Lively debate characterised the inaugural energy storage working group at the TowerXchange Meetup Africa 2016, where dozens of experienced buyers and sellers of batteries exchanged insights into how to extend lifecycles in challenging operating conditions in Africa and the Middle East.
Working group members, buyers:
Econet Power, Helios Towers Africa, Vodafone, Leadcom, TowerTech
Working group members, suppliers:
4energy, Aquion Energy, Energic Plus, EnerSys, Fluidic Energy, GNB (Exide), GS Yuasa, NorthStar, Redflow, Saft
Energy storage
Working group key learnings
LEARNING 1: There are a lot more lead acid batteries deployed at SSA cell sites than alternate chemistries – lead acid probably still has over 85% market share
LEARNING 2: Buyers felt that vendors of alternate energy storage chemistry solutions needed to do a better job presenting a “full business case, with complete costs and ROI”
LEARNING 3: At a “legacy” African cell site, a lead acid battery might last 18 months.
