Safaricom has signed a Sh96
million ($1.1million) deal
with global energy and technology firm, General Electric (GE)
to provide its cell towers with 48 General Electric Durathon Batteries that
will help capacitate its network to run efficiently in case of power outages.
The back-up batteries will
be connected to Safaricom’s base stations that are not connected to a standby
diesel generator. The company procured batteries that will serve 25 of its base
stations in Nairobi.
Sustainable power supply is
one of the major worry for business owners in Africa.
With about 1,700 base
stations in Kenya, Safaricom use an average of 35 litres of fuel daily to power
a single base station and maintain its network up-time in cases of
prolong power outages.
It has in recent times;
turn to solar energy to power some of its cell towers located in regions that
receive abundant sunlight.
"Our primary energy source at Safaricom has been
electricity from the national grid. Unfortunately the supply has been and has
continued to be unpredictable," Safaricom's Chief Technology Officer
Thibaud Rerolle said.
Safaricom CEO Bob
Collymore said its cell sites connected to the national grid experience up to
four hours of electricity blackouts daily, leading to network glitches, loss of
business and high operations costs.
“The introduction of
using this technology will ensure that our customers receive uninterrupted
usage of our mobile services,” Collymore said on Tuesday.
He added that “Energy
costs make up the biggest component in running a cell tower.”
Safaricom hopes to cut down its diesel costs used to power
generators by half and achieve a return on investment before three years.
The Durathon batteries
require only two to three hours recharging as opposed to conventional batteries
that last a maximum of three hours.
Compared to diesel generators, 48 GE Durathon batteries have
less carbon footprint as an alternative source of energy and can also be remotely monitored from a control centre.
According to GE President Africa, Jay Ireland, Durathon series
batteries are generally designed to provide standby power to critical
applications in the Telecom industry.
"The GE Durathon
batteries have an 8 - 10 hours life, they are dense than normal batteries,
temperature insensitive and they are build out of 95 percent recycled
materials."
He explained that "It is one of the first batteries in the
world to be designed for telecom applications and by using the batteries as the
primary energy source in a continuous charge-discharge cycling (CDS) operating
mode, fuel costs and emissions can be substantially reduced and overall system
efficiency dramatic improved."
"This battery is the first of its kind in Africa and
Safaricom is the first mobile network operator globally to adopt this
technology. We believe in a great future for Africa - this region and this
country," he said.
The GE boss however express his company interest partnering with
stakeholders to broaden the innovation play in Kenya and the rest of Africa.