Our Horizonte Site in Portugal Shines With a Solar Energy Installation

Nokia Portugal's contribution to improving our company energy efficiency

In November 2021, Nokia announced its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by moving to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025. The installation of on-site renewable electricity production is one of the options available to help us work towards achieving this target. This option was found to be viable and recently implemented in Portugal, with the installation of solar panels to provide renewable electricity to the Horizonte site.

Time to shine: On-site solar

After months of evaluations, securing the relevant permits and approvals and finally installation, Nokia is proud to announce that the Horizonte, Portugal site is now partially powered by solar energy, provided by the new 610 photovoltaic modules, that were recently installed in the parking area of the Horizonte site.

The solar panels will supply energy for use in the office and the labs. These panels should produce approximately 18 percent of the total energy consumed on Nokia’s Horizonte site.

The benefits of solar energy for a site as big as Nokia’s Horizonte location include:

• Provision of renewable electricity in line with Nokia’s sustainability targets
• Reduced electricity bills

Landlord involvement

The project was executed in close collaboration with the landlord, with whom we’ve worked together on various other enhancements to the site, such as the upgrade of the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, installation of LED lighting & automatic lighting system, and the replacement of the generator, to mention a few.

Additional sustainability activities in Horizonte

During this project, Nokia made sure to maintain its environmental goals by causing no harm to the natural environment surrounding the location of the solar panels. A proposal to cut down trees that were causing shade over the panels and limiting the flow of sunlight was rejected by the project team. Instead, the surrounding trees were neatly trimmed. With sustainability at the forefront of everything we do, this is another example of Nokia’s commitment to preserving the environment.

Sergio Catalao, Nokia Portugal Country Senior Officer shared his views on the project: "The installation of solar panels for energy production in our building is an important contribution of Nokia Portugal to improve energy efficiency. The P&P team knew how to choose the appropriate solution for the location, ensuring the aesthetics and rational use of space, while taking an important step in the production and use of green energy, which is very important for the sustainability of our operation. For sure a contribution to our goal of 100 percent usage of green energies by 2025."

Thanks to all involved

The project is an important step in Nokia’s journey towards achieving 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025. Special thanks to entire all the colleagues who contributed to making this project a great success, especially to: Astrid Keibel, P&P Europe Market Head, Dragan Djuric, P&P West Europe Region Lead, Maria Giraldez, P&P Workplace Design Lead, Kris Van Doren, P&P Sustainability Manager, Sergio Catalão, CSO Nokia Portugal, Francisco Mineiro, TC Head Amadora, Joao Acosta, Local Health and Safety Portugal.

About Oscar Borge

Oscar is the Global Communications Manager for Nokia People & Places, a versatile industrial engineer with experience in marketing, social media, data analytics and corporate communications. Most recently, he has been working at Nokia to solidify the organization’s reputation as real estate experts, increasing the engagement of all employees.

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About Favour Okorigba

A joint honors BA student in Communications and Political Science at the University of Ottawa, passionate about research, media communications, technical writing, public service, public relations, marketing, and much more. Currently on a year-long term co-op working for the Global Communications team at Nokia People & Places.

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