Kenya’s Safaricom is dialing up wind and solar power to help ensure telecommunications reach Africa’s most remote regions. Small wind turbines and solar systems will be used to provide low wattage, clean power to areas normally dependant on fossil fuels. Twenty of its base stations are already utilizing this alternative form of energy.
Ericsson telecom has developed solar powered micro-base stations to bring power to rural areas in Morocco, and in Namibia they are developing a project to power base stations using bio-fuel from palm and pumpkin seeds.
“Only four percent of Africa has electricity and most base stations are fuel run yet diesel prices are up … the costs are getting higher and higher for operators,” said Tom Phillips of the Global Mobile Association, the industry body of GSM service providers.
A recent International Telecommunications Union (ITU) survey indicated that only one out of every five Africans has access to electricity; furthermore, in sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of electricity recipients is only an unimaginable 8%. ITU suggests that governments offer import duty waivers and tax reductions to local companies supplying equipment based on renewable energy to mobile operators.
Provided innovative ways are found, the telecommunication industry indicates that there is plenty of money to cover 90% of Africa by the year 2012. Due to the abundance of sun and wind, analysts state that this natural energy source should be taken advantage of to help operators reduce their operating costs.