NorthwesTel (NWTel) partnered with Cold Climate Innovation(CCI) to reduce its dependence on diesel.
This northern telecommunications company has 87 remote off-grid microwave stations powered by diesel generators. Almost half of these stations can only be reached by helicopter, making maintenance, repair and upkeep costly.
CCI came up with a solar/diesel hybrid system as a way of reducing fuel costs and maintenance. The savings were so significant that NWTel can pay back its capital investment in just 4.5 years. This project has been so successful that NWTel has since placed solar panels at 10 more of their remote microwave stations.