ESCO Borderless Report

ESCO Borderless Report 2020
An update on the projects and providers of energy as a service to telecom tower companies and MNOs
www.towerxchange.com
1 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/
Contents
Greening the Network
3 TowerXchange’s inner circle
5 ESCO Roundtable Borderless Fast Facts
7 ESCO Borderless Speakers
9 ESCO Borderless Sponsors
11 Greening the Network
ESCOs in 2020
17 ESCO Borderless and ESCO market sizing
25 Orange
28 Camusat
31 IPT PowerTech Group
35 i-eng Group
ESCO 101
39 Business drivers to partner with ESCOs
40 Early adopters of ESCO partnerships
42 Community Power
43 ESCO business models
44 Investibility
45 Critical success factors
47 ESCOs and towercos: where they are, and
aren’t, competing for the same sites
50 Ten quick questions about ESCOs

Our informal network of advisors TowerXchange’s “Inner Circle”
(Chairman) Charles Green Ted Zhong Marc Ganzi Carlos Katsuya

CEO, International Digital Founder & CEO, Managing Partner & Investment Chief Investment Officer & Head TMT Asia,
Infrastructure Alliance Astro Tower Committee Member, Digital Colony Europe and MENA, International Finance
CEO, Digital Bridge Holdings Corporation (IFC)
Zhiyong Zhang Hal Hess
Chairman & President Executive Vice President & Chairman Peter Bendall Inder Bajaj
Miteno of Latin America and EMEA Senior Vice President Advisor, Helios Investment Partners &
American Tower Macquarie Infrastructure & Real Assets former CEO
Akhil Gupta HTN Towers
Chairman Nobel Tanihaha Jeffrey Eldredge
Bharti Infratel President Director Partner
PT SOLUSI TUNAS PRATAMA (STP) Vinson & Elkins RLLP About TowerXchange
Nat-sy Missamou Founded in 2012, TowerXchange is your
Sharing New Business Program Director, Umang Das Enda Hardiman independent community for operators,
Orange Chief Mentor Managing Partner
towercos, investors and suppliers interested
American Tower Hardiman Telecommunications Ltd.
Nina Triantis in EMEA, CALA and Asian towers. We’re
Managing Director, Global, Head Gilles Kuntz Adeel Bajwa a community of practitioners formed to
of Telecoms & Media CEO CEO promote and accelerate infrastructure sharing.
Standard Bank TowerCo of Madagascar Dhabi Group TowerXchange don’t build, operate or invest
in towers; we’re a neutral community host and
Terry Rhodes Maria Scotti Scott Coates commentator on telecoms infrastructure.
CEO CEO CEO
Eaton Towers Torrecom Wireless Infrastructure Group TowerXchange produces a monthly newsletter
and quarterly journal, both available to
Arun Kapur Tilak Raj Dua Carlo Ramella subscribers, which cover industry news
Co-Founder Director General COO, EI Towers and provide deep insights into telecoms
Irrawaddy Green Towers TAIPA and Chairman, Towertel infrastructure worldwide. We also host
annual Meetups on each of five continents
Pat Coxen Dimitris Lioulias Alexander Chub
to bring together the leading tower industry
Managing Director GM of Strategy President
MBNL Saudi Telecom Company Russian Towers stakeholders.
TowerXchange was founded by Kieron
Dagan Kasavana Kurt Bagwell Steve Weiss Osmotherly, a TMT community host and events
CEO President International CFO
organiser with 21 years’ experience, and is
Phoenix Tower International SBA Communications Protelindo
governed with the support and advice of the
Daniel Lee Jim Eisenstein Toni Brunet TowerXchange “Inner Circle” – an informal
Managing Director Chairman & CEO Corporate & Public Affairs Director, network of advisors. TowerXchange was
Intrepid Advisory Partners Grupo TorreSur Cellnex Telecom acquired by Euromoney Institutional Investor
PLC on December 1, 2017<
Suresh Sidhu Bimal Dayal Manish Kasliwal
CEO CEO VP and Chief Business Development Officer, © 2020 TowerXchange, a division of Euromoney Global Limited.
edotco Group Sdn Bhd Indus Towers C&SE Asia, American Tower All rights reserved. Neither the whole nor any substantial part of
this publication may be re-produced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted by any means without the prior permission of Site
Rhys Phillip Mohammed Alhakbani Kash Pandya
Seven Media Ltd. Short extracts may be quoted if TowerXchange is
Chief Executive CEO CEO cited as the source. TowerXchange is a trading name of Site Seven
Cornerstone TAWAL Helios Towers Media Ltd, registered in the UK. Company number 8293930.

ESCO Roundtable Fast Facts
ESCO Borderless Audience Geography
Africa Europe
South Africa 20
France 22 CALA MENA
Asia
Nigeria 8
Madagascar 8 UK 14 USA 28 Lebanon 23 India 17
Ghana 4
Cote d’Ivoire 3 Sweden 7
Ethiopia 3 Pakistan 6
UAE 8 Myanmar 5
Colombia 5
Other Europe 20 Brazil 4 Saudi Arabia 7
Other Africa 20 Other Asia 14
Other Americas 9 Other MENA 7
Engagement Facts Audience make up
ESCOs - 26%
275 74% Available 93%

registered viewers live viewers on demand median engagement rate Energy equipment - 20%
ESCO Borderless App Facts
Towercos - 12%
Monitoring & management - 11%
Professional services - 14%
20 live audience
7 days of 100+ networkers on the Managed Service Providers - 9%
questions asked and
digital networking ESCO Borderless App
answered Mobile Network Operator - 9%

LEADING T-ESCO GLOBALLY
ENGINEERED POWER SOLUTIONS

ENERGY EFFICIENT SYSTEMS
TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
MANAGED SERVICES
GUARANTEED SAVINGS MODEL
T-ESCO MODEL
Afghanistan | Algeria | Ghana | Guinea | Iraq | Lebanon

Morocco | Myanmar | Nigeria | Romania | Saudi Arabia
Headquarter: Beirut - Lebanon | T: +961 1 99 25 25

info@iptpowertech.com | www.iptpowertech.com
Our speakers
Hervé Suquet Siphile Sibaya Gabriel Bou Gebrael
CTIO Infrastructure and General Manager –
Orange Facilities Telecom Services
MTN Group IPT PowerTech
Thibaut de Rodellec Matthew Edwards Kadri Hakim

Deputy CEO Head of Research, Co-CEO
Camusat EMEA i-eng
TowerXchange

Our sponsors
Lead Sponsor Lead Sponsor with advanced inhouse solutions development and
manufacturing capabilities.
ieng Group IPT Powertech Group is also a complete telecom

infrastructure solutions provider combining telecom
Camusat Established in 2007, ieng Group is a leading provider services expertise with managed services proficiencies
of EPC and O&M services for the telecom and power with more than 4,500 specialists on board across Middle
In 40 years Camusat has become one of the market industries in Africa and Emerging Markets. The Group East, Africa and South East Asia.
leaders in the implementation of telecom infrastructures has operations in 18 countries in Africa and Asia and
and one of the most experienced network developers employs 2,000 full-time employees. Through our unique model, coupling our innovation
in the world with over 2.900 employees across five in energy savings solutions along with our telecom
continents. Expert on 5 business lines (telecom site The Group established CREI (Communication and infrastructure services expertise we have developed to
construction and installation, power systems & renewable Renewable Energy Infrastructure) as its investment become the largest T-ESCO globally with more than 10,000
energy, active equipment installation, fixed and fiber arm that develops, owns and operates a portfolio of sites under full management, where power is sold as a
networks deployment and managed services.) Camusat renewable energy assets across Africa and Emerging service on full or partial OPEX model basis.
Group fully support the constant evolving telecom actors’ Markets. Leveraging on the reputation, operational/
needs, building quality telecom network infrastructures, technical expertise and network of ieng Group, CREI aims www.iptpowertech.com
and preparing the ground for the deployment of future to become a leading player in the ESCO Industry. The firm
communication technologies. believes in reducing environmental impact and saving Co Sponsor:
on CO2 emissions by deploying more energy-efficient
At the end of 2017, Camusat launched a new activity power solutions thus providing a valuable alternative to
through its in-house investment vehicle Aktivco. This operators that seek to outsource their power generation Caban Systems
investment vehicle along with Camusat’s worldwide requirements.
operational capacity is answering the telecom sector’s Caban Systems, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is
need to outsource its energy infrastructure. Aktivco www.ieng-group.com a technology company focused on designing and
holds and manages energy assets over a long period, manufacturing lithium-ion energy storage solutions for
thus allowing telecom operators to focus on their core Lead Sponsor the telecom industry. Our connected platform delivers
business. Already leader in Africa with more than 2,500 real-time remote management optimized to provide clean
telecom sites under Esco model, Aktivco plan to deploy and reliable power for bad-grid, off-grid, and multi-
10,000 sites by 2022. tenants in co-located sites. It’s propriety design enables a
IPT PowerTech reduction of up to 85% in operational costs by eliminating
Flawless execution, quality services and innovative diesel and minimizing maintenances. Caban operates
solutions developed by R&D department allow Camusat IPT PowerTech Group is a leading full-fledged energy a manufacturing line in California and has operations
Group to meet their stakeholders’ objectives. systems integrator, and complete energy-efficient throughout in LatAm, North America and the MEA.
solutions provider; offering the Largest portfolio
www.camusat.com of customized telecom hybrid solutions worldwide www.cabansystems.com

PROUD CO-SPONSORS
TOWERXCHANGE ESCO ROUNDTABLE |
BORDERLESS 2020
COMBINING
RELIABILITY AND
INTELLIGENCE FOR
COST-EFFECTIVE
POWER
WE OFFER CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS THAT
MINIMIZE FUEL USAGE FOR STANDALONE
AND BACKUP POWER. FROM THE MOST
REMOTE TELECOM SITE TO ONE PACKED IN
A DENSE METROPOLIS, CABAN SYSTEMS
OPTIMIZES YOUR SITE OPERATION FOR
RELIABLE AND INTELLIGENT POWER
DELIVERY SOLUTIONS.

Next meeting 15th July | 0800 New York | 1300 London | 1630 New Delhi | 2000 Singapore
Greening the Network

Decarbonise tower power and improve network resilience
July 15th 2020: Uniting tower teams on a mission to green the network through
digital meetings, face-to-face discussions, research reports and networking
A community for telecom tower professionals to meet and discuss how to reduce network emissions.
To discuss your participation, contact Sarah Kerr on +44 7714 775700 or email skerr@towerxchange.com
What is Greening the Network?
Greening the Network is a new series by TowerXchange focusing on energy efficiency, renewable investment and network
resilience. We are recruiting energy leaders from towercos, MNOs, investors and technology firms to contribute to the series.
Quarterly discussions Regular digital An inner circle of tower Constantly updating

and showcases networking events power experts research and content
The challenge The telecom sector enables over 2mn

tonnes of emissions reduction annually, according to The
Carbon Trust, but telecom networks themselves are a
significant source of emissions. Five pillars of network greening
Recent figures show that the ICT sector produces 2.3% of

global carbon emissions. Telecom towers are the source
of 24% of those emissions and network emissions are
predicted to grow at a rate of 4.6% annually. Electricity
used by telecom networks alone is predicted to grow at I II III IV V
a rate of 10% per year. The industry needs a response
which bends the curve and minimises emissions. Operational Future Investors ESG strategies Governments
best practice networks and are demanding require supply are pricing out
The response TowerXchange has identified five key favours 5G require green action chain responses carbon energy
trends that make greening the network essential, and renewables energy plans
our quarterly series will highlight how the industry is efficiency
meeting the challenge, and highlight new innovations.

