Safaricom’s cleaner energy push struggles to keep pace with growth

Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecommunications operator, consumed 274,531 megawatt-hours of electricity in the financial year ended March 2026, a 5.7% increase from the previous year.

Its emissions from electricity purchases, fuel burned in generators and vehicles, and refrigerant gases used in cooling systems rose by 9.1% to 56,354 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The figures, documented in Safaricom’s 2026 Sustainability Report, suggest that the company’s 2030 technology ambitions are becoming more expensive. Its expanding network, data centres, and digital services demand more power, but cleaner sources still cover only a small share of its overall supply.

The increase came as Safaricom expanded its renewable energy programme. By March 2026, it had installed solar power at 2,028 network sites, up from 1,432 a year earlier. It also upgraded 800 sites with more efficient power systems. Yet solar supplied only 5% of the energy used across its network. The national grid accounted for 78%, while diesel generators supplied the remaining 17%.

“Grid availability and reliability influence our ability to reduce diesel consumption, while physical constraints at some sites can limit the potential for on-site solar generation,” Safaricom said in the report.

Investment is outpacing the shift in Safaricom’s energy mix. The company is adding solar equipment, yet its overall power demand continues to climb. In its report, Safaricom noted that “network expansion continues to influence our overall energy requirements.”

Managing that demand will get harder as Safaricom moves beyond mobile connectivity into data centres, cloud services and other digital products. Each needs computing equipment, cooling and a steady electricity supply. Intermittent power is not an option without backup systems, and those add their own costs.

Power will take on a larger share of Safaricom’s costs to run the network, data centres, and cloud services in its next phase of growth. Meeting its climate targets is the lesser of the two pressures.

For all its solar ambitions, Safaricom still runs much of its network on diesel. The company burned 10.08 million litres of fuel in FY26, down from 10.47 million litres a year earlier, and diesel accounted for almost 80% of emissions from its direct operations, which also include refrigerant gases. Generators keep network sites running when grid power fails or becomes unreliable.

The telco cannot simply abandon them, considering its network must remain available to customers, including when the national grid is down. Reducing diesel use will require dependable alternatives at thousands of sites, not just more solar panels.

Safaricom is also combining solar installations with lithium-ion batteries, more efficient power systems, additional grid connections and remote monitoring. It says intelligent shutdown technology can reduce radio network energy consumption by up to 8%. These measures can cut generator use, but their reach depends on the conditions at each site. Some locations have limited space for solar equipment, while an unreliable grid supply makes it harder to rely on national grid electricity.

There is a financial incentive to make the change. Solar installations generated monthly energy cost savings of about KES 16.42 million ($127,000) in FY26. Safaricom estimates that replacing diesel with cleaner energy could save more than KES 500 million ($3.9 million) by 2030. The company’s report says its energy strategy “balances three priorities: power stability, energy cost efficiency and sustainability.” The order reflects the practical challenge that Safaricom must keep its network running while reducing the cost and emissions of doing so.

The company has also raised money for eligible green projects. Its KES 20 billion ($155 million) green bond, issued under a KES 40 billion ($310 million) domestic medium-term note programme, was oversubscribed by 175.7%. The proceeds can support renewable energy and more energy-efficient network infrastructure. But financing does not remove the technical constraints.

Safaricom explored power purchase agreements with independent power producers to supply its power-intensive data centres. It had not concluded by the end of FY26. It also tested a hydrogen fuel cell at one site, but said that wider deployment faced constraints due to fuel and capital costs. Neither option has yet provided a clear route to reducing the company’s dependence on grid electricity and diesel at scale.

A further complication is how Safaricom reports its progress. Its emissions per KES million in revenue fell from 0.144 to 0.14 tonnes in FY26. That suggests the company generated more revenue for each unit of emissions. But its total emissions from electricity purchases and direct operations still rose. Better emissions intensity does not mean the business is producing fewer emissions overall.

The decline in its wider reported carbon footprint also needs context. Emissions from its supply chain and other indirect sources fell to 136,943 tonnes from 226,047 tonnes. Safaricom attributed part of the reduction to changes in reporting methodology and data availability. The fall, therefore, cannot be read as evidence that the company’s overall environmental impact improved by the same margin.

Safaricom has a net-zero emissions target for 2050, and meeting it will become harder if expansion continues to drive up electricity demand and backup power use. Solar-powered sites show progress, but a clearer indicator will be the share of Safaricom’s energy supplied by cleaner sources as the business grows.

Safaricom wants to sell more than connectivity, and its ambitions in data centres, computing capacity, and digital services will require a reliable power supply. The company now has to show it can build that infrastructure without letting energy costs and emissions keep rising.