We will change to renewable energy
An innovator and pioneer in the Portuguese communications market, we have signed a contract for the purchase of long term renewable energy - PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) with EDP, which will guarantee 62 GWh each year of renewable energy.
A new wind farm will be built in the next few years and in 2023 we will be able to supply around 40% of our energy needs with “green” electricity, as well as running our entire 5G network with certified renewable energy.
We will increase the efficiency of our business operations
Between 2015 and 2020, we reduced our data traffic energy consumption by 80%.
This performance reflects the substantial and continuous investment that we have made in measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in a number of areas ranging from our network to buildings.
Among these measures, we highlight the across the board modernization of the mobile access network and the strengthening of the capacity and installation of more efficient equipment that have resulted in energy savings of the order of 25% for the same traffic capacity, as well as the consolidation and virtualization of servers and the adoption of advanced air conditioning and lighting solutions in Data Centers, which have increased the energy efficiency of these installations by around 30%.
Transition towards a low carbon vehicle fleet
We began to introduce hybrid vehicles into our own fleet. At the end of 2020, these made up 5% of all our vehicles.
In 2021, we approved a mandatory table of 100% electric (hybrid and electric) from which company vehicles can be chosen, in order to achieve by 2025 the goal of transitioning to a low carbon fleet. Also in 2021, we agreed to participate in a national re-forestation project to offset unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions, resulting from the fleet of vehicles used by employees and in the service of NOS.
At the end of each year, the emissions resulting from travel by our own vehicle fleet are calculated and, later, the number of hectares of trees, which are necessary in order to ensure the offset of the emissions generated, are calculated and planted.
De-carbonization of our buildings and shops
Administrative Buildings
We have implemented measures to modernize and efficiently manage air conditioning and have installed LED lighting technology, which have led to a consistent reduction in the absolute consumption of energy over the last five years.
Further reductions were achieved from the end of first quarter of this year with the introduction of remote working (working from home).
In 2020, the total consumption of energy by our buildings was 16% less than that of 2015, so going further than the objective of 9% that we had set.
Own shops
The process of refurbishment, begun in 2016, involved installing LED lighting, which has enabled the consumption of electricity to be consistently reduced.
In 2020, consumption was also influenced by limitations on staff working in stores, some 43% less than in 2015, thus exceeding the objective set of a reduction of 35% for the same period.