Greening the Network agenda
Next event |15th July 2020 | 0800 New York | 1300 London | 1630 New Delhi | 2000 Singapore
13:00 Why networks must become greener 13:50 Q&A

< How green are networks now?
< The five pillars of network greening
14:00 Innovation showcase and technology panel
< Operational best practice favours renewables
Featuring elevator pitches to highlight new technologies enabling
< 5G and new network investments require energy efficiency
< Investors are demanding green action plans network operators to reduce their emissions, improve site resilience
< ESG strategies require a supply chain response and deliver future networks cheaply – followed by a panel and live Q&A.
< Governments are pricing out carbon
< Different markets, different responses, one challenge 14:05 Technology panel and live Q&A
Matthew Edwards, Head of Research, EMEA, TowerXchange
< Making cell site power and network equipment more efficient

13:15 What are the key drivers of green action? How can towercos close < The role of hybrid systems in minimising emissions at cell sites
the gap? < How much longer will carbon-based fuels have a central role in
< Assessing the scale of the challenge in different markets cell site energy?
< How does environmental impact rank against other priorities? < Solarising sites to eliminate carbon emissions
< How is investor pressure to decarbonise being felt?
< How can towercos and MNOs encourage and support innovation
< Are greener networks safer and more resilient?
< Changing site management to enable co-location of power and green tech adoption?
equipment Further speakers to be confirmed
< How should operators respond to the demands of future networks?
< What do MNOs and towercos need from the supply chain? 14:25 TowerXchange on future work streams of Greening the network
Bernard Borghei, Co-Founder and EVP, Operations, Vertical Bridge
< Next steps and sessions in Greening the Network
Manjit Dhillon, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Finance,
Helios Towers < How to get involved and what you can do to help
Tuoyo Ebigbeyi, CTO, American Tower Africa
Wole Abu, CEO, Pan African Towers 14:30 Greening the Network II concludes

Greening the Network’s 2020 calendar
Greening the Network at Meetup

Africa Borderless
October 2020
More information on session, speakers and

topics to follow.
Greening the Network I: Greening the Network III:
ESCO Roundtable Borderless Green and Resilient Future Networks
September 23 2020
ESCO Borderless was a digital roundtable and
special report, which brought together 260 September’s Greening the Network looks at
senior figures from the ESCO, MNO, supplier network design in developed markets and
and investor ecosystems. focuses on how to make denser future networks
energy efficient, resilient and less operationally
The ESCO Roundtable Borderless combined complex.
discussions and Q&A with digital networking.
Supported by Orange, MTN Group. Sponsored
Greening the Network at Meetup Asia
by Camusat, i-engineering, IPT PowerTech, Become a series subscriber to attend Borderless
December 2020
Caban Systems. four quarters and get a TowerXchange
subscription included
More information on session, speakers and
topics to follow.

Digital Networking
Networking is an essential part of the event experience, and the same is true at Greening the Network.
For our speakers, sponsors and delegates, we will be acting as a community host to facilitate networking through a dedicated Digital Networking
App, which will stay live post-event to enable conversations and networking on the Greening the Network platform.
Those that sign up as speakers, sponsors and delegates will be able to navigate the attendee list, contact people they want to meet and arrange follow-
up conversations by email, phone and eventually face-to-face. And just like a real event, TowerXchange will facilitate introductions to keep missed
connections to a minimum.

Research Centre
Greening the Network is  supported by a Research Centre, where you

Top energy research today
can access reports, interviews, editorials, and videos with exclusive
insights into telecom tower power and network decarbonisation.
Flash Report:
ESCOs Go Mainstream
Ten quick questions about ESCOs
The first carbon neutral towerco
Camusat’s Aktivco: ESCO pioneers

target 10,000 sites by 2023
i-eng: How and why ESCOs work

for operators and investors
IPT Powertech, unlocking

efficiencies through the
Want to be featured in our research centre? Contact Sarah Kerr on ESCO model
+44 7714 775700 or email skerr@towerxchange.com

ESCOs Go Mainstream
What is an ESCO?
TowerXchange define an ESCO simply: An energy

Following the ESCO Roundtable Borderless read TowerXchange’s market services company, sometimes known as a TESCO
update and excerpts from our speakers (Telecom Energy Services Company) or RESCO
(Renewable Energy Services Company) is a company
that deploys its own capital to acquire energy
The ESCO ecosystem now has a home. On Wednesday May equipment for telecom cell sites, then sells that
27th Towerxchange at last ran the ESCO Roundtable to unite energy back to the site owner, whether they are an
the whole ESCO value chain. Before we launched the ESCO MNO or a towerco.
Roundtable there were no meeting place which brought together
ESCOs, their clients, their investors and their suppliers. That has Sometimes those ESCOs charge a fixed monthly
now changed. fee or charge by the kWh consumed. An alternate
model is the ‘guaranteed savings’ model, under
This report includes exclusive market data and insights from which the towerco or MNO continues to deploy their
TowerXchange’s opening presentation as well as excerpts of the own capex, but their ESCO partners takes a risk in
comments of speakers at the ESCO Roundtable Borderless. guaranteeing the performance of their systems.
Thank you to our lead sponsors Camusat, i-eng and IPT As you can see from Figure 2 ESCOs do not act
Powertech and our Co-Sponsor Caban Systems for making this alone. ESCOs predominantly rely on development
possible. And thank you to Orange for being a major instigator of finance, which likes their combination of emerging
the industry and the event. market telecom and energy investments, their
steady cashflows and their quality counterparties.
While some of the most successful ESCOs produce
Keywords: Camusat, ESCOs, Energy, i-eng, IPT
Matthew Edwards, Head of Research, their own energy equipment, all of them rely on the
PowerTech, MNOs, MTN, Orange, Towercos
EMEA, TowerXchange wider passive telecom infrastructure supply chain
to complete their offering. And while today ESCOs
predominantly supply towercos and MNOs, there are
Read this article to learn: ESCOs which have already moved into community
< Reasons to read: power and other opportunities beyond the tower.
< ESCO site counts
< Projections for future ESCO growth How successful is the ESCO model?
< A map of the ESCO ecosystem
< Cost estimate of hybridising a telecom tower site When we began covering ESCOs in 2015 they were a
< How ESCOs are achieving success for their partners niche segment of the industry. When we published
our 2018 ESCO Market Report, they were still only

Figure 1: ESCO Pioneers by site count
Sagemcom 1,000
across DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone
Mahindra Powerol, India 3,500
Cambridge Energy Resources, India 970
IPT PowerTech 10,050 Environ Solar / Bhaskar Solar, India 800

inc 4,900 Nigeria, Camusat’s Aktivco 2,500
across Burkina Faso, Chad, ieng’s CREI 736
3,250 Lebanon,
Cote d’Ivoire, Niger inc 400 Guinea, 200 Liberia, 126 CAR, 10 Afghanistan
1,900 Guinea
Ascot 780
Distributed Power Africa Ardom, India 500 inc 400 Saudi Arabia,
320 Sudan, 60 Greece
2,000
Yoma Micro Power, Myanmar Voltalia, OMC Power,
250 Myanmar 160 India 200
Undisclosed, HYBRICO,
MediPower, Italy 150 Pakistan 70 CALA 50
Biswal, Nigeria, 2,800
Energy Vision 9,800

including 500 Gabon, 700 Nigeria, Mantrac, Nigeria, 1,987
Applied Solar Technologies,
8,600 India via Tower Vision
India 9,700
*Enertika, CALA, 3,500
*Pace Power, India 300 *Acme, India 100 *Caban Systems, undisclosed
*Unverified site count Source: TowerXchange, Q2 2020

Engaging the entire ESCO ecosystem
Figure 2: The ESCO whole supply chain
B2B and B2C IPPs

EAAS EAAS Towercos EAAS MNOs
Source: TowerXchange,
Source: Q2 2020
TowerXchange
EAAS
EAAS
Community
power Micro
Investors
grids
Solar lanterns
Cleantech
Retail outlets Technology Aggregator
Solar Utilities, O&G
farms agnostic ESCOs ESCOs
Phone charging
Infrastructure
Schools funds
Wind
Data centres Private equity
farms Powercubes
ESCOS Powercubes
Fibre PoPs In-house
O&M
Development
Commercial & Energy system components
industrial off- Small Batteries Gensets
takers 3rd Fuel cells
biomass party Installation Capacitors
Solar
Wind
and O&M & service Controllers Biomass
Agricultural off- hydro
takers Inverters Bank debt
plants
Air
conditioning
Feed-in-tariff to Export credit
grid? agencies
Data collection and utilisation

just reaching launch velocity. Today ESCOs are Figure 3: Comparing towerco growth in MEA from 2009 with ESCO growth six
well-established industry players with scale to rival years later
the largest towercos. In 2015 telecom ESCOs had
contracts to manage 8,664 cell sites, and since then 80,000 Towerco sites
the number of sites under ESCO management has
70,000 ESCO sites
grown at a 43% compound annual growth rate.
60,000
TowerXchange has identified over 20 active telecom
50,000
ESCOs, who between them now own and operate
the energy equipment at 51,433 cell sites. 45% of 40,000
contracted ESCO cell sites are in the fastest growing
geographical market: Africa and the Middle East.
30,000
48% of sites are in the oldest ESCO market, India, 20,000
where growth has begun to accelerate once again.
Despite the popular assumption that grid power 10,000 Source: TowerXchange Q2 2020
is too widely available and reliable for the ESCO

model to work in developed markets, 7% of the 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
world’s ESCO sites are in the Americas or Europe. 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
The remainder are in other developing markets like
Myanmar. power systems at a cell site, with India generally at Globally, we forecast an addressable market
the lower end of that range, and Africa at the upper for ESCOs of around 400,000 sites, although
Of the sites where ESCOs own and operate the power end (see Figure 5). that could be an undercount. Today ESCOs have
systems, a little under two thirds of those sites are reached around 12.5% of their potential. By 2024
owned by towercos, predominantly in India. A little Where will ESCOs go next? TowerXchange forecasts ESCOs will operate the
over a third are owned by MNOs. power systems at 108,566 cell sites, or around 27%
We can compare the ESCO trajectory to that of of their addressable market. In 2018, TowerXchange
MNOs and towercos alike increasingly recognise towercos. Figure 3 compares ESCO and towerco forecasted that the ESCO industry would celebrate
ESCOs as proven business partners, able to deploy growth in Africa and the Middle East from 2009- contracting its 50,000th site during 2021, but that
capex into long-term payback hybrid and renewable 2025. Today ESCOs have 22,993 sites under threshold has been crossed early.
energy solutions, reducing energy opex and carbon management in MEA. In 2015 there were zero.
footprints, while improving uptime and quality of Towercos managed zero sites in MEA in 2009 and Our estimate is based on the assumption that most
service (QoS). today control over 80,000. We think there is similar of the future addressable market for ESCOs lie
sized addressable market for ESCOs, and that they with MNOs, but towercos could become significant
ESCOs deploy anything from US$10,000-$40,000 will enjoy steady growth to around 60,000 sites in customers in time too. Towercos own the energy
of up front ‘improvement capex’ to hybridise the MEA by 2025. equipment at over 50% of the world’s cell sites, and

Figure 4: TowerXchange forecasts ESCOs will operate the power systems core competencies like energy. Towercos are one
potential power-as-a-service partner, but ESCOs can
at 108,566 cell sites by 2024
also deploy their capital into cell site energy assets.
120,000 Source: TowerXchange Q2 2020

ESCO sites in Asia Orange has looked at working with towercos
ESCO sites in MEA to release capital for some time, but think that
towercos can be rigid and store up concerns for
100,000 ESCO sites in RoW the future. This was a sentiment shared by Siphile
Sibaya of MTN, who spoke later during the session.
However, both MTN and Orange want a partner to
80,000
invest in energy assets and manage power at their
sites. MNOs are not energy experts, and so in 2017
Orange turned to ESCOs as their key partner to
60,000
modernise their site energy management. Following
the 2019 TowerXchange Meetup Africa, MTN decided
40,000 to follow suit and issue some preliminary ESCO
RFPs.
20,000 Both Orange and MTN emphasised the importance

of following local conditions and devolving decision
making to local opcos, while supporting from the
centre with resources. There can be resistance to
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 change from parts of the organisation or long-term
partners, but both emphasised the importance of
many of those towercos can access capital at a low there is significant upside to the ESCO model over education and central leadership in resolving any
single digit cost. ESCOs are generally less mature the medium and long-term. difficulties.
businesses, with the majority dependent on debt
and equity which mean their cost of capital can MNO attitude to ESCOs
The Renewable Energy Ratio is one of three key KPIs
be five times that of a towerco. As the ESCO model
for Orange. Orange has committed to renewables
matures we may see towercos turning to them to Herve Suquet, Orange MEA’s CTIO explained that
making up more than 50% of its energy mix by 2025.
manage power on their sites, so that towercos can MNOs need to upgrade and expand their networks,
So long-term CSR strategies are affecting energy
focus on lease-up and network roll-out, not power whether that means expanding the network
decisions made now. MTN don’t have as stark a
management. geographically, densifying existing networks or
target as Orange, but they do have major challenges
upgrading core networks and site technology for
in managing energy in some of their more emerging
Because site acquisition has been faster and we are LTE or 5G. For that they need capital, and they
markets, and in South Africa they are facing a
seeing increased interest from towercos, we think need to spend less time worrying about non-

