Tesla Powerwall, the battery system produced by the American automotive and energy company Tesla has made significant in roads in Africa.
This follows the successful completion of a 12-month trial integrating of the Tesla Powerwall with one of Africa’s largest telecommunication provider, Econet. This will see Econet’s telecommunication towers to provide backup power 260 Econet sites across Africa.
In addition Distributed Power Africa [DPA], a subsidiary of Econet Global, will be installing Tesla Powerwalls to power Econet Wireless’ local operations for their telecommunications towers; commencing one of Africa’s largest deployments of AC coupled Lithium-ion batteries in the telecoms sector.
“We were impressed with the performance of Tesla Powerwall during the trial stage. It addresses the power back up requirements, offers 100% depth of discharge and has a wide temperature operating range. It also offers real time monitoring and will help mitigate against current battery theft issues being experience with lead acid batteries. We look forward to working with Tesla on other initiatives in energy security”. Says Norman Moyo, CEO Econet Energy (and DPA).
Tesla will supply DPA with 520 Powerwalls to power, with the first 65 sites to be installed in the coming months.
Tesla Motors has been known for making high-quality electric vehicles, as well as for their ability to successfully rebrand existing technologies.
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With great interest from the Commercial and Industrial sector in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe for renewable energy solutions like these, DPA with operations in Kenya is looking forward to delivering increased access to solar power and battery technology through strategic partnerships with global technology leaders.
“South Africa and Zimbabwe are amongst the many African countries where increased cases of battery theft have been reported to be the result of frequent power outages in areas with intermittent grid supply.”
“Businesses are looking for reliable power backup solutions in addition to secure reliable energy supply, by replacement of lead acid batteries with Lithium ion batteries were moving forward.” Moyo adds.
The DPA use of Tesla Powerwall will provide telecoms customers with the convenience of improved service delivery, and comes at a strategic point when the African continent is working towards improving its power supply.
