Fuel Cells For African Telecoms

GenCell Energy, the Petach Tikvah, Israel fuel cell power manufacturer, has announced that Adrian Kenya, an African telecom integrator will install the new GenCell A5 Off-Grid Power Solution at 800 telecom base stations across Kenya. Shipment and installation of the GenCell A5 fuel cell sets will reportedly begin in fourth quarter of this year.

Replacing its current diesel generators with fuel cell power will enable Adrian Kenya to realize an expected savings of $84 million over 10 years and reduce its carbon footprint by 248,000 tons, GenCell claimed.

The GenCell A5 is designed to provide noise-free and weather-independent power for off-grid and poor-grid telecom base stations at a lower OPEX, the manufacturer said.

The GenCell A5 uses a patented ammonia cracking device to generate hydrogen “on demand” for use by the hydrogen fuel cell generator.  GenCell said a single 12-ton tank of ammonia provides the A5 with enough fuel for a year of 24/7 operation.

According to GenCell’s web site, the A5 has a 4 kW rated power configuration, 48 Vdc output voltage configurations with a maximum current load of 180 A.  GenCell said the A5 fuel cell has an efficiency of 52%, 87% as a CHP unit.

The A5 design includes the 4 kW fuel cell generator, the ammonia cracking unit, an energy bridge for regulating power output and heat utilization unit for dissipating excess heat.

 “GenCell’s ability to create hydrogen from low-cost ammonia to power its fuel cells is a true technological breakthrough with profound impact for the telecom industry. We can now enjoy all the benefits of fuel cells—ultra-reliability, low maintenance, no noise, and zero emissions—with a compelling business case that is too good to ignore. Installing the GenCell A5 Off-Grid Power Solution is good for our business and the environment,” said Bernard Njoroge, managing director, Adrian Group.

In addition, the GenCell IoT Remote Manager enables remote diagnostics, monitoring, and maintenance of each fuel cell device, reducing the frequency and costs of onsite engineer visits.

“We are delighted to announce that Adrian Kenya is the first commercial customer in Africa for the GenCell A5 Off-Grid Power Solution following its launch two weeks ago,” said Rami Reshef, GenCell CEO. “Adrian Kenya’s decision to replace 800 diesel generators with our fuel cell power solution is an affirmation of our business case and our company vision. We believe that many other Towercos (Tower Management Companies) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will switch to our robust, green fuel cell solutions to power their off-grid and poor-grid towers.”