Figure 5: India vs SSA: Where does the capex go to hybridise a cell site for the ESCO model?
India example: 6kW solar, 750AH battery capacity: SSA example: 4.5kW solar, 1,000AH battery capacity:
total capex $11,179 total capex $38,650
$385 $750
$3,000
$800
$681 $3,251
$14,800
$1,046 $8,500
$1,443
$1,091
$7,900 $3,700
$2,482
Battery bank Battery, cabinet and accessories

Foundation + OD Pad Solar system
OD Rack, pole and fabrications Hybrid cabinet (core, controllers, solar
MPPT chargers, rectifiers, AC&DC dist.)
Electrical works Genset, controller and fuel tank
Warehousing, freight and survey Installation materials
RMS In-country logistics and installation
Supervisory manpower
Source: Industry sources, TowerXchange presentation

carbon tax which will require them to invest in
renewables.
Besides outsourcing energy capital spending,

and shifting to renewables, site availability is a
key concern for MNOs. Orange have a target site
availability of 99.6%, which its ESCO partners
are currently fulfilling. In emerging markets, a
significant share of network outages are caused
by site power failures, and both Orange and MTN
were looking to ESCOs to eliminate this perennial
headache.
How ESCOs are solving their partners’ power

problems
Here we will excerpt from the comments of our

Lead Sponsors Camusat, i-eng and IPT PowerTech.
Further comments from each ESCO are available in
Screenshot of the ESCO Roundtable Borderless
the following pages.
Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO of Camusat Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO of i-eng discussed the short- experience. They have 10 years’ experience and now
emphasised the key competencies needed for ESCO term and long-term improvements in availability manage over 20,000 sites.
success. Top of the list was operational excellence. ESCOs can generate. i-eng have three key strategies
Without boots on the ground and a capacity for field in place to improve availability. The first is designing IPT PowerTech are one of the longest running ESCOs
operations and maintenance you will be unable to and manufacturing their own hybrid power systems in the world and have already started diversifying
fulfil the promise of the ESCO model. in India. They have deployed over 2,000 so far and the model. Gabriel Bou Gebrael, their head of
have used their expertise in the field to ensure their ESCO discussed how in one market, IPT PowerTech
As well as protecting ESCO financial performance, model works well. now operates as an ESCO to two MNOs, this allows
and eliminating unpleasant surprises for MNO for significant cost savings and improvements in
partners, operational excellence brings more In addition to smart technology, their IT Service operations. Power can now be co-located which
flexibility to energy management and makes Management (ITSM) and Global NOC (Network reduces overall cost and site complexity, which
necessary changes to sites easy to fulfil. This Operations Centre) allow them to coordinate and improves reliability. They can also eliminate
flexibility is a key requirement for MNOs and has monitor systems globally to identify problems and duplicated management, warehousing et cetera.
helped Camusat drive a 15% annual organic growth resolve them before they affect local KPIs. Lastly They can achieve 25-40% improvement in efficiency
in its markets. they too emphasised their O&M and field work through a single ESCO deal, a dual deal is even better.

IPT PowerTech also operate a guaranteed saving
model with a towerco, in which the towerco uses its
lower cost of capital to invest in energy equipment,
but IPT PowerTech takes over operational control
and the energy risk. This means savings are
realised up front by the towerco which can enjoy a
50% reduction in opex.
Because site acquisition

What’s next?
has been faster and we
TowerXchange will be holding a series of energy
focused digital events over the year, Greening the
are seeing increased
Network. The next of these is due to take place on
interest from towercos,
July 15th and if you are interested in participating
please contact me at: we think there is
matthew.edwards@towerxchange.com. Subscribe to the definitive
significant upside to the digital repository of data
Why Greening the Network?
ESCO model over the and strategic insight for the
< Before investing in telecom infrastructure,
investors are demanding green action plans medium and long-term telecom tower industry
< Telecom ESG strategies are requiring emissions
reductions from their supply chain
< 5G and changing site typologies are increasing
power complexity in developed markets
< Carbon taxes are pushing up the cost of carbon-
based energy
< Operational excellence demands improved
site autonomy, cleaner energy and more efficient Thank you again to our lead sponsors:
network equipment Camusat, i-eng, IPT Powertech and co-
sponsor Caban Systems. And thank you to
ESCOs will be major players in the new greener Herve at Orange and Siphile at MTN for Tower counts | Transactions |
network, and I hope you will be too. See you in speaking too and sharing their thoughts.
Market studies | CXO interviews
July<

Why Orange
Challenges and answers
are ESCO evangelists

In Africa Orange wants to meet a site availability
rate of 99.6%, and power is the principal reason
site availability fails in emerging markets. In their
Herve Suquet, CTIO of Orange MEA described why Orange started working MEA markets grids are often unreliable, and in
some markets are actually degrading, the cost of
with ESCOs and why they are supporting the model energy is increasing, and coverage targets require
them to build sites in rural areas without any
Orange faced many challenges in their MEA grid connection. In addition to this Orange need
markets when they first decided to experiment with to upgrade sites to 3G and 4G while improving
the ESCO model. As is clear from the co-hosting of profitability.
the ESCO Roundtable Borderless this May 27th the
experiment has proved a success. This write up Historically, Orange has explored a couple of
options. On the one hand they have looked at the
codifies the details given in the presentation and
towerco business model. Orange made the decision
Q&A by Herve Suquet, CTIO of Orange MEA at the
at the corporate level that the towerco model is
ESCO Roundtable Borderless.
not optimal and flexible enough for them for a few
reasons. Operationally Orange found the towerco
Keywords: Asset Register, Business Model,
model is too rigid for them, as they wanted greater
Camerron, Central Africa Capex, Change
flexibility in their asset management. Orange
Management, DRC, ESCOs, Energy, Energy
also prefers to keep ownership of its sites which
Efficiency, Fixed Price, Guinea Conakry, Hybrid
precludes a sale and leaseback deal. There was
Power, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Lithium-Ion, Multi- also concern that towercos were not investing in
Country Partner, Off-Grid, Opex Reduction, renewable energy at rates which Orange considered
Orange, Procurement, Renewables, Research, appropriate, even if there are notable changes at the
SSA, Sierra Leone, Solar, Unreliable Grid moment.
The other option previously explored is a “do it

Read this article to learn: yourself” option, which was the norm in emerging
< Why Orange decided to work with ESCOs markets prior to the intervention of towercos in the
< The key KPIs Orange use to manage their ESCOs 2000s. However Orange is not an energy expert,
< Key steps in the ESCO process that is why they are now looking at the ESCO model.
< Tips for MNOs looking to use ESCOs in the future They want renewable energy, they want expertise
and they want reliability.

Managing an ESCO relationship Orange’s near-term ESCO footprint
Orange’s partnership with ESCOs began in 2017.
Since then it has expanded to six markets, with two
more planned to follow this year.
The first stage of the ESCO process, once a contract

is signed, is a full audit of the network. From
there you are able to assess the quality of each
site and then the ESCO – the energy experts – can
perform remedial action to bring sites up to the
best standards possible. After that Orange and their
ESCO partner finalise a modernisation plan and the
ESCO begins to deploy energy capex to improve the
sites.
Orange measures three key energy KPIs:

1. NUR – Network Unavailability Ratio
2. MTTR – Mean Time To Repair
3. RER – Renewable Energy Ratio (Renewable
Energy / Total Energy Consumption)
These three KPIs are then combined with more

Are decisions made at the group level or opco will maintain their Do It Themselves processes for
direct operational KPIs – for example, fault
recurrence, power supply recovery time after level? now to enable then to make comparisons with ESCO
interruption, preventive maintenance completion – performance. ESCOs are also not right for their
to enable management of the ESCO contract. The ESCO programme is supported at group level European markets, where their strategy is focused
but at Orange each country has its own decision on forming a towerco.
The RER is especially important to Orange as process. Orange have a set of experts centrally to
its Engage 2025 strategy commits it to carbon drive the process internally, including support for COVID-19
neutrality by 2040 and to drawing 50% of its energy RFQs and support for ongoing management of the
from renewable sources by 2025. This target is relationship. ESCOs have proven resilient in the current crisis.
driving Orange to work with ESCOs, but also to Orange and their ESCO partners have set up and
build solar farms so sites which are grid connected This is not a plan for all of their MEA markets implemented business continuity plans. In each
have access to renewable energy and to create on- because some countries have very good grid, so an country Orange and their ESCO are fully integrated
site solar for Orange’s data centres. ESCO is not needed. And in some countries Orange and special actions were designed and put in place

to ensure network continuity. Orange has supported Why Orange works with ESCOs
its ESCOs to ensure they have the right permits
and permissions to continue to operate through
lockdowns.
As a result of these actions, ESCOs have performed

positively through the crisis and Orange has
suffered no impact in terms of network operation.
There have been some challenge for modernisation
plans due to supply chains disruption, but the key
learning from the crisis is that the ESCO model is
resilient.
Securing buy-in
During the Q&A, a number of people asked about

internal blockers to a major change like energy
outsourcing. Herve Suquet outlined a few internal
issues to think about. First of all, a few people in
each opco are used to their current way of doing
things and you may face some difficulties moving
beyond the Do It Yourself idea. When an opco is
used to a certain way of working they will have
preferred local partners and people will have
contract. This is very different to managing small energy delivered to Orange, meeting the 99.6%
specific positions internally they want to defend. availability rate and reaching a renewable energy
O&M firms which may have been the norm before.
As with every transformation some people closest This process requires education and training. ratio of over 50% by 2025. All of that must happen
to power at the start of the process may be most Orange has established a community of partner while at the same time meeting its financial
resistant to change. managers to share best practice on how they targets of zero energy capex and reducing
manage their main partners – this group covers energy opex. Orange is hopeful that through its
The mind-set of your operations has to change ESCOs, towercos and other major partners. ESCO partners it will be able to take advantage
too. Operations will move from managing power of the latest energy innovations like lithium
directly to working with a big partner, so you may The Future ion batteries, solar, hybrid gensets and new DC
need to set up a partner management function that technology. Another 600 Orange sites should
is able to understand a contract, and manage the Orange continues to expect improved levels pass into ESCO hands during 2020, and more will
contractual, operational and financial aspects of a of service. That means improved quality of follow if the above can be achieved<

Camusat’s Aktivco: ESCO
TowerXchange: What are Camusat’s strengths?
And why should MNOs and towercos select you
as a partner?
pioneers target 10,000 sites by 2023 Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat: Camusat
How Africa’s fastest growing ESCO is delivering operationally Group is a market leader in the implementation
of telecom infrastructures and one of the most
experienced companies in fixed and mobile
Camusat is one of the global leaders in the telecom network deployment. Our speciality is to support
infrastructure service industry with over 2,900 employees telecom actors to efficiently build and optimise
and operations across five continents working on five their network development with the very latest
business lines including site construction and installation, telecom technologies through our operational
power systems and renewable energy, active equipment company Camusat Opco on one hand, and, on the
installation, fixed and fibre networks deployment and other hand, to offer them energy infrastructure
managed services. In 2017, Camusat formed Aktivco, its outsourcing solutions thanks to our dedicated
in-house financial vehicle with capabilities to deploy investment vehicle, Aktivco.
its investments in energy as a service (ESCO) projects.
In this interview, Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO of This integrated approach combining a full scope
Camusat shares with us a substantial update on Aktivco’s of telecom services for operators (both MNOs and
towercos) together with energy services is unique
development and future vision.
and is the founding principle of our ESCO offer.
Keywords: Africa, Aktivco, Burkina Faso, Camusat, TowerXchange: Aktivco has been a pioneer of
Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Dimensioning, ESCOs, Energy, the ESCO business model in Sub-Saharan Africa
Energy Efficiency, Interview, Millicom, Niger, O&M,
– please tell us about the scale and progress of
Orange, SLA, Uptime
Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat your operations on the continent to date.
Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat: In 2017,

