THE International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $12 million in Flexenclosure, a developer of intelligent power management solutions and modular data centers, based in Sweden.
DigitalSENSE Business News gathered
from Josef Skoldeberg of IFC, that Flexenclosure helps mobile-telephone
operators and tower companies in developing countries make greater use of
renewable energy and cut costs by optimizing their energy consumption.
The rising costs of diesel fuel,
and lack of access to reliable energy grids is hampering the spread of
mobile-phone coverage in rural areas of emerging markets—particularly in
Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. Flexenclosure provides an
effective solution—eSite, an intelligent power management system built on the
company’s patented Diriflex control software that enables the company’s clients
to optimize available energy sources in the most efficient manner. The system
provides energy cost savings of up to 90 percent.
As telecom companies further
expand their services to meet increasing customer demands, Flexenclosure has
developed eCentre – a complete, pre-fabricated, modular solution to house and
power data and telecom equipment.
Skolkdeberg explained that
optimized for energy efficiency, eCentre is specifically designed to be fast to
deploy and fully future- proof, providing operators with a superior, modern and
greener alternative to traditional brick and mortar structures.
For Flexenclosure’s Chief
executive officer, Mr. David King, they have an aggressive research and
development programme and are growing its sales operations in emerging markets.
He added that during the last year
the company opened offices in Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and
Dubai.
“Having IFC as a strategic
investor will give us access to their global expertise and network, further
enhancing our expansion strategy,” he said
Also speaking on the investment,
IFC’s Chief Investment Officer for Telecoms, Media, and Technology, Mr. Andrew Bartley,
said an estimated 800,000 cellular base stations exist in emerging markets rely
on diesel generators for their power supply.
This, he said, is a great
potential market for Flexenclosure’s innovative product offering.
“Its growth strategy is directly
aligned with IFC’s goal to improve access to mobile-phone systems for people in
rural areas in emerging markets while also reducing global greenhouse-gas
emissions,” Bartley said.
DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that since 2009, IFC has
partnered with the GSM Association to promote the Green Power for Mobile
initiative to extend mobile network coverage beyond the electricity grid and
reduce energy costs and greenhouse emissions in emerging markets. Just as the
programme promotes the use of renewable and alternative energy at off-grid or
unreliable grid-connected cellular base stations.
Further, this
could save an estimated 2.5 billion liters of diesel per year and reduce annual
greenhouse emissions by up to 6.8 million tons. Flexenclosure is a recipient of
the GSMA Green Mobile Award 2012.
Remmy Nweke/
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
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