AT&T has built one of the first cell tower sites primarily powered by solar in the Midwest in the remote wilderness of northeastern Minnesota. The site, which launched May 18, immediately began providing coverage to first responders who battled the Bezhik Fire – a wildfire that began May 17 near Bezhik Lake, burning 782 acres just a few miles south of the new tower.
“For our first responders battling the Bezhik Fire, this new FirstNet tower provided critical wireless coverage necessary for communication in a very remote area where we previously had poor to no coverage,” said Sheriff Ross Litman, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. “FirstNet is helping give public safety the connectivity they need to communicate and coordinate emergency response efforts, especially in remote wilderness areas of St. Louis County.”
The new cell site, located on the Echo Trail northwest of Ely near Meander Lake and Lake Jeanette State Forest, joins other FirstNet sites already launched in Minnesota communities including Bagley, Blackduck, Cloquet, Finlayson, Graceville, Grygla, Hovland, Isabella, Lewiston and Williams. Band 14 has been added on more than 600 existing sites across Minnesota, including markets such as the Twin Cities, Duluth, Rochester, the Iron Range, St. Cloud and the Brainerd/Baxter area.
The concept of solar-powered cell towers is not new. In fact, it is catching on in countries that lack an electrical grid. More than 2,000 solar-powered cell towers will be built in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the next three years by a partnership between NuRAN Wireless and Orange CRC SA, according to a report on ESI-Africa.com in February of this year. The wireless infrastructure will provide rural coverage for a population of 5,000.
In January of this year, the World Bank Group guaranteed support for the expansion of solar power generation for the telecom industry to improve connectivity in West Africa.
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, guaranteed an investment of US$25.6 million for cell tower solar power generation to Escotel Mauritius in Sierra Leone and Liberia for up to ten years.
Climate-friendly power will be provided by installing photovoltaic solar panels at each telecommunication network site (TNS) that will either supplement, or replace entirely, the existing diesel generators, reducing by 50 percent the total operating costs of power.
“MIGA’s clean energy guarantees to Escotel Mauritius will contribute positively to GHG [greenhouse gas] reductions in Liberia and Sierra Leone,” said MIGA Executive Vice President Hiroshi Matano. “The cost savings through a more energy- and cost-efficient supply of clean power also send a strong signal to other telecom providers in Africa.”
MIGA’s support for these projects will yield climate mitigation benefits. It is expected that 600 TNS will be modernized by 2028 in Sierra Leone, eliminating 58,000 tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions over the period. In Liberia, nearly 158,000 tons of CO2e emissions will be avoided by the modernization of 612 TNS over the same period.
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