IHS Africa pushes solar-powered agenda

IHS Africa, a Nigeria-based telecom infrastructure company, is planning to deploy multi-operator solar powered cell sites in a bid to slash its diesel consumption by up to 50 per cent in the next two years.

The company, which manages cell sites on behalf of operators in Nigeria, Ghana, Sudan and South Sudan, plans to invest US$45-50 million in solar power technology to cut diesel use from its 4,000 generator powered cell sites in West Africa.

IHS has already opened the first site, a multi-operator installation that consists of solar panels covering an area of 96 square metres and capable of producing a total capacity of 12 kilowatt peak (kWp) of electricity. The installation will supply electricity to three mobile network operators, with further room for expansion.

Site access is often difficult in rural areas and connection to an electricity grid is seldom possible or prohibitive in price, so a stand-alone power system is often required, according to IHS.

The company currently has 4,000 towers under management, and owns 900 towers for collocation with each tower having guaranteed 99.9% uptime for electricity.