable development and climate change are issues that businesses need to get actively involved in,” said Infosys executive Ramadas Kamath. ” We hope other companies will emulate us, aligning to the goals committed by India at COP21, Paris, with an overall objective of creating a sustainable future.”
Across its campuses, Infosys now has 12 MW of solar power capacity installed, with another 3 MW expected to be completed within the next two months.
Through various efforts, the company says it had reduced its per capita electricity consumption by 36% by the end of the 2015 fiscal year and 30% of its energy requirements are now being supplied from renewable energy sources. According to its Greenfinity Report (PDF), Infosys has achieved a 51.5% reduction in carbon intensity (Scope 1 and Scope 2) compared to 2007-2008.
The Pocharam campus building’s Energy Performance Index (EPI) of 75 kWh/sq. m per annum is among the lowest in the industry globally says the company.
In May this year, Infosys became the first Indian firm to join the global RE100 campaign; which also saw companies including BMW Group and Coca-Cola Enterprises join earlier this month.
A growing number of companies, including Australian firms, are embracing commercial solar power for environmental and financial reasons. Commercial scale solar has become increasingly accessible over the past few year due to the reduction in cost of solar panels and related components and through the availability of solar PPA and leasing agreements. Under a solar PPA or lease arrangement, initial capital outlay can be avoided and the burden of system ownership minimised.
