Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced that it has signed a contract with Ericsson to upgrade an initial batch of 250 diesel-powered base stations in Nigeria with ‘E-site’, a new and environment-friendly solar energy solution.

The E-site solution will enable Airtel to harness solar energy to power mobile base stations across Nigeria, Airtel said in a statement.

The solution has been tested by Airtel in Kenya for close to two years and has been proven to substantially reduce diesel consumption and CO2 emissions when compared to a 24/7 diesel-powered site, it added.

“We are happy to take the lead in deploying and rolling out green power solutions and reducing our dependency on diesel. This latest initiative will not only enable us to significantly reduce operating costs, but also contribute to reduction in the greenhouse effect,” Bharti Airtel CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director Mr Manoj Kohli said.

Going forward, the aim is to introduce and take forward this green and efficient initiative across Airtel’s operations, he added. Bharti Airtel has operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa.

E-site is mainly powered by renewable energy sources (sun and wind) and uses a battery bank for storage of energy.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for implementation and maintenance services for all the sites.

“The new green and highly cost efficient base station solution makes not only environmental sense, but also financial sense for our customers, enabling the efficient deployment of services to previously unserved or under-served areas,” Ericsson Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Region Mr Lars Linden said.