Testing ground for sustainable development

For several successive years we have been acknowledged as one of the world’s greenest telecom companies, but we are continuing to invest substantially in further sustainable development. As the biggest telecom provider in the Netherlands we consume a lot of electricity in keeping our network stable and the Netherlands connected. Our Energy Innovation Lab examines the opportunities for further sustainable development.

Every village or every neighborhood has one: a KPN local exchange. These often inconspicuous buildings are full of equipment that enables customers in that neighborhood to make telephone calls, watch TV, stream their favorite shows and use the internet. KPN has designated an exchange in Amersfoort as a testing ground for sustainable development: the Energy Innovation Lab.

Making local exchanges more sustainable

The Lab examines different ways for KPN to generate green energy and make our energy consumption more flexible. To that end, 120 solar panels have been installed on the test exchange. The Lab is also researching how it can store the energy – some of it generated on site and some of it purchased – in the back-up batteries in the exchanges.

The next step is to make the system that cools the equipment more sustainable. Known as smart cooling, it uses weather data to decide when cooling should take place. In that way we make wind and solar energy work more efficiently for us. Additionally, the Lab is looking at the possibility of converting the heat released by the equipment into energy. That can, in turn, be used for cooling. If successful, the energy-saving solutions that are being tested in the Energy Innovation Lab will also be applied in KPN’s other exchanges.