FUEL CELL POWER BEYOND THE GRID

1.1 billion people lack electricity for lighting, telecom, cooking, clean water & economic development. 84% of them live in rural areas beyond the grid where they face distinct disadvantages in education, health, and quality of life. The GSMA estimated that by 2020, 390,000 telecom towers would be off-grid and 790,000 in poor-grid locations. Powering these towers is a complex challenge.

OVERCOMING THE HYDROGEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Hydrogen fuel cells offer a reliable source of green power that enable telecoms, utilities, businesses and governments to cost-effectively deploy their services in areas beyond the grid or with poor grid supply. Fuel cells offer many benefits, including unlimited run-time, simple annual maintenance and zero emissions. But a lack of infrastructure for distributing hydrogen has kept fuel cells expensive and has prohibited their mainstream adoption.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to investing billions of dollars on building hydrogen infrastructure: just extract hydrogen from ammonia. The colorless, pungent gas is an excellent energy-dense source of hydrogen in its liquid form. This means that fuel cells are not only more reliable and cleaner than diesel generators, but are also significantly less expensive to maintain and operate.

To read about the growing demand for a new power solution for off-grid and poor-grid base stations, download the Rethink Research Technology Report.