The South African NEC XON alternative energy Hybrid Storage Solution (HSS) has been recognized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as an innovative technology for supporting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth.
NEC XON’s HSS combines advanced control and monitoring, as well as the newest Polarium lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology, to lower lifecycle costs and improve service quality, allowing telecoms operators to increase profit margins.
The UNIDO Sustainable Technology Promotion Platform evaluation committee validated NEC XON’s outdoor HSS, which is utilized in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It meets the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8 and 9 in particular.
Magnus Coetzee, Executive: Infrastructure Solutions at NEC XON said “Our hybrid technology, which has been utilized in various African nations since 2018, can be used in tandem with electricity grids, even where the grid is unstable with frequent outages.”
According to him, it is an outdoor cabinet solution with anti-theft and remote monitoring and control that reduces diesel usage by up to 80% and diesel run-time by up to 90% in real-world applications. This provides a significant economic benefit, as well as a significant reduction in Carbon dioxide emission for both the generators and the trucks used to refuel standard generator sets.
When grid power is off, the system immediately shifts to storage batteries, and the generator only comes on when the storage batteries are low.
The majority of mobile carrier base stations are located off-grid, making reliability an issue. Diesel generators have traditionally been used by mobile carrier networks to supplement inconsistent grid power or when no power is available. Theft of the fuel and generators, as well as the cost of running and maintaining them, as well as the difficulties of getting to them, are all important and costly challenges.
“Cellphones are one of the key sources of social and economic transformation for individuals and entire communities in rural Africa,” said Coetzee.
He added, “Cellphones are used for money transfers and payments, medical services, education, work, entertainment, and a variety of other things. The network goes down without reliable power, making it extremely difficult for people to learn, work, stay safe, and stay healthy, all of which affects prosperity”.
According to the World Bank, Africa has 21 of the 25 least-connected countries, but it also boasts one of the fastest-growing Internet growth rates in the globe.
Coetzee also revealed that information and communication technologies (ICT) present a great chance to improve people’s lives. Access to stable energy and reliable communications is the first important step toward true transformation for more than 650 million rural Africans.
According to ITU data published by the World Bank, increasing mobile broadband coverage by 10% increases per capita GDP by 2.5 percent in Africa.
