Solar panels have been deployed at a data center site on the French-governed island territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean.
Earlier this month. L'Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT-NC) – the state-owned office of post and telecommunications for the islands – announced it had deployed solar panels at its DC Nouville site to the south of Grande Terre island.
The office installed 276 ground-based solar panels, for a power of 124 kWp (peak kW of power), over a six-month period from April to September this year in partnership with Socometra Engie.
The telecoms provider said the site was OPT-NC’s 90th to be equipped with solar panels since 2019 – totaling more than 4,350 panels.
The DC Nouville site is described as one of the agency’s most energy-intensive sites, representing 4.5 percent of its overall electricity consumption. The new panels will reportedly provide around 25 percent of the data center site’s energy needs.
A number of telcos and operators are deploying on-site solar to offset at least a small part of the data centers' energy needs.
Orange has deployed solar panels at two data centers in Poland in Łódź and Warsaw; as well as at its Bercenay-en-Othe teleport in France. In Africa, Orange is deploying solar at data centers in the Ivory Coast – in Yamoussoukro and Grand Bassam – and Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou.
