The initiative is in line with the Ivorian government's plan to make the country an energy hub by building an energy mix constituted of at least 42% renewable energy by 2030.

Telecom operator Orange and engineering group Butec announced, Tuesday (Jan 17), the solarization of Groupement Orange Services (GOS), an IT services company based in Côte d'Ivoire.

According to a release published by the telecom company, by solarizing the GOS, Orange will reduce its data center's carbon footprint in Côte d'Ivoire, decrease the share of non-renewable energy and avoid using generators powered by fuel since fossil energy emits carbon dioxide.

For Brelotte Ba, deputy managing director of Orange Middle East and Africa, the energy generated by the solar plant connected to GOS and the energy supplied by electric utility  Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité will increase the percentage of renewable energy in the energy used by GOS to 48%, in line with Orange's goals. "We plan to go further by solarizing the Yamoussoukro-based Assabou data center. The solar plant connected will cover more than 46% of the data center's energy consumption in the daytime," she added.

The solar plant connected to GOS comprises 781 latest-generation photovoltaic solar modules and provides the data center with an estimated 527MWh/year of renewable energy. It is designed to operate 7 days a week in self-consumption mode, i.e. by using the solar energy produced by the data center during the day, which currently covers 50% of the data center's daytime consumption (7 am-6 pm).  

According to Armand Seya,  Butec Energies & Services' regional director in West Africa,  the project is of paramount importance both for Orange Group and for Butec" since it is in line with its ambitions to develop the energy services business in Africa, specifically in renewable energies."

Samira Njoya