Read this article to learn: Aktivco signed its first ESCO with Tigo in Chad for
< The scale and success of Aktivco’s operations in Africa more than 500 sites. Since then, we added three
< Perspectives on monitoring and upgrading existing energy equipment after taking over sites further contracts signed with Orange subsidiaries in
< Why the ESCO model makes sense for on-grid as well as off-grid sites Niger, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
< How ESCOs and towercos can co-operate
< The pipeline for future ESCO contracts in Africa With now more than 2,000 sites under our ESCO
model at end of June and the perspective to sign

two more contracts by the end of 2019 for 1,000
“
additional sites, our development is going to
accelerate in the coming months in Africa.
At the same time, we have successfully completed

our first debt raising last February which
two easily understandable indicators demonstrate the success of our
strengthens our approach and positioning in
the ESCO market. We are very much willing to model. First, we have not paid any significant penalties on any of our
implement such a model all over the Camusat
footprint where it makes the most sense.
TowerXchange: Can you share some anecdotes

four contracts, despite having to achieve very high performance in
terms of uptime. Second, every new site built by our clients over the
past two years has been included in our ESCO contract
“
illustrating your success to date?
Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat: Our

performance in terms of uptime is of course
sites ‘fit for purpose’, such that you can sweat is just a part of an equation proposed by our clients
confidential and we cannot disclose any specific
the assets to the end of their natural lifecycle, or where Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) effectiveness
data on our clients network performance.
have you generally had to undertake substantial needs to be maximised and uptime increased in a
replacement of energy equipment soon after short period of time.
But still, two easily understandable indicators
taking over the sites?
demonstrate the success of our model. First, we
Most of the time in the last two years, we have been
have not paid any significant penalties on any of
Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat: The able to upgrade between 40 and 60 sites per month.
our four contracts, despite having to achieve very
timetable for upgrading the energy equipment
high performance in terms of uptime. Second, every
relies mainly on the ESCO deployment preparation. TowerXchange: Should the ESCO model be
new site built by our clients over the past two years This is a function of capex strategy and operations considered only for tower portfolios where
has been included in our ESCO contracts. structuration. Indeed, to deliver the expected the majority of sites are on unreliable grid
performance in terms of uptime on an existing connections or off grid altogether, or can you
It seems that our ESCO performance are on track site we need to undertake a significant and robust create efficiencies in the management of good
with what is expected from our counterparts. upgrade of the monitoring and regulation systems grid sites as well?
and some reinforcement of back-up systems.
TowerXchange: At the cell sites which you have Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat: Of
taken over to date, what has been the typical From our point of view, the re-usage of the existing course, the investment (and savings) for on-grid
timetable for upgrading energy equipment? energy equipment does not impact the timetable of sites isn’t the same as that generated by off-grid
For example, is a lot of the legacy equipment on the deployment, even if it makes it more complex. It ones. Thus the model in terms of economics is not

Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat: We
see no difficulty in collaborating with towercos.
Our understanding is that towercos see energy
as an upside they don’t want to share with ESCOs
companies. However, we are convinced that one
cannot maximise upside on the energy without
operations excellence, which is Camusat DNA. We
would be very happy to negotiate with any towercos
in Africa like we do elsewhere in the world.
From a contractual perspective, we see no difficulty

in having whether a three-parties contract with the
MNO and the towercos, or a back to back contract
on energy services.
TowerXchange: TowerXchange are tracking

several ongoing and imminent ESCO RFPs
in SSA – what’s your view of the pipeline of
potential new contracts? What targets have
you set yourselves in terms of new business
An Aktivco site
development in the coming year?
exactly the same from an ESCO model perspective of the site. In fact, most of those sites and their
with off grid sites where power generation is the power operations weren’t optimally managed. Thibaut de Rodellec, Deputy CEO, Camusat: There
key issue compared to an ESCO model with on-grid Consumption was often too high or the selected is a huge pipeline of potential new contracts with
sites where back-up management is critical. backup wasn’t right. several MNOs today. All of them do not have the
same maturity in terms of familiarity with the
We believe that both type of sites, whether off TowerXchange: How do you see the ecosystem ESCO business model, but we believe that the
grid or on grid, need efficient operations and of different stakeholders evolving, particularly commitment they are taking in terms of carbon
maintenance. As long as they need O&M, it makes as towercos own an increasing proportion of the footprint reduction and the need to reduce their
sense to have them under an ESCO model. world’s cell sites? Should ESCOs have a direct cost of operations should increase the number of
relationship with the towerco and/or the MNO? opportunities over the continent.
In Africa, 30% of the sites we manage are on- Should the uptime SLA be “back to backed” from
grid and for those, we are able to provide backup the towerco to the ESCO? How do we ensure Regarding our ambition, we are still targeting
solutions plus solar (if possible) that optimise contracts make sense for all parties and are 10,000 sites by the end of 2023, of which at least two
energy consumption and monitor the efficiency enforeceable? thirds in Africa

IPT Powertech, unlocking the TowerXchange: Please re-introduce IPT
Powertech for readers not familiar with your
business.
efficiencies through the ESCO model Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech:
How the world’s largest T-ESCO is going from strength to strength Anchoring on innovation, anticipation and
excellence, IPT Powertech has been the frontline in
its industry throughout 26 years.
IPT PowerTech, the world’s largest ESCO,
operates the energy equipment across four
Established in 1993, IPT Powertech is a complete
countries with the largest number of ESCO sites
solutions provider combining specialised energy
worldwide. Established in the 1990s, IPT is
efficient solutions with innovative telecom
also a managed service and energy equipment infrastructure along with managed services, all
provider with a presence in 11 countries in the way to initiating the Guaranteed Savings Model
Africa, South East Asia and the Middle East. and T-ESCO Model across Middle East, Africa and
TowerXchange speak to IPT PowerTech’s VP and South East Asia. IPT is an integrator of top-notch
COO, Khaled Habbal to find out more about how trusted products, developing and identifying best
their ESCO business is developing. technologies in order to create a product optimising
the output of the solution.
Keywords: Asia, ESCOs, Energy, Guinea
Conakry, IHS Towers, IPT Powertech, Recognised as leading T-ESCO globally, IPT
Lebanon, MENA, Middle East, Myanmar, Powertech Group is one the few global players to
Nigeria, Off-Grid, On-grid, Ooredoo, offer the largest portfolio of hybrid solutions and
retain a consistent strong presence within offices in
Orange, RMS, Renewables, SSA, Solar,
11 countries as well as a regional coverage of more
Unreliable Grid, Uptime Vendor Directory,
than 50 countries. With more than 4,500 experts on
Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech Who’s Who
board, it continuously develops its service offerings
to meet the ever-changing industry demands.
Read this article to learn: Protection of the environment is strongly embodied

< Who IPT Powertech are in IPT Powertech’s values. This being the case, we
< Details of their recently signed ESCO projects in Guinea Conakry and Lebanon are strongly dedicated to providing services that are
< How their guaranteed savings contracts have evolved in Nigeria sustainable, economic as well as socially friendly.
< IPT Powertech’s attitude to working with third party equipment providers
< How IPT Powertech envisage the ESCO investment landscape evolving Whilst power and telecom services divisions remain
key parts of our business, our focus has increasingly

turned to our telecom-ESCO business where we see and CAPEX leasing, while ensuring the deliverables Over the years, we served our major client in
huge potential. of power availability and reliability to the network- Nigeria IHS Towers, by repeatedly re-engineering
respecting all SLAs related- are met. our proposed solutions to match the growing site
TowerXchange: How did IPT Powertech become requirements. Our stellar achievement revolved
the first ESCO in the world to manage the power TowerXchange: To illustrate the adaptability of around the deployment of hybrid concepts on their
systems at more than 10,000 sites? And what is the ESCO model, please contrast the operating sites, which eventually got us selected as their
your current ESCO footprint? conditions across your footprint. Preferred Power Solution Vendor.
Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech: Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech: In The Guaranteed Savings Model, initiated and
IPT Powertech Group has always been a front- Guinea Conakry we signed an ESCO agreement implemented in Nigeria, is a risk-free approach
runner in anticipating and delivering customer’s with Orange in 2018. We have already initiated the for securing full economisation and savings for
needs. Whether it’s tailoring specialised solutions solar upgrade and implementation of all the power the operators and towercos. The model works by
to offering a complete power solution, merging equipment on sites, a cornerstone for the system reducing the CAPEX and OPEX to reach the optimal
hybrid and renewable energy solutions with efficiency. Out of the total number of sites, around Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) while maximising the
telecom infrastructure, field managed services a third are entirely off-grid with the quality and lifetime of the equipment. The success of this model
and maintenance. We give end-to-end solutions availability of on-grid sites varying significantly. is attributed to several factors varying between the
to towercos as well as MNOs and initiate the quality of our products, technical knowledge of the
guaranteed savings model. Having merged two In Lebanon, we have signed an ESCO contract technical team, and constant remoting alongside
worlds together, we took-on the leading role as the with both operators, Alfa and Touch in 2018 and adequate O&M training all under one umbrella.
largest ESCO worldwide. Our current pipeline sits 2019, covering their entire national networks.
around a total of approximately 10,000 sites under Grid availability in Lebanon is not reliable in Across the years, we have lifted our organisational
Guaranteed Savings and T-ESCO and we remain terms of hours, and not homogenous across the and operational standards to meet the international
very ambitious in our growth plan beyond this. country, more urban areas have better power requirements specifically on HSE standards as
availability versus rural areas, which makes it more well as environmental aspects. This was carried
IPT Powertech currently manages power under complicated. Thus, our customised power solutions through reduction of CO2 emissions and adapting
T-ESCO contracts in Guinea Conakry and Lebanon cater to the MNOs different needs and geographies. more environmentally friendly solutions through
and is a major player in the Guaranteed Savings renewable energy. Safety is a top priority in
contract of Nigeria. The large number of IPT ESCO TowerXchange: Can you tell us more about our industry and the best way to ensure it is via
sites worldwide and our extensive knowledge your unique experience in Nigeria for the past proactive as well as preventive measures.
makes IPT Powertech the leading T-ESCO globally. few years, specifically with the initiation of the
We remain extremely determined in our growth Guaranteed Savings Model? TowerXchange: IPT Powertech are unique among
plan. ESCOs in that you manage the power systems
Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech: for all (both) the MNOs in one market: Lebanon.
Recognised as a Telecom Energy Service Company Back in 2009, IPT Powertech Group was the first to What incremental efficiencies are unlocked
(T-ESCO), we offer various models to MNOs and offer the hybrid solutions in Nigeria to Zain, who when you aggregate and manage all the sites in a
towercos reflecting the strategies for CAPEX savings eventually became Airtel. country?

Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech:
Creating synergy increases the efficiency of the
field teams, whereby each team will have more
sites within a lower radius. This directly impacts
the availability since mean time to repair (MTTR) is
being reduced.
In order to accommodate the exponential growth and finance
Stationed as the focal point from both ends, the further ESCO opportunities, IPT Powertech has successfully raised
number of solutions deployed on site is diminished
and less effort is required. Being able to have
external funding from several financial institutions such as DEG,
multiple operators in one country result in more EIB, FINNFUND and Proparco
savings for all MNOs under the program as all
stakeholders will benefit from the economy of scale.
TowerXchange: Could you take us through the

direction of Orange, and in full synergy with networks in the country where we operate, and
phases of ESCO enable “quick wins”, with your
the SLAs and KPIs ensuring that Orange gets the increasing employment opportunities for the local
partnership with ORANGE Guinea.
optimal benefits. talent.
Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech:

TowerXchange: Congratulations on IPT TowerXchange: I’d like to understand the
Prior to the submission of the preliminary offer to
Powertech’s recent successful capital raise! productivity of an ESCO of scale such as yours:
Orange, the proposal went through the negotiations
What is about the ESCO business model, and IPT how many sites do you have the capacity to
stage to ensure fairness to all stakeholders both Powertech as a business, that you think attracts modernise on a monthly basis? And are your
technically and commercially. Adequate site surveys investment from DFIs? footprints expanding through new site build – if
and audit were essential for the gathering of specific so, who is undertaking that build, you, the MNO
technical data, for CAPEX optimisation. Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech: In or towerco?
order to accommodate the exponential growth and
In October 2018, IPT Powertech Guinea initially finance further ESCO opportunities, IPT Powertech Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech: IPT
took over the management of the existing power has successfully raised external funding from Powertech’s capacity to modernise existing sites has
equipment on sites representing 100% of the biggest several financial institutions such as DEG, EIB, been significantly altered and fine-tuned over the
network of the country, including Operation and FINNFUND and Proparco. years. The challenges reside in the factors related to
Maintenance. We are progressing in line with Our business model coupled with the financial country-specific parameters such as the availability
the strategic direction of Orange, by being fully strength of the group attracted the DFIs to partner of skilled subcontractors and workers, weather
committed to the KPIs and SLAs, while Orange with IPT Powertech specially in the direction conditions, support of the MNO/towerco, et cetera.
is benefitting from all the agreed savings. Our of improving power availability, reducing CO2 All these factors tremendously affect the capacity
modernisation has been aligned with strategic emissions, and providing better availability of the and speed of such an activity. As for new sites, IPT

