Digicel Group consumed a fifth more energy across its 25-market network in the fiscal year ended March 2026, as surging customer data demand and hurricane recovery operations pushed greenhouse gas emissions higher, according to the company’s 2026 Sustainability Report released this week.
Digicel said financial year 2026 “serves as the baseline for our consolidated energy and emissions data at the group level”, with formal reduction targets to be set in its 2027 financial year.
The report marks a shift in how the company tracks its environmental footprint. Rather than call it an Environmental, Social, Governance report, or ESG, it is focusing on sustainability. Its overall long-term goal remains consistent in slashing its emissions to zero by 2050.
The company drew carbon inputs from every market to build a single inventory prepared in line with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.
Total energy consumption rose 20.3 per cent to 247.8 gigawatt-hours (GWh), up from a restated 206.1 GWh the prior year. Greenhouse gas emissions climbed 13.9 per cent to 199,494 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The bulk of the increase came from Scope 1 emissions – fuel burned in generators and vehicles – which rose to 128,910 tonnes from 107,735 tonnes. Vehicle fuel consumption alone jumped 45 per cent to 1,302,545 gallons.
Digicel attributed much of the spike to Hurricane Melissa, which struck in October 2025 and forced prolonged diesel generator use across Jamaica during extended grid outages, alongside increased field activity to restore services. The storm hit 644 mobile sites across three markets. Full-service restoration was completed within 48 days, it stated.
At the same time, group data traffic grew 12 per cent to 10,220 petabytes – equivalent to over 3.5 billion hours of streaming video – reflecting continued network expansion and heavier customer usage. The company said the energy increase was “a direct consequence of how heavily our customers rely on our services and how much the business has grown”.
Despite the rise in total consumption, carbon intensity – emissions per unit of energy consumed – improved 5.3 per cent, falling from 0.85 to 0.80 kilogrammes of carbon per kilowatt hour. Digicel credited investment in solar generation, lithium iron phosphate battery roll-outs across 24 markets, and network modernisation programmes. In Jamaica, 50 sites were live under the company’s solar programme as of March 2026, against a long-term objective of 511 sites covering roughly 55 per cent of the network.
Jamaica also became the first market to complete a full 2G shutdown, decommissioning 1,982 radios, with similar programmes planned for Suriname, Guyana, Bonaire, and Curaçao.
business@gleanerjm.com
