Makasa Sun Nigeria and Ascot Industrial bring cleaner, more efficient power to IHS’s Nigerian portfolio

IHS’ “big five” project in Nigeria has been designed to replace power generation systems on 15,000 sites with cleaner, more efficient solutions. TowerXchange speak to Makasa Sun Nigeria, one of the five companies selected to upgrade a portfolio of 2,500-3,000 sites as part of the project and learn about their choice of Ascot Industrial’s hybrid system for such an important initiative.

TowerXchange: Makasa Sun Nigeria is one of the five companies selected to be involved in IHS’ “big five” project in Nigeria. Please can you share details of the project and its goals?

Makasa Sun is a full service telecoms company and are one of the companies that have been selected by IHS to be involved in their “Big Five” project focussed on delivering cleaner and more efficient energy to their sites in Nigeria. Each of the five selected companies is working on a portfolio of 2,500 to 3,000 sites (and so we are talking about 15,000 sites in total), and is tasked with bringing a tailored power solution to each of the individual sites. The initiative is designed to enable IHS to benchmark different technologies and generation systems and find the most efficient solution to powering their towers in the country.

TowerXchange: What can you tell us about the power systems that Makasa Sun is installing as part of the project?

On each of the IHS sites, the old existing equipment was various AC diesel generators, sourced from different suppliers. As part of the project, each of these old generators is being swapped out and replaced by a DC diesel generator hybrid system from Ascot. The Ascot DC diesel generators are cleaner, less noisy, more compact and more efficient and combine solar and battery storage.

TowerXchange: What made you decide to select Ascot’s system and why did you decide to work with them on this project?

We decided to work with Ascot because it met most of our criteria for the IHS project. IHS wanted a system that was environmentally friendly in terms of noise and pollution. On top of this, they wanted a solution that was efficient in terms of fuel consumption and managed space. Some of their sites are old sites that have a lot of space constraints; with Ascot HPU, you get everything you need in one compact unit. These were very important factors in Makasa choosing Ascot. We also took into account the fact that Ascot provides a ten year guarantee on the lifespan of its units which is a real added bonus.

TowerXchange: In terms of selecting the technology for this project, did IHS give you total responsibility or did IHS give each of the “big 5” partners responsibility for their particular sites?

IHS gave that decision to the big five because they were searching for the best solution and in their view if five different people go and look for five different solutions, you will have more confidence that the optimum solution has been assessed. IHS laid out their specifications and we had the responsibility to select the equipment within that framework; that is how Ascot came into the picture.

TowerXchange: What stage is the project at and how streamlined has the rollout been?

The project is well into its final stages and we have done well over three quarters of our required installations. There have been a small number of challenges that we have faced along the way, such as dealing with community relations and handling difficult environmental factors but that has been on less than 5% of our sites. Bar this small number of exceptions, delivery and installation have been carried out pretty much to the timelines that we laid out, allowing us to reach our objectives and obtain IHS’ approval of our choice.  We have ultimately been very happy with the progress we have made.

TowerXchange: Are the sites that you have been working on located in a particular region of the country or are they dispersed more widely? What is grid availability for the sites you have been working on?

The projects are widely dispersed across most regions of the country and so as you can imagine it has been challenging logistically.

Grid penetration and availability is poor, with a maximum of five per cent of the sites being connected to the grid. As such, generators are required to run 24 hours a day. A durable system which could cope with this high level of usage was central to IHS’ requirements.

The Ascot system is a solar hybrid system, whereby diesel generators will run for a certain period with solar taking over for longer periods, with a battery bank wrapped into it. The whole system is perfectly blended together by Ascot, and this mix was particularly important when picking a manufacturer or OEM.

TowerXchange: In terms of the monitoring of the systems, is this something that you or Ascot will be involved in, or has this now been handed over to IHS?

It is ultimately IHS’ responsibility to monitor the sites, but we are also taking that on because the Ascot systems have their own in-built monitoring system which works in real time. This is an added feature which gives you more visibility and accuracy; it was part of the reason why the Ascot system was perfect for us, enabling us to monitor performance prior to IHS putting on their own monitoring equipment.

TowerXchange: What kind of maintenance is required on the system and what is the expected lifespan of the system?

With the Ascot systems you have 1,001 hours before you need to service them, this averages out to two services a year which is a very good feature. In regards to the lifespan, the efficiency of the system means that the generators do not need to run as long as anticipated (typically six hours a day when properly installed) and as such you get a longer lifespan.

TowerXchange: Are there any in-built measures in the systems that prevent theft and vandalisation? 

Theft is a major challenge in the African market, and preventing it is a joint effort between all parties. In regards to the Ascot system, it is compact which makes it hard to steal diesel and what’s more, the batteries are in compartments that can be locked to prohibit theft. These characteristics help to contribute towards reducing theft, however there are always challenges in relation to access control that need to be met by a broader solution.

TowerXchange: What’s next for Makasa and Ascot?

In terms of such projects in Nigeria, IHS is by far the largest tower owner and there is no other company planning on rolling such an initiative on such a scale right now. Whilst that limits the potential for Makasa Sun and Ascot to carry out another similar project together, I have no doubt that there will be plenty of opportunities for Ascot to put systems on more sites in Nigeria and also other countries. The whole purpose of IHS’ big five project was to draw comparisons between different energy generation systems and we are confident that the Ascot system will perform well.