Telecommunications company, Airtel Nigeria announced that, as part of efforts to reduce the rapidly rising costs associated with diesel, which stood at N28 billion per month, it is now implementing alternate options to power its base stations around the nation.
This was revealed on Tuesday during a media roundtable in Lagos by Femi Adeniran, Director of Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility. The nearly 15,000 base stations that the business operates currently run on solar power and other renewable energy sources, he claims, using roughly 22 million litres of fuel every month.
Recall that the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) also said last year that it was attempting to guarantee that every telecom company player made the full transition to alternative energy sources.
Adeniran stated that the company’s transition to solar power was part of its sustainability initiatives, in addition to the necessity to reduce costs to adapt to the present economic climate, BrandSpur telecom and IT news reports.
According to him: “We are committed to minimizing our carbon footprint. Our transition to grid and solar power will significantly reduce diesel consumption and mitigate the impacts of climate change in Nigeria.”
Speaking at the same event, Mr. Harmanpreet Dhillon, Chief Technical Officer of Airtel Nigeria, announced that the company would be investing in lithium-ion batteries instead of conventional batteries, which help reduce carbon emissions.
Dhillon stated that in addition to lessening their carbon footprint, the telecom company was implementing telecom and electronics that could be used outside.
According to the Chief Technical Officer: “These devices can withstand extreme temperatures, humidity, and dust, eliminating the need for indoor air-conditioned spaces.
“The traditional equipment used to be very sensitive to temperature, high temperatures, for which you require an indoor room and air conditioning, which again increases your energy consumption.
“Now we are buying equipment which can operate in any environment, hence the power consumption goes down and doesn’t require high kilowatt consumption,” he added.
It is pertinent to know Airtel’s decision to switch to renewable energy is in line with the general attitude of Nigerian telecom providers, who are always looking for methods to reduce expenses.
Citing the Senior Manager of Growth New Business Tech Platforms IT at MTN Nigeria, who spoke last Saturday during the Nairametrics webinar that focused on the telecom industry, he echoed the same sentiment when he said that Nigerian telcos are increasingly looking to solar and wind power to lessen their dependence on pricey diesel and petrol.
According to him: “Powering terrestrial networks with diesel and petrol is very expensive, which is why telcos are exploring renewable energy options.”
However, operators may drastically reduce operating expenses by switching to renewable energy, particularly when it comes to powering their network towers.
