Optus pledges to be 100 pct “backed by renewables” by end of 2025

Optus has announced a new climate commitment to switch to 100 per cent renewable electricity by the end of 2025, bringing the Singapore-owned Australian telco into line with its main industry rivals, Telstra and TPG.

Optus unveiled the new goal on Friday alongside the launch of its new Optus Eco initiative that will help customers who “wish to up their sustainability game” to do so through things like offsets, recycling and waste reduction.

And while there is some detail from Optus on how customers can do better, there is very little detail, as yet, on how Australia’s 38th largest electricity user will source all its needs from renewables in less than three years.

“By the end of 2025, 100% of our electricity requirements will be backed by renewable energy sources,” Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said in a somewhat oblique one-line statement on the subject.

A company spokesperson later told RenewEconomy that Optus was “in the midst of our national renewable energy tenders for additional sourcing of RE, and have also begun initial surrendering of our local renewable energy large generation certs (LGCs) as part of our short term pathways.

“We will be publishing our 2022 sustainability report by July where we are sharing more information on our strategy and approach to our commitment.”

Up to this point, the telco has not signed any power purchase agreements to buy renewable electricity in Australia, but has installed some on-site solar.

Optus has been under some pressure to join the increasing number of major multi-national corporations going 100% renewable, both from its closest competitors and from green groups like Greenpeace, through its REenergise campaign.

Telstra, Australia’s largest telco, announced its own target of 100% renewables by 2025 just over two years ago, alongside a commitment to halve its emissions by 2030.

At the time of the announcement, the company had already entered into a significant volume of contracts for the supply of solar and wind generated electricity around Australia and was already sourcing around a third of its electricity from renewable sources.

Telstra has also more recently secured energy retail licences for NSW, Victoria, South Australian and parts of Queensland in pursuit of its goal to become a top 5 energy retailer by 2025.

TPG Telecom, Australia’s third largest telco provider and owner of Vodafone Australia, followed roughly a year later in March of 2021 with its own pledge to source all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

TPG said at the time that its efforts would focus on power purchase agreements to cover the equivalent of 100 per cent of the electricity used to power all its infrastructure and properties by 2025, although not its broadband service, evidently.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s REenergise campaign director Lindsay Soutar said in Friday that the new commitment from Optus should get the telecommunications sector back on track in the shift to renewables.

“After years of pressure from Greenpeace and the community, we’re pleased that Optus has said yes to renewable electricity,” Soutar said.

“We’ve been working with Australia’s biggest energy-using companies, from supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths through to Bunnings and Kmart, to accelerate their shift to renewables and make firm commitments to make the switch within the next few years.

“The appetite for renewable change amongst Australia’s top brands has been huge, with over 40 major companies now committed to power their business with renewable electricity by 2025. These companies together represent almost 12% of corporate and industrial energy use in Australia’s National Electricity Market.”

But as Greenpeace well knows, not all 100% renewable commitments are created equal and what counts is what happens once the announcements have been made.

And in her statement Soutar encouraged Optus to sign up to the global RE100 program, an international alliance of businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity that also acts as a third party to independently verify companies’ renewable energy and climate claims through a system of annual reporting.

“Optus is one of the biggest energy users in the country, so by upping its climate ambition, the company will help speed Australia’s transition to wind and solar, and cut substantial carbon emissions along the way,” she said.

“We know ensuring our planet remains habitable for future generations takes an ‘all of us approach’, and we are excited to empower our customers to make their own positive impact on the environment alongside our own strong commitments to a brighter, greener future,” Optus’ Bayer Rosmarin said.