Cisco’s Bangalore Campus Now Powered by Solar

I am very excited to announce that Cisco’s Bangalore campus is now using solar power generated by two new offsite solar installations located in Karnataka, India. Cisco recently signed two solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) that will collectively deliver 85,000 megawatt-hours of clean, renewable electricity every year to the local electric grid where our Bangalore campus is located.

These agreements will provide nearly 40% of the electricity we need to power our Bangalore campus and represent a big step towards achieving our FY22 greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and renewable energy goals. This is Cisco’s second renewable energy PPA; we completed our first in 2017, which is now providing solar power to our San Jose, California headquarters.

One of our new offsite solar installations located in Karnataka, India.

Renewable PPA agreements not only allow us to receive solar-generated electricity bundled with the associated Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), but also save us money and reduce volatility in our energy budget by locking in electricity prices over the term of the agreements. Furthermore, they create local jobs and add clean, renewable power to the Indian electric grid, which is critical considering around 75% of the power in India is generated from carbon-intensive coal-fired power plants.

We also installed one megawatt of solar across all of our rooftops at our Bangalore campus a few years ago. Collectively, these onsite solar installations and two new solar PPAs will reduce our Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions at our Bangalore campus by over 70,000 metric tonnes per year, which is equivalent to taking 15,000 cars off roads or planting 1.8 million trees.

Solar panels on the roof of our Bangalore campus buildings.

Moving forward, we will continue to evaluate and implement innovative renewable energy opportunities throughout our global portfolio, focusing on both onsite and offsite systems. This renewable energy strategy, coupled with our continued investment in energy efficiency — 500+ projects completed over the past five years— is putting us well on the path to achieving our 60% GHG reduction and 85% renewable energy target by 2022.

This past year was a great one for Cisco’s sustainability program, and I look forward to seeing what the next year brings!

Please read Cisco’s 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Report to discover all the ways we positively impact people, society, and the planet.