While the ESCO market growth has been driven for the past two
years by the Orange strategic direction, we do find that many global
MNOs are considering the ESCO model specifically in areas where
power availability is a challenge
Powertech is responsible for the design, supply Khaled W. Habbal, VP & COO, IPT Powertech: While
Subscribe to the definitive
and installation of power equipment. The pace and the ESCO market growth has been driven for the
capacity in rolling these sites is usually faster than past two years by the Orange strategic direction, digital repository of data
modernising already existing ones. we do find that many global MNOs are considering and strategic insight for the
the ESCO model specifically in areas where power
Our capacity depends from one market to availability is a challenge.
telecom tower industry
another and has all been aligned with the
MNOs and towerco strategic requirements. The We see a lot of opportunities coming in the market-
group being vertically integrated, enables us whether in the Middle East, East Africa, North and
to direct our resources from manufacturing of Central Africa, or West Africa. There is a lot of
the major equipment all the way to installing global interest in the ESCO model, and we are in
on sites, which makes IPT Powertech the most discussion with major MNOs to further expand the
agile in implementing on time and meeting the knowledge on the benefits of the ESCO model, and
performance indicators. its adaptability to their different needs.
TowerXchange: Finally, how do you see We see in the next years, major drive particularly
the immediate and long-term pipeline of from MNOS, who already took strategic decision not
opportunities for ESCOs? And how can we to sell their towers and to keep it as strategic asset Tower counts | Transactions |
accelerate that pipeline to unlock greater by divesting the challenge of power particularly Market studies | CXO interviews
efficiencies faster? where power availability is not reliable<

How and why ESCOs work for TowerXchange: Please can you introduce ieng
Group and its ESCO subsidiary CREI.
operators and investors Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: ieng Group was
established in 2007 in Ghana and is now present in
Infrastructure experts, i-eng Group, expand their support to the telecom 18 countries in Africa and Asia. We are a leading
industry and add Central African Republic to their ESCO portfolio provider of O&M and EPC services for the telecom
and power industries in the region. We currently
Established in 2007, i-eng Group is a leading employ 2,000 employees across our operations.
provider of EPC and O&M services for the
telecom and power industries in Africa and other Our two subsidiaries are GreenPole, who specialises
emerging markets. Building on operations in 18 in the design, supply and manufacturing of hybrid
countries ieng established CREI (Communication power solutions (used for all our ESCO projects) and
and Renewable Energy Infrastructure) as its ESCO Eki.Struct who specialises in the design, supply and
arm. Leveraging on the reputation, operational manufacturing of telecom steel structures.
expertise and network of ieng Group, CREI aims
to become a leading player in the ESCO industry. The Group established CREI (Communication and
TowerXchange speak to ieng Group’s Co-CEO, Renewable Energy Infrastructure) as its investment
Kadri Hakim to catch up on the company’s arm that develops, owns and operates a portfolio
latest developments and how ieng Group is of renewable energy assets across Africa and
strengthening its position as an invaluable partner Emerging Markets. Basically, it just made sense to
to the African and Asian telecom markets. create the investment vehicle for our ESCO projects
aiming to become a leader ESCO player while
leveraging on the reputation, operational/technical
Keywords: Africa, Camouflage, Capacity Enhancements, CREI, Densification, Eki-StructEnergy, ESCOs,
expertise and network of ieng Group. We believe in
GreenPole, ieng Group, Multi-country Partner, Network Rollout, O&M, Site Surveys, Urban vs Rural,
reducing environmental impact and saving on CO2
Vendor Directory, Who’s Who
emissions by deploying more energy-efficient power
solutions thus providing a valuable alternative
to operators that seek to outsource their power
Read this article to learn: generation requirements.
< How ESCO deals are structured and operationalised
< Why investors like working with ESCOs TowerXchange: What are the advantages for a
< Details of the new CAR deal MNO working with CREI as an ESCO partner?
< How i-eng drive down costs and improve availability on sites How can the ESCO model be versioned to suit
different priorities?

Figure one: ieng Group’s geographical footprint
LEBANON
Figure two: ieng Group’s range of telecommunication services

Network deployment Fibre optics Managed services
< Site planning, acquisition and property services < Design & Construction < Operations and maintenance
< Design engineering and construction < Testing and commissioning < Procurement, logistics and
< Towers and masts solutions < Procurement, logistics and warehouse management warehouse management
< Power supply
< Procurement, logistics and warehouse management
< Network equipment installation

Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: One of the main Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: Once the ESCO Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: Improving the
advantages we have is that our group offers a fully Master Service Agreement (MSA) is signed the first site performance is based on three main factors;
integrated solution covering all the scope related step is to undertake a thorough audit of all the sites the HPS design and efficiency, the installation and
to ESCO allowing a single point of contact with the under consideration and identify site characteristics commissioning, and the operation and maintenance
client. We design and supply our own GreenPole including: grid availability, space on the site, of the site over a period of 10 years.
Hybrid Power System (HPS), we handle the full telecom equipment load.
construction scope from shipping, warehousing, We design and supply our own GreenPole HPS. We
transportation to installation and commissioning, Those criteria are needed to design the best fit and have supplied more than 2000 HPS in the last five
we then handle the full O&M scope in-house which most efficient HPS for each site. We usually aim years, some of which are successfully operating
is our main strength as a Group. I believe this is the to install as many solar panels on off-grid sites to under an ESCO model for more than four years.
main reason behind the high quality of our service achieve the lowest TCOs and highest savings.
and our attractive competitive offering, We handle the installation and commissioning
The following phase is the fund raising process
in-house, our team is expert in troubleshooting on
which is followed by the manufacturing and
The ESCO model can be applied in so many different GreenPole HPS, they have been doing it for the last
supply of the HPS. During this phase, we take
models and tailor made to clients’ networks and five years and can perform the necessary actions in
over the network of the client and handle the full
need. To list few examples, we could propose an the most remote areas.
O&M scope while still using the existing power
ESCO model: – on the whole network or on only
equipment. We always achieve the first increase
specific sites of the network where the ESCO O&M in emerging markets is our core business,
in network availability at this stage, a major step
business case is more attractive like off-grid or we’ve been maintaining sites for more than 11
towards a successful partnership. After that we
difficult access sites, – ESCO owning the power years, and currently manage a portfolio of 14,000
ship, deliver and install the HPS on each site;
assets or keeping the ownership with the client; sites, including networks in the most challenging
once commissioned, the site becomes operational
– guaranteeing the energy fees (fuel and grid) or markets like Afghanistan and DRC. This is probably
under the ESCO model. The installation and
just pass-through, and many more alterations. The commissioning of the equipment is a very delicate the most important part because it is the only
ESCO is a 10+ years partnership with the client, we and crucial stage in determining the system’s activity that is spread over 10 years. Also, and I
believe the ESCO partner need to understand and performance, if not done properly we won’t reach always use this example; designing, installing and
align as much as possible with the strategy of the the projected fuel consumption levels and hence maintaining one HPS in your backyard is pretty
client and accordingly offer a tailored ESCO version jeopardizing the whole model. Once the site is straight forward, but managing many of them
that is in line with the client’s objectives. under ESCO model, we again achieve a higher spread all over a country with a complex rural
network availability, in line with the agreed SLA of landscape is a different ball game altogether.
TowerXchange: Can you take me through the the signed ESCO MSA.
phases of a project from agreeing an ESCO It is most probably our expertise and experience
contract, to auditing and taking control of TowerXchange: How do you guarantee in those three areas that enable us to guarantee
the sites, then the process of modernising improvements in site performance given the the performance of our services regardless of the
equipment? operational challenges? operational challenges.

TowerXchange: What are the typical Despite the difficult times we are all facing, the TowerXchange: Please sum up how you see
improvements in site availability once sites ride was very smooth with Sunfunder and we are the prospects for ESCOs over a turbulent year
transfer to ESCO-management? happy to have found the right partner – we aim ahead.
to collaborate together on our upcoming projects
Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: In our ESCO, and have many more opportunities together. Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: We didn’t see
we guarantee a power availability of 99.95% for clients cancelling any of the ongoing ESCO RFPs
the whole network including off-grid sites, and
TowerXchange: What lies in your future, will due to Covid-19, some RFPs have been delayed or
this is always a significant improvement on the
ESCOs evolve by serving community power, or extended in view of the situation but all clients
existing network availability. It is difficult to say
commercial and industrial off-takes? are still keen to move forward with their ESCO
how much this improvement is over the Pre-
projects. In the end, MNOs still need their sites to
ESCO availability, as the existing client network
Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: This is be maintained and having a good reliable network
availability depends on several factors mainly;
the condition of the existing power equipment, something we are seriously looking into. We is needed more than ever during this time not
the site distribution/country landscape, and the currently generate electricity for telecom sites in to mention the benefits of outsourcing power
site typologies. It is more difficult to secure a high rural area with no grid, so expanding our power complexity to a third reliable party. In our opinion,
availability on an off-grid sites in comparison to a systems to cater for communities just makes so we believe that ESCO benefits are reinforced
grid connected site. much sense. However, the implementation is during tough periods like this: allowing savings,
not straight forward and much more complex MNOs can focus on its core network, no upfront
TowerXchange: How successful has the ESCO than the ESCO model. Several new complexities investment, outsourcing power complexity and
model been in attracting new investment to come into play, the likes of: revenue collection, improved network availability.
emerging market telecoms and energy? licensing, regulatory framework, pricing,
consequences of grid reaching the area in the In regards to our ongoing ESCO contracts, the
Kadri Hakim, Co-CEO, ieng Group: The ESCO future, et cetera. projects are moving forward; we have put in
model ticks the right boxes for investors and place BCPs (Business Continuity Plans) which are
funds, it is related to infrastructure in developing
And those factors are very country specific, so updated on weekly basis and shared with our
markets and delivering renewable clean energy
what may seem to work in a country doesn’t clients to navigate through this unusual period.
– we align our goals to provide a positive impact
necessary work in other countries. This project It is a collaboration process with all the involved
and socio-economic benefit with both our
is currently a work in progress, and we plan to parties to ensure we overcome the challenges faced
investors and clients.
test mini-grid systems in few countries. We have during this period. It hasn’t been straight forward,
We are very pleased to announce closing our seen some MNOs interested in serving community but we are basically taking all required measures
latest financing deal for Orange ESCO in the power, and they are collaborating with us to to ensure the projects are being delivered and we
Central African Republic with Sunfunder, based see how we can achieve this together by finding are achieving our contractual SLAs. Our group is
out of Kenya specialised in providing innovative solutions to identified challenges (for example the ISO 22301:2012 certified for business continuity
debt financing for solar enterprises working in MNO mobile money platform might be a solution management system, and this is helping us manage
Emerging and Frontier Markets. for the revenue collection). during this difficult period<

ESCO 101
The principle drivers for MNOs and tower Optimising energy efficiency is a capitally intensive
“
Energy Vision has
delivered Power
companies (towercos) to partner with ESCOs undertaking. While many MNOs are struggling with Availability (PA) of 99.99%,
are simple: the need to reduce operational debt-laden balance sheets, their capital expenditure
costs and the cost of network expansion, whilst priorities are often acquiring new spectrum and reduced CO2 emissions
maintaining high uptime standards and the extending / densifying their networks – hybridising
associated quality of service experience for cell site energy systems is seldom at the front of by 3,088 tons/year and
subscribers. the queue. While towercos that provide power-
as-a-service do have an incentive to reduce their
reduced fuel consumption
While reducing the cost of cell site energy is a key cost of sales by improving energy efficiency, they by 1,157m3 per year,
driver, making energy costs more predictable, to seldom push beyond the ‘quick wins’ of battery
the point of levelising the cost of cell site energy, hybridisation. While some power-as-a-service equating to a 68% fuel and
is similarly important. towercos have invested in solar hybrids, their
priority is always going to be to lease-up their CO2 emission reduction!
Energy represents around 50% of the total
[1]
towers and extend their networks.
operating costs for many cell sites, particularly – Ofer Ahiraz, CEO,
those off-grid or on unreliable grid connections.
Whilst renewable energy programmes are
progressing from pilot to full rollouts, the
majority of off-grid / unreliable grid cell site
power systems are still dependent on diesel, the
Only ESCOs have an undiluted focus on cell site
energy efficiency.
Partnering with ESCOs also reduces the complexity

of sourcing, deploying, operating and managing
Energy Vision “
cost of which is compounded by delivery costs hybrid power systems. Such power systems often
and pilferage. Pilferage is widely confessed to combine many different suppliers and technologies,
account for 10-15% of diesel costs, but in extreme so the ESCO becomes the single point of contact for
circumstances it can rise above 30%. cell site energy<

