Telecom Lead America: Verizon plans to invest $100 million in solar power and fuel cells at 19 facilities in seven U.S. states to cut its carbon footprint and make its operations more resilient to storms and other disasters.
The energy project should be complete by next year, with installations at corporate offices, call centers, data centers and central offices of the telecommunications giant in Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.
Verizon will work with ClearEdge Power, a manufacturer of distributed power systems, to install PureCell Model 400 fuel cell systems at Verizon sites in California, New Jersey and New York. The systems will generate more than 60 million kilowatt hours of electricity and result in a carbon reduction of approximately 6,000 metric tons per year. The installation work, ClearEdge’s largest single-user project to date, will begin soon and continue throughout the year.
The fuel cells will be powered by natural gas, which emits less climate-warming carbon dioxide than diesel or petroleum when burned, said James Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon Communications.
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Gowen declined to say how much money the telecommunications company would save with this investment, but did say it would be good for the bottom line.
Verizon aims to be more environmentally sustainable and beef up its green credentials, but another key reason for the energy shift was to bolster reliability.
When Superstorm Sandy battered the U.S. East Coast last year, the fuel cells at the company’s Garden City site on Long Island kept operations running when parts of the conventional power grid went down, Gowen told Reuters.
ClearEdge Power will install fuel cell systems at Verizon sites in California, New Jersey and New York, the company said. Sunpower Corp. has a multi-year agreement with Verizon to put in rooftop and ground-based solar cells and solar parking canopies in Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Together, these changes are expected to generate some 8 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually and cut the company’s annual carbon footprint by more than 5,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
