African mobile providers collaborate on renewable energy

African mobile operators are collaborating with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) to launch a green power initiative, said GSMA CEO and board member Rob Conway in a statement.

The 25 mobile operators gathered in Kenya at a meeting sponsored by Safaricom to discuss the Green Power for Mobile initiative, which supports the deployment of renewable energy for mobile networks, with a target of setting up 118,000 base stations in the next four years.

Powering these off-grid base stations with solar energy, wind energy or sustainable biofuels would save up to 2.5 billion litters of diesel per year and cut annual carbon emissions by up to 6.3 million tons, according to Conway.

The GSMA, as the global trade body for the mobile industry, forecasts that up to half of new off-grid base stations in the developing world could be powered by renewable energy by 2012, Conway said.

Currently, he added, off-grid base stations are primarily powered by generators running on diesel fuel, which has become increasingly expensive, generates carbon dioxide emissions and can be difficult to transport to remote locations. Research shows that only 1,500 base stations worldwide are powered by at least one form of renewable energy.

"As they strive to bring the benefits of mobile coverage to as many people as possible, operators need to find reliable, sustainable and economic sources of power far beyond the reach of national electricity grids," Conway said.

Through the GSMA Development Fund, he noted, the association has gained expertise in solar, wind and other renewable energy sources that mobile operators could easily tap to help them connect the unconnected, reduce operating costs and minimize environmental damage.

Challenges in deployment include commercial viability, equipment availability and lack of expertise, Conway said. But GSMA's research suggests that operators investing in green power sources for base stations could recoup their capital costs in as little as 24 months, he added.

The GSMA Development Fund is already working with several mobile operators to develop renewable power options for base stations, it said in a statement. Projects on the Pacific island of Vanuatu and in India involve powering 350 base stations with waste cooking oil.

Major suppliers of base stations have anticipated the growing demand for green networks and have recently introduced a variety of low-energy products and renewable energy power options.