Early adopters of ESCO
African and CALA towercos more cautious
about ESCOs: In contrast to India and Myanmar,
towercos in Africa and CALA towercos are more
partnerships sceptical that ESCOs can help them. In Africa

because of their own successes in providing and
improving the efficiency of cell site energy. In
Orange pioneers among MNOs: Among the MNOs, while Indus Towers and their soon-to-be merged CALA because towercos have thus far shied away
Orange has the most progressive attitude toward counterparts at Bharti Infratel have also been from managing power. But in Africa towercos
working with ESCOs, with six live projects totalling ESCO clients for many years. Tower Vision and have since explored collaboration with ESCOs
around 3,200 sites. Orange has ongoing RFPs for Ascend Telecom also have a proportion of their sites in greenfield markets like Ethiopia, and in the
sites in multiple additional countries, of which DRC managed by ESCOs. Americas MNOs are pushing towercos to manage
and Cameroon should close this year, taking sites power, which they may in turn outsource to an
managed to 3,800. MNTI, one of Mytel’s towerco partners in Myanmar, ESCO partner.
has a contract with ESCO Voltalia to provide energy
Airtel, Millicom and Mytel (Viettel) also have live to 171 sites, while IPT PowerTech also provides the ESCO DNA: the origin of the species
ESCO projects, while Econet has carved out their power systems for towerco PAMEL as well as their ESCOs generally come from one of four different
own ESCO (Distributed Power Africa), and Ooredoo anchor tenants Ooredoo Myanmar. origins:
has partnered with IPT to provide power for 2,200
“
of their sites in Myanmar. Etisalat, MTN, Vodacom,
Ethiotel, Safaricom and Zain are all considering
collaborating with ESCOs. In India, RCOM had
been a pioneer of ESCO partnerships before the
operator’s recent demise, with their infrastructure
assets being acquired by Reliance Jio. Meanwhile, IPT PowerTech has recently renewed their contract with IHS in Nigeria and
Vodafone India and Idea had been ESCO partners
taken on the management of the power equipment on additional towers.
prior to the sale of their towers to American Tower.
The transferability of those contracts to American We now manage 4,500 sites under a guaranteed savings model which makes
Tower will likely be subject to the towerco’s exacting
high standards.
Towercos in India and Myanmar partner

us the largest of the different partners involved in the initiative – Khaled
Habbal, VP & COO, IPT PowerTech
“
with ESCOs: Among Indian towercos, the
aforementioned American Tower India continues
to be a significant customer of India’s ESCOs,

1. Managed service providers with proven as an operational ESCO or as an investor in an
operational execution capabilities moving up existing ESCO remains to be seen. The rise of the in-house,
the value chain to acquire and operate energy
operator-captive ESCO
equipment. There are countless small, local quasi-ESCOs
2. Energy equipment vendors (often containerised found among an ecosystem of telecom managed
hybrid energy solution providers) extending beyond services providers that is highly fragmented A handful of progressive MNOs are starting
vendor finance to take more risk by deploying their and localised. Some of those small local to provide energy-as-a-service to third party
own capital. managed service providers own and operate tenants who lease space on their cell sites,
3. Utility scale independent power producers the energy equipment at a handful of cell and to clients in the local community, thus
diversifying into telecom. sites. Indeed, technically one could say that creating a new class of “operator-carve-out”
4. Pure ESCO startups. land owners who provide power as well as
ESCOs. The only publicly visible example
real estate to cell sites are providing an ESCO-
of this to date is Econet’s Distributed Power
We have not yet seen one of the electric utility or like service. However, this ‘Mom and Pop’ /
oil and gas giants (such as Engie or Total) directly small and medium enterprise-led layer of the Africa, which operates both the tower and
enter the telecom ESCO market, but TowerXchange ecosystem is both unquantifiable and difficult to power infrastructure for 1,800 of Econet’s cell
are aware of several that maintain a watching brief scale, and as such they have been omitted from sites in Zimbabwe, with a further 200 solar
over the market – whether they eventually enter this report< sites, including switching centres, Econet
buildings and Liquid PoPs. A less structured,
“
but no less innovative, approach has been
taken by Safaricom, which is providing
power-as-a-service to tenants on its cell sites
– effectively acting more like a power-as-a-
service towerco than an ESCO.
We now see technology companies, pureplay ESCOs, different types of
investors and O&M contractors all submitting bids in our RFPs; often A similar trend emerged in the telecom tower
in partnership with each other to either bring a better cost of finance industry, where increasingly we see MNOs
or greater experience in the sector to the bid - Nat-sy Missamou,

Director of New Business Models for Network Infrastructure,
Orange MEA
“ carve out and keep their towers rather than
sell them to towercos. Operator-captive
towercos (towercos that are themselves at
least 51% owned by parent MNOs) now own
51% of the world’s cell sites. Could we see a
similar rise of the operator-captive ESCO?<

Community power
TowerXchange that “70-80% of a healthy ESCO’s
revenue should come from the telecom anchor, with
sale of power to communities being icing on the
cake.”
Unfortunately, politics and regulation often prove to

be inhibitors of community power initiatives, with
pricing expectations unrealistically associated with
the cost of grid power rather than with the cost of
kerosene, which is often the energy source being
replaced. Another challenge is simply the lower
density of power users around remote cell sites,
which means the economics don’t always stack up
to extend telecom ESCOs into full blown community
power propositions<
The kWh consumption business model is seldom ‘anchor’ of a business plus community power model
“ 70-80% of a healthy ESCO’s
revenue should come from
used by pure-play telecom ESCOs, as their client is already exemplified by OMC in India and by Yoma the telecom anchor, with sale
MNOs and towercos require more certainty about Micro Power in Myanmar. Many other telecom
of power to communities
their energy costs. We expect to see more variable
kWh consumption, or power purchase agreement
(PPA), models used as telecom ESCOs extend their
footprint beyond the tower to provide power to
ESCOs have the stated intent provide community
power, but it remains early days and the majority of
telecom ESCOs 30,375 sites provide power just to the
cell site systems, perhaps extending to include the
being icing on the cake “
adjacent community businesses and homes. MNO’s retail outlet and/or a charging station.
The principle of using a telecom tower as the One knowledgeable commentator emphasised to

ESCO economics $ Improvement capex: Estimating the price of a
hybridising a cell site is a bit like asking the price
of a top flight football player – it depends on your
requirements. If you think you need a Neymar-
“
equivalent, you’re going to pay a substantial
premium for a plug and play containerised hybrid
power system. The good news is that the total
cost of ownership (TCO) is reduced by very low
maintenance requirements for such high quality
A cell site powered 24/7 by dual diesel gensets can easily burn systems. At the other end of the scale, you can
28,000 litres of diesel per annum – that’s a lot of refuelling truck assemble a hybrid power system from anything
from low-cost to premium components: the range
rolls, a lot of exposure to risk of theft, a lot of damage to the carbon
footprint and, depending on the (volatile) delivered cost of diesel,
that’s a lot of opex!
“ extending from a low-end capital outlay of US$10-
13,000 per site in India, rising to US$20-40,000
in Myanmar and SSA, inclusive of delivery and
installation.
Figure nine provides a comparison of how costs

break down in India, based on a power system with
High energy opex: Energy costs in emerging, is compounded by the compressed replacement 6kW solar capacity and 750AH of battery capacity,
volatile grid markets generally vary between cycles of diesel gensets run that intensively (sub- compared with a broadly similar site in SSA (4.5-
US$500-1,000 per site per month, with India at the three year lifecycles are the norm). While battery 6kW solar with 1,000AH battery capacity and a
low end (due to scale and low labour and material hybridisation provides some good quick wins, 21KVA genset).
costs) and logistically challenging African markets batteries can need replacing even more frequently
at the high end (due to scarcity, therefore expense, that gensets, with battery replacement typically ESCOs don’t just deploy capex into hybridisation.
of labour, and the high delivered cost of equipment required every 24-36 months, again exacerbated by There is also great return on investment to be found
and diesel). theft. in connecting off-grid sites to the grid (although
grid extensions can be phenomenally expensive!)
A cell site powered 24/7 by dual diesel gensets The latest generation of hybrid power systems can Even grid connected, reliability remains a factor,
can easily burn 28,000 litres of diesel per annum cut diesel consumption between 60% and 100%, with many electricity grids in emerging markets
– that’s a lot of refuelling truck rolls, a lot of depending load characteristics, solar irradiance, categorised as “unreliable” as they provide less than
exposure to risk of theft, a lot of damage to the and on how well designed (“dimensioned”) the 16 hours of usable electricity per day – not just due
carbon footprint and, depending on the (volatile) power system is to meet the specific energy to downtime but also due to power surges, and loss
delivered cost of diesel, that’s a lot of opex! This requirements of the site, but at what capital cost? of phases<

Investibility $
Concept proved: Telecom ESCOs are coming of age
– the business model has achieved ‘launch velocity’
and the volume of new contracts and new sites
recognising the need to invest in people – local people
– combining local knowledge and cultural awareness
with high levels of technical competency, and
“ We are currently exploring supplementary
finance options to reduce our cost of debt
and expand our network, so we’d love
is increasing year on year. Telecom ESCOs are no building ‘employers of choice’ to compete for scarce to connect with other members of the
longer a hypothetical business model toyed with engineering and technical skills.
TowerXchange community to identify
by companies looking for some nice pictures to
put in their Corporate Social Responsibility report!
TowerXchange has identified 20 ESCOs operating over
30,000 cell sites, plus a further six credible, aspiring
Access to low cost capital: For all the positive signs
emerging from the telecom ESCO market, there
remains one fundamental challenge to be overcome
long term investors interested in the ESCO
market – Partha P Chatterjee, CEO,
Bhaskar Solar
“
ESCOs – that’s a market scale indicative that we are from an investibility point of view: can ESCOs access
beyond proof of concept. If we exclude companies capital at a low enough cost compared to towercos?
that are primarily technology vendors or managed With towercos owning the energy equipment at 53% of and maintaining the power systems. And if the ESCO
service providers, and focus on the bona fide ESCOs, the world’s cell sites, resolving this equation is critical. is only responsible for deploying and managing
TowerXchange has identified 18 investible ESCO Towercos have years, sometimes decades of proven equipment, then it starts to look like a managed
platforms, many with proven cash flows and well- track record. Their business models are perceived to services deal, which may be less attractive to investors.
structured, long term contracts with credit-worthy offer lower risk and higher margins than ESCOs, majny
counterparties. listed towercoss have very healthy valuations, and they The ESCO business model, and individual ESCO
have easy access to low debt in low interest markets. investment opportunities, must make sense through
Highly investible management teams: It is also This all adds up to towercos currently being able to a lens of asset management. Financial metrics like
important to note that a small but growing band access lower cost capital than the majority of ESCOs. return on assets, return on invested capital, and return
of proven ESCO CXOs are emerging. We’re starting on equity will be critical.
to see significant talent being attracted into ESCO Consider this example: an ESCO seeking to deploy an
management teams; people many with decades average of US$10,000 per Indian cell site might have a How do ESCOs overcome this barrier? ESCOs may need
of experience raising and structuring long term typical blended cost of capital of 14% (assuming 30% to drive to scale by partnering with MNOs that lack
investments in renewable energy and/or telecom equity, 70% debt financing). That cost of capital must access to the low cost of capital which some towercos
infrastructure, others with ‘hands dirty’ experience of be reflected in the ESCO’s end price to the customer. benefit from. And ESCOs need patient, long-term
driving the installation and maintenance of complex But that customer could be (or could become) investors prepared to invest with realistic expectations
cell site portfolios – many off grid or on unreliable grid American Tower India, which has an estimated cost in terms of IRR, perhaps aided by cleantech subsidies
connections – for leading towercos, managed service of capital of just 2%. This illustrates how often makes or carbon credits. Such capital can be found, but
providers and MNOs. sense for the towerco to self-finance the capex (or at the pool of prospective investors remains shallow.
least a significant portion of that capex), leaving an Hopefully this report will help unlock the flow of
Perhaps more importantly, seasoned ESCOs are ESCO partner with just responsibility for deploying capital!<

