MTN Nigeria says it has invested N825.7 million in solar deployment and electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the first nine months of 2026 to reduce its dependence on conventional energy sources.
MTN Nigeria said the investment formed part of its broader energy transition programme, which also included the deployment of renewable energy across 24 locations, with an installed capacity of 4.4 megawatts.
This is part of the company’s unaudited financial statements and interim sustainability disclosures for the nine months ended Sept. 30 obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Monday.
The document showed that MTN also transitioned nine locations to compressed natural gas-powered independent power plants or energy-as-a-service supply during the period.
Under its fleet electrification programme, the company said it deployed 13 electric vehicles, 80 hybrid vehicles and six CNG-powered vehicles, alongside five electric vehicle charging points.
The company said its energy-efficiency and transition measures helped it avoid an estimated N8.3 billion in diesel expenditure during the nine-month period.
In spite of the investments, renewable energy, however, accounted for only 1.84 per cent of MTN’s total energy consumption during the period, while grid electricity accounted for 11.84 per cent.
The company’s total energy consumption stood at 811,579 gigajoules during the nine months.
MTN’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, based on the disclosures, stood at 87,377 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, comprising 42,470 tonnes from direct operations and 44,907 tonnes from purchased electricity.
The company reported that its emissions intensity per subscriber declined to 0.00092 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, from 0.00122 tonnes in its 2024 baseline.
The disclosures also showed that MTN spent N2.3 billion on high-efficiency cooling units and inverter solutions to address heat-related operational risks affecting its infrastructure.
Another N7 billion was invested in Information Technology (IT) and network security infrastructure, while N22.8 billion was recorded as capitalised IT and network security software costs.
MTN said its energy transition efforts were partly driven by the need to manage operating costs and improve the resilience of its telecommunications infrastructure amid energy cost pressures.
According to the report, the company’s operating expenses increased by 8.5 per cent during the nine-month period, while service revenue grew by 23.7 per cent to N4.59 trillion.
The company also said energy-efficiency measures and other cost-management initiatives helped contain the impact of higher diesel-linked tower costs.
The sustainability disclosures, however, noted that the nine-month Scope 3 emissions figures were not presented because the available data had not been fully validated.
The company said the most recent reported Scope 3 emissions figure remained 429,962 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent for 2025, pending completion of its annual measurement process for 2026.
It also said that the interim sustainability information had not undergone external assurance, although selected sustainability indicators would be subjected to independent limited assurance in its 2026 annual disclosures.
MTN said it would continue to prioritise energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment and other measures to strengthen operational resilience.
