Sunly City Solar Parks to Power 100 Telia Cell Towers
Sunly City, a renewable energy solutions developer, and Telia Estonia signed an agreement whereby Sunly City will build solar stations to power one hundred Telia cell towers.
Sunly will build solar stations next to Telia’s cell towers. Each solar station will comprise of 36 panels across 90 square meters. Furthermore, Sunly will ensure the solar stations will be operational for the next 15 years.
Sunly City will build one hundred solar stations with the total capacity of 1.8 MW. This enables to produce 1.8 GWh of energy each year, 70% of which will be utilised by cell towers, and 30% will be sold to the electricity grid.
According to Holger Haljand, CEO at Telia Estonia, collaboration with Sunly is the largest renewable energy project Telia has undertaken in Estonia.
“We are very pleased to be able to work together with a partner who represents environmental awareness and future-oriented mindset. This project will take us a big step towards becoming a CO2 emission-free company within the next ten years. We are also excited about the fact that tens of thousands of Telia customers will be able to use mobile services powered by solar energy already this year,“ Haljand said.
“This collaboration brings together two services crucial for the functioning of the society – telecommunications and energy production. Sunly City full service lease will enable Telia to become a solar energy producer without having to invest in buying, installing and maintaining the necessary equipment and hardware,“ said Priit Lepasepp, CEO at Sunly City.
First solar stations will be set up next to Telia’s cell towers already this spring, and the last ones will be ready by the end of 2024. During 2023, about a third of all stations will be built, providing approximately 600 kW of renewable energy capacity.
Telia’s cell towers to be powered by Sunly City solar stations were chosen by considering the environmental impact and the grid’s ability to integrate the solar park.
Renewable energy has played a crucial role in Telia’s operations already since 2016, and this has enabled the company to move towards ambitious environmental goals set forth by the company’s strategy.
“The entire Telia Company group – including Telia Estonia – strives toward employing a zero emission and waste-free business model. Such an ambitious goal will be reached through responsible digitalization, which will incorporate Telia’s employees, partners, and suppliers. Using renewable energy is a great example of how we can move towards out environmental goals,“ Holger Haljand, CEO at Telia Estonia, added.