Critical success factors
eight local service providers to two national service
providers in just two years. Were ESCOs to replicate
this consolidation of maintenance contracts, like
the towercos, they could double down on their
The importance of boots on the ground: Whether and highly skilled workforce – and the scarcity
investment in their service partners, improving
an ESCO has origins as a managed service provider of those skills exacerbates the problems of staff
performance and financial stability.
with a substantial installation and maintenance turnover (and inflated remuneration expectations).
resource, or whether the ESCO is a purely financial
Credit worthiness remains key: One critical
vehicle partnering with a managed service provider, Fragmentation of O&M market: ESCOs that don’t
contractual concern is the credit worthiness of the
“boots on the ground” are critical to the success of have ‘boots on the ground’ need to find strong
off-taker. It is notable that early ESCO contracts in
ESCOs. But just having headcount and a fleet of off- local O&M partners. The business of refilling diesel
Africa have been with tier one MNOs, despite interest
road vehicles isn’t enough to meet this requirement. and maintaining cell sites remains a fragmented
in the model from the continent’s 50+ tier two to
ESCOs typically deploy advanced technologies market, with services often contracted out to small
three MNOs. Similarly, Africa’s ‘Big Three’ tower
to cell sites – field engineers used to topping up local service providers whose cash flows are too
companies have yet to conclude a sales and leaseback
fuel tanks, changing air conditioning filters and ‘lumpy’ to be considered investible and scalable.
with a tier two or three MNO due to concerns over
replacing batteries won’t have the required skillset MNOs overcame the challenge of fragmentation by
their ability to meet monthly lease payments over a
if the project, for example, requires swapping out outsourcing O&M to tier one OEMs, adding ‘layer
ten year contract. However, towercos do take tier two
AC for DC diesel gensets. Similarly, complex hybrid cake’ but reducing complexity. The sensitivities
and three MNOs as secondary clients – leasing them
systems require talented engineers in the NOC. The of the ESCO financial model are unlikely to
space on towers acquired from tier one MNOs. ESCOs
pressure on monitoring and field engineering skills accommodate ‘layer cake’. Towercos have addressed
need predictable cash flows from long-term partners:
can be relieved by ‘plug and play’, remotely managed this same problem of fragmentation by increasingly
in the near term they should probably replicate the
solutions such however , the fact remains that an consolidating maintenance contracts into fewer
towercos’ strategy of focusing on the most credit
ESCO needs to recruit, upskill and retain a substantial companies – one African towerco rationalised from
worthy counterparts.
“
Long contract duration: Contract duration is
critical for ESCOs, given that the hybrid renewable
The solutions we offer to the market are much more advanced than what is typically on technologies they deploy have longer return on
investment cycles than the incumbent diesel-oriented
today’s cell sites. Our equipment is IP controlled and remotely monitored, which means
solutions. While simpler ESCO sites may require only
our technicians need a level of competency and skills way beyond oil changes. Our field
a few thousand dollars of investment to upgrade
technicians are using their laptops to configure controllers and communicate with different energy storage systems, upgrading an off-grid cell
elements of sites. Without the right training, support and information refreshment, we
won’t achieve the necessary talent level, so we have no option to outsource - Ofer Ahiraz,
CEO, Energy Vision
“ site running twin diesel generators to a solar-battery
hybrid can cost anything from US$10-40,000. Any
ESCO contract length less than seven years will
therefore have to be priced at a substantial premium,
if indeed such a short term were investible at all,

“
Figure ten: ESCO contract duration (where disclosed) Source: TowerXchange
ESCO Report 2018
Aktivco+Millicom, Chad
Aktivco+Orange, Burkina Faso Our first challenge is to make MNOs and
towercos realise it is in their own interest to
Aktivco+Orange, Côte d'Ivoire
sign long term contracts. Investing in solar
Aktivco+Orange, Niger
panels and batteries requires substantial
Applied Solar+Various, India upfront capex, and equipment lifecycles can
Ardom Towergen, India be in excess of 20-30 years. While contracts in
CCE+various, India the energy sector are typically 15-25 years, in
Energy Vision+Airtel, Gabon
HYBRICO+Tigo, Honduras
Voltalia+MNTI, Myanmar
required - Charles-Henri Duprez, Managing
Director, Renewable Energy for Telecom,
“
telecoms a minimum duration of 10-15 years is
Voltalia
2yrs 4yrs 6yrs 8yrs 10yrs 12yrs 14yrs 16yrs
while contracts of more than 15 years often incur to acquire smaller ESCOs. Another route to scale Engaging with towercos: Despite the aforementioned
too much uncertainty to be palatable to MNO and would be to develop a compelling business case challenges, ESCOs have made remarkable headway
towerco anchor tenants. Referring to figure ten, of the to not just acquire energy equipment in emerging with MNOs in the last two years, but they have
ten ESCO contracts whose duration was disclosed to markets where the majority of cell sites are off-grid struggled to make a compelling case to partner with
TowerXchange, seven had a ten-year duration, one or unreliable grid connections, but to also provide many emerging market towercos. Decision makers
was for twelve years, another for nine years, and one backup power solutions for cell sites that are on-grid. at many power-as-a-service towercos feel energy has
was described as “ten to fifteen years.” become one of their own core competencies, a critical
Partnering with MNOs: ESCOs report an ongoing part of their value proposition to MNOs, and a source
Scale: Only three telecom ESCOs have broken battle to negotiate investible ESCO contracts with of improved margins as the towerco deploys capex
through the 5,000 site barrier, a nominal point MNOs. Too many MNOs see ESCOs as a glorified to reduce opex. As a result, many emerging market
predicting when an ESCO can start to unlock managed service provider as opposed to a strategic towercos remain reluctant to hand over energy
significant economies of scale in terms of overhead partner that is deploying US$millions of their equipment to ESCOs. Their reluctance is compounded
and administration costs. Given that a significant own capex, and taking substantial risk out of the by the fact that many towercos have access to
proportion of the larger portfolios of cell sites in MNO’s balance sheet. ESCO contract negotiations lower cost capital than ESCOs. The key to winning
emerging markets have been acquired by power-as-a- that squeeze margins to an unrealistic level may hearts and minds at towercos could lie in ESCOs
service towercos, in order to achieve a breakthrough ultimately prove uninvestible, hindering the ESCO’s demonstrating that an emerging market towerco
in scale, ESCOs are either going to have to persuade ability to upgrade sites swiftly and achieve KPIs. with an uncluttered, vertical real estate-only business
one of those power-as-a-service towercos to partner MNOs also need to empower ESCOs to make their model could be valued at a higher multiple than a
with them, or they must painstakingly rollup smaller own technology partner selections, and not limit towerco encumbered by the complexity of providing
site portfolios from the MNOs, or they could seek them to using the MNOs’ own preferred suppliers. power-as-a-service<

ESCOs and towercos: where they are, Vs market towers on the right. On such a scale, you
would generally find the developed market, ‘vertical
real estate’ towercos nestled comfortably on the left,
and aren’t, competing for the same sites and the ESCOs most comfortable on the right. As
such, the ESCO represents the perfect companion
business model to the ‘vertical real estate’ towerco,
“
which considers the deployment and management
of vertical real estate as its core competency, and
lease-up to multiple tenants as its core revenue
ESCOs offer a solution in areas that towercos cannot; we don’t see ESCOs Differentiating the power-as-a-
service towerco from other towercos
as competitive to towercos, rather we see them as complementary -
Nat-sy Missamou, Director of New Business Models for Network
Infrastructure, Orange MEA
“ The original tower company business model
evolved in the mid-nineties as a pure ‘vertical
real estate’ business: the towerco controlled just
the land under the tower and owned the tower
structure itself. Power systems remained the
Power-as-a-service towercos and ESCOs are seldom power-as-a-service towercos, the importance of property and the responsibility of the towercos’
in direct competition in response to specific RFPs. ESCOs convincing these towercos to partner with tenants.
MNOs put out an RFP for an ESCO partner, or them is clear.
they seek to monetise their towers – there are no But when the towerco business model was
known examples where an MNO has explored The current situation of power-as-a-service adapted for emerging markets, first India, then
both partnerships simultaneously, putting ESCOs towercos owning the energy equipment at 53% Africa, towercos assumed responsibility for,
and towercos in direct competition. However, of the world’s cell sites, versus ESCOs’ 1.2%, is and ownership of, shared power systems. And
there is significant overlap in ESCOs’ and towercos’ a little misleading. First of all, very few ESCOs that model was carried into China when China
addressable markets. existed when many of those sites were acquired Tower Corporation was created in 2015,
by towercos. But more importantly, towercos and
Power-as-a-service towercos already own the ESCOs meet subtly but importantly different needs. Power-as-a-service towercos own the energy
energy equipment on 53% of the world’s cell sites, equipment at over 2.6mn sites worldwide.
although that statistic is somewhat distorted by Imagine for a moment that you have plotted every ‘Vertical real estate’ towercos own over 800k
the sheer scale of China Tower Corporation, which cell site in the world on a hypothetical scale, with sites worldwide. On the ‘vertical real estate’
provides power-as-a-service across its ~2mn site the lowest operational complexity, on-grid, urban, towerco sites the energy equipment is still
footprint. Nonetheless, with the energy equipment developed market towers on the left; and the highest owned by MNOs<
on more than half the world’s towers owned by operational complexity, off-grid, rural, emerging

growth driver. The vertical real estate towerco
“
(American Tower notwithstanding) prefers not to
dilute its business model with the complexities (and
perceived risks) of providing cell site energy.
In the middle of this infographic would be the

emerging market towercos that consider power- The Côte d'Ivoire deal was especially significant as Orange wasn’t
as-a-service a core competency and a critical
differentiator. Companies like IHS Towers, Eaton just a co-locating tenant on towerco towers – they had handed over
Towers and Helios Towers in Africa; Indus Towers, the majority of their towers to IHS – proving that even where the
edotco, Tower Vision, Apollo Towers, OCK and
Irrawaddy Green Towers in Asia – and American
Tower’s outposts in India and Africa. Power-as-
a-service towercos are prospective customers of
MNO has forged a deep partnership with a towerco, there can still
be room for an ESCO
“
ESCOs, indeed ESCOs count Indus Towers and
American Tower India among their clients, but
power-as-a-service towercos also effectively
compete with ESCOs for some opportunities, contracts with GreenWish in DRC, where Orange partners’ operational performance and value for
exemplified by edotco recently taking over the was already a co-locating tenant on many Helios money.
power systems at their 1,250 cell sites in Myanmar, Towers; with Aktivco in Burkina Faso, where Orange
which were formerly managed by a leading ESCO. was already co-locating with Eaton Towers; and Any competitive tensions between ESCOs and
most recently with Aktivco again in Côte d'Ivoire, power-as-a-service towercos are eased by four
ESCOs were able to win their first contracts in where Orange were already working with IHS. factors.
Africa by securing portfolios that power-as-a- The Côte d'Ivoire deal was especially significant as
service towercos didn’t want. For example, Africa’s Orange wasn’t just a co-locating tenant on towerco 1. Power pass through leaves a gap for an ESCO
first ESCO of scale only became possible when the towers – they had handed over the majority of their partner: There are different contract and business
sale of Airtel’s sites in Gabon to a towerco proved towers to IHS[7] – proving that even where the MNO model variants within the power-as-a-service
impossible for regulatory reasons, opening up an has forged a deep partnership with a towerco, there towerco category: full service, where the towerco
opportunity for Energy Vision to take responsibility can still be room for an ESCO. owns the power systems and pays for the fuel, and
for the power systems – now extended to include all power pass through, where the power systems are
the passive infrastructure O&M – for the sites. The ESCO model is increasingly seen by MNOs as owned/managed by the towerco, but the electricity
complementary solution to towerco partnerships and diesel bill is passed through to the tenants. The
However, Orange’s recent deals illustrate that ESCOs at sites the towercos don’t want (often rural sites pass through model still leaves a gap in the value
are no longer a secondary target if an MNO cannot where lease-up potential is limited). MNOs also see chain for an ESCO to take over power systems and
attract a towerco partner. Orange has signed ESCO ESCOs as an excellent benchmark for their towerco create value through energy efficiency.

“
left? Apart from the assets of tier three MNOs who,
frankly, no-one prioritises because they often can’t
be trusted to pay their bills, what’s left among the
tier one MNOs are smaller cell site portfolios in less
populous / less wealthy countries. For example,
MTN has partnered with towercos in Nigeria,
We’ve initiated dialogues with many emerging market towercos about Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda
the idea of simplifying their business model by selling their energy and Zambia, but there are still opportunities for
ESCOs to work with MTN in Benin, Guinea Conakry
assets - their entire power-as-a-service business - to an ESCO such as and Afghanistan.
Voltalia. Doing so could make their business model less complex and
4. ESCOs can de-risk emerging market towercos,
less risky, and therefore more attractive to institutional investors -
Charles-Henri Duprez, Managing Director, Renewable Energy for
Telecom, Voltalia
“ making them more attractive to investors:
Emerging market towercos have had a tough time
convincing institutional investors of their value.
Recent prospective IPOs have faltered as a result.
Even though emerging market, power-as-a-service
towercos are doing a good job managing power –
they are improving uptime, achieving service level
agreements, creating efficiencies and profit margins
2. Towercos generally don’t want remote cell wherein a power-as-a-service towerco provides a
– not all institutional investors are convinced that
sites, ESCOs do: As we’ve noted already, an full service at the readily leased-up (easier to refuel)
power-as-a-service revenues are as predictable
emerging market towerco considers tower lease-up sites in urban and suburban locations and along
and attractive as lease-up revenues. This creates
as its primary revenue driver – it makes a margin major transport routes, then the MNO switches downward pressure on towerco valuations. Is it
on energy efficiency gains yes, but its focus is partners to an ESCO for the more remote rural sites. time for emerging market towercos to consider
co-location sales. It’s easier to lease-up a tower to selling their energy assets, and transferring their
multiple MNO tenants in a densely populated urban 3. Towercos generally don’t want small power-as-a-service teams, to ESCOs, thus simplifying
area than it is to lease-up a tower in a rural area portfolios, ESCOs do: Towercos seek economies their residual business as a more familiar ‘vertical
with a smaller population where there is less ARPU of scale, and prevailing opinion seems to be that real estate’ business? This is quite a contentious
to be generated by prospective tenants. Towercos those economies of scale really start to kick in suggestion: frankly TowerXchange think most
are disinclined to build or buy towers where at around 500 sites. Towercos prefer to acquire power-as-a-service towercos are doing a great job.
there isn’t the potential to add a second tenant larger portfolios, or to build in larger countries, And this opportunity has yet to crystalise into any
within 12-18 months. In contrast, ESCOs don’t care to unlock those economies of scale. For example, actual transactions. But if there is a need to manage
about adding tenancies – in fact the economics of towercos have now acquired 38% of the towers investor perceptions and to de-risk emerging
renewable energy work best on lower load, single in Sub Saharan Africa, including most of the tier market towercos by passing on energy risk, to
tenant sites. It’s not difficult to envisage a model one MNOs’ towers in the largest markets. What’s partner with an ESCO is clearly one option<

Ten quick questions Defining an ESCO
about ESCOs TowerXchange uses a broad and inclusive

definition of an ESCO. We define an energy
services company (ESCO, sometimes known
as a TESCO – Telecom Energy Services
ESCOs already own or operate the power systems on more than 25% Company, or RESCO – Renewable Energy
of SSA’s cell sites on unreliable grid connections or off-grid, and Services Company) as any company which
deploys their own capital to acquire energy
TowerXchange foresee that proportion approaching 50% in the next
equipment for telecom cell sites, then selling
two years. As such, it is important to understand a few fundamentals energy back to the site owner (MNO or
about the ESCOs. towerco), either charging a fixed monthly
fee or charging by the kWh consumed. An
alternate model is the ‘guaranteed savings’
model, under which the towerco or MNO
continues to deploy their own capex, but
their ESCO partners still take a risk in
guaranteeing the performance of their
systems.
1. What kind of energy equipment do

ESCOs buy?
While there are a couple of ‘technology

agnostic’ ESCOs, Africa’s largest ESCOs
deploy their own hybrid energy solutions. As
such, manufacturers of containerised, plug
and play hybrid energy systems will find it
difficult to sell to ESCOs – so they may need
to compete to win ESCO contracts directly.
However, most ESCOs are aggregators of

third party components, of which they ESCOs 2. How long does it take an ESCO to against a baseline based on the cost of
emerging as the fastest growing, and soon modernise its sites? passive infrastructure, energy opex and
the largest, category of buyers in SSA. security.
It can take up to a year to negotiate the SLAs
ESCOs standardise where possible, and are and KPIs, and to finalise an ESCO contract, “As many of the MNO’s costs are
inclined to use proven solutions with which but the process can be expedited when transferred to the ESCO, and Camusat
their field maintenance teams are familiar. subsequent contracts are iterations of an was already providing managed services
Some ESCO partnerships include explicit initial agreement. for many of these sites, we already know
targets to increase utilisation of renewables: how much fuel goes into the existing sites,
“our green energy ratio was 3% – Even when a contract is signed, ESCOs so we know inherited fuel and security
modernisation driven by ESCOs should drive don’t start upgrading sites right away – they costs,” said Orange’s partner ESCO
this over 50%,” said one MNO. start with a comprehensive audit of sites to Aktivco. “This is why the strongest ESCOs
determine the ideal solutions. While ESCOs are already operational companies – we
Most ESCOs continue to primarily use lead- typically modernise the energy equipment at have a good understanding of the cost of a
acid batteries – “we’re open to lithium-ion,” 2-4% of their portfolio per month, one their maintenance site visit. Sometimes we also
said one ESCO “but not convinced”. biggest challenges is the lag between the absorb the MNO’s operational team, so
order and installation of equipment, which we need to know the overhead costs too.
All equipment must integrate with the ESCO’s typically takes two to three months. We prefer the MNO to be as transparent
monitoring and management platform. as possible about their existing costs,
ESCOs aim to upgrade the energy equipment otherwise we’d have to inflate our quote to
Most ESCOs are at a relatively early stage at the majority of their sites, typically over a be safe.”
in their evolution, such that vendor 24 month period. Most ESCOs are prepared to
financing can be attractive to them, although run down any remaining lifecycle of legacy Of course ESCOs deploy substantial capex
operational delivery and the ability to power systems before modernising sites. into site modernisation, the effect of which
achieve SLAs will always be their greatest on opex is not always clear at the outset
priorities. 3. What savings are MNOs looking for of the agreement. So it may be a couple of
when working with ESCOs? And how years before the full TCO can be compared
ESCOs consider total cost of ownership (TCO), profitable are ESCOs? before and after the portfolio has been
not just the capital cost of solutions, and with fully modernised. Only then will we be
ten year contracts, ESCOs’ TCO horizon may For Orange, targeted savings are based on able to make a final judgement about how
be longer than an MNO’s or even a towerco’s. a total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis, profitable ESOs are.

Orange proudly proclaim that their ESCO There is also a growing feeling that it would Indexation tends to be calibrated according
projects enable their partners to be profitable be healthy to have more than the two to to the energy mix. Where energy primarily
from year one, a suggestion not disputed three ESCOs that are currently securing the comes from the grid, indexation is primarily
by their biggest partners. With the ESCO’s majority of contracts in Africa, to mitigate linked to CPI. Where energy primarily comes
fees fixed from the outset of the contract, counterparty risk. from diesel, indexation is primarily linked to
achieving profitability is contingent upon the price of diesel.
reducing energy opex, which first means “Some MNOs are less focused on site
reducing diesel consumption. This in turn is modernisation, they just have price and 6. How do ESCO agreements accommodate
dependent on operational performance and performance targets,” said one ESCO. “Other changes in power load, as next generation
site modernisation. So just because an ESCO MNOs want to understand how you will networks are rolled out or as co-locations
reach those performance targets, for example
can be profitable in year one, doesn’t mean are added?
in terms of the number of sites modernised
to say it will be.
per month, and the impact on their green
Orange explained that they undertake
energy ratio.”
Some aspiring ESCOs have questioned an audit of every site prior to opening an
whether that near term profitability is ESCO RFP, assessing the current and future
5. How are ESCOs paid, in what currency,
achievable without the ESCO bundling configuration – so there’s visibility of site
and is there indexation?
passive and active maintenance, together configuration changes anticipated, for
with site security. What is clear is that all While there are variants on the model, most example with 4G overlays increasing power
stakeholders agree that the ESCO business ESCOs agree a fixed fee per site per month. requirements. Orange’s terms are described
model is significantly enhanced when There are typically a number of different as “flexible enough to accommodate change
additional MNOs from the same country rates for different site typologies. over the ten year term of the ESCO contract.”
partner with the same ESCO.
One ESCO revealed that they were paid in One of Orange’s partner ESCOs added “We
4. How do MNOs evaluate respondents to three parts: are aligned to our MNO partners’ changing
an ESCO RFP – is price the primary factor? < The fee related to energy is paid in power load. We know that if a site starts with
whatever currency they buy the fuel in a 3kW load, it probably won’t stay at 3kW
Of course price is a significant factor, but < The O&M fee is typically paid in local over the ten year term of the contract. The
the financial strength of the ESCO company currency load, the site typology, even the location of
is critical – it is important for the ESCO to < Fees related to capex are typically paid the site may change. Flexibility is key, but yes
demonstrate their capability in the long in Euros or U.S. dollars so as to minimise our pricing changes based on load and as the
term. FX risk site typology changes over the years.”

7. Do ESCOs acquire the existing power Where emerging market towercos remain partnering with an ESCO in DRC and,
systems at cell sites when they assume reluctant to partner with ESCOs, towerco potentially, in South Africa.
control? sites might be medium term rather than
near term targets for ESCOs. ESCOs can still Once an ESCO is active in a country,
Some ESCO contracts transfer ownership of partner with MNOs alongside a towerco, convincing the other MNOs to partner with
legacy power assets from MNO to ESCO, but as exemplified by Orange Cote d’Ivoire, the same ESCOs would unlock significant
more often, the ESCO receives an indefinite which is working with both IHS Towers and economies of scale, so this is also a priority.
right of use for free. In either case, the ESCO Aktivco. We have already seen ESCOs take
will deploy its own capex to modernise, over 100% of the sites for MNOs in countries The “TowerXchange ESCO Market Report
after which the ESCO will own the power without towercos present – a fact which 2018” identified a total addressable market
illustrates that the addressable market for for ESCOs of 125,280 cell sites in SSA and
equipment.
ESCOs includes on-grid as well as bad grid MENA, of which around 20,000 (16%) are
and off-grid sites. already contracte
8. What happens at the end of the ESCO
contract?
The near term pipeline of ESCO 10. How will the role of the ESCO expand
opportunities consists of ~3,000 Orange in the future?
In the unlikely event that an ESCO contract
sites in Mali, Cameroon, the Central African
is not extended, the MNO typically has a
Republic and Egypt, the opportunity in the The scope of ESCOs is expanding all the
reversibility clause giving them the right to
latter country being subject to resolution time, from power-as-a-service to full passive
buy the power equipment. of issues related to diesel subsidies. Orange and active infrastructure maintenance
has identified a total of 15,000 sites, in and security. ESCOs are already starting
9. What is the addressable market for 13 countries, which could be transferred to expand beyond cell sites to manage the
ESCOs? to ESCOs. A substantial ESCO RFP is in power systems at data centres, technical
progress from Ethio Telecom, while another sites and MNOs’ retail outlets. ESCOs are also
There are a range of opinions on this matter, large ESCO opportunity is imminent in starting to explore community power and,
but most commentators agree that cell sites Kenya with Safaricom. MTN has 13,000 cell potentially in the future, co-location sales
in countries with a significant number of sites in bad grid markets, and is keen to and the mutualisation of power systems to all
sites off-grid on unreliable electricity grid explore ESCO partnerships – MTN has an operators in a market.
connections, where grid is usable on average ESCO proof of concept live in Sudan and
for less than 16 hours per day, are the most another imminent in Congo Brazzavilla. We are already seeing ESCOs build several
obvious targets. Vodacom has long been considering hundred new sites per year<

Tower Xchange
© 2020 TowerXchange, a division of Euromoney Global Limited Design by BLACKLIGHT Design Agency

ESCO Borderless Report

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

ESCO Borderless Report

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ESCO Borderless Report 2020

2 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

(Chairman) Charles Green Ted Zhong Marc Ganzi Carlos Katsuya

3 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Engagement Facts Audience make up

275 74% Available 93%

5 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

ENGINEERED POWER SOLUTIONS

Afghanistan | Algeria | Ghana | Guinea | Iraq | Lebanon

Headquarter: Beirut - Lebanon | T: +961 1 99 25 25

Thibaut de Rodellec Matthew Edwards Kadri Hakim

7 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

ieng Group IPT Powertech Group is also a complete telecom

9 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

10 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Greening the Network

Quarterly discussions Regular digital An inner circle of tower Constantly updating

The challenge The telecom sector enables