Mobile operators Vodacom and MTN are confident that in the case of widespread power failures, the combination of battery reserves and diesel generators at their base stations can provide up to eight hours of extra power.
But mobile operators are not content only to have some kind of backup power generating capacity. The patchiness of the electricity supply in many African countries is leading some of them to look at using wind or solar power, or biofuels, as power sources for their base stations.
The issue of power represents a big obstacle for mobile operators on the continent. The severe limitations of electricity infrastructure make it difficult for them to keep their networks going around the clock. Nigeria — one of the fastest-growing cellphone markets in the world — can supply electricity to only 40% of its population. “Power is the single largest problem in Africa,” says Stefano Mattiello, Motorola’s sales director for sub-Saharan Africa.
Most mobile operators depend on diesel-powered generators to power their base stations. Even if base stations are connected to the electricity grid, as in SA, the regularity of blackouts requires generators as backup.
The dependence on diesel is expensive. In some countries, providing diesel to the generators accounts for 60% of operating costs. Besides buying and transporting the diesel, operators have to carry the cost of maintaining and securing the generators.
MTN has about 2500 base stations in Nigeria, which use about 10m litres of diesel fuel a month.
To reduce its dependence on diesel, MTN is testing the feasibility of using biofuel in a number of pilot projects in the rural regions of southeastern and southwestern Nigeria.
The biofuel MTN is using is derived from plants — groundnuts, pumpkin seeds, jatropha and palm oil — and this is seen as one of the most practical ways of tackling the high cost of energy.
MTN chief technology officer Karel Pienaar says it is still too early to judge how successful the project is because it has been running for only four months. “I want to see it running successfully for six months before expanding it,” he says.
Pienaar says there are many issues around biofuels — what the best plant is to source the fuel from, and the ethics of growing a fuel source instead of food on arable land — that have to be dealt with before it can be developed on a widespread basis.
If the project proves the feasibility of using biofuels, Pienaar says, MTN will consider using it in SA as a means to power its base stations in rural areas that are not connected to the electricity grid of power utility Eskom.
MTN is not the only operator experimenting with biofuels. Its partners in the project, the GSM Association and equipment provider Ericsson, are working on a similar venture with India’s Idea Cellular. Ericsson’s rival, Motorola, is also evaluating a combination of solar and wind power to run some of its base stations.
Alternative energy sources may not be the full answer to Africa’s power woes, says Africa Analysis’s André Wills He points out that to generate enough electricity with solar power, a relatively large solar panel is needed. And even if enough power is generated, Wills says, security needs to be arranged to prevent the theft of the panels.
Pienaar hopes MTN’s approach of encouraging the local communities to provide fuel and security for the base stations will reduce the risk of vandalism and theft. The idea is that if the community has a sense of ownership of the base station, it will be in their interest to maintain and protect it.
Alternative energy sources are not the only way to deal with the power problem. Pienaar says new technologies can cut consumption by 50%-60% by doing away with energy-guzzling air-conditioning equipment, for example.
He also points out that advances in solar panel technology have meant they are now smaller but are still able to produce adequate power.
But should mobile operators be involved in power generation in the first place?
Wills does not see anything wrong with the concept. “The cost of doing business in Africa requires a lot of self-provision,” he says.
Pienaar agrees. “We’re a power utility. We even build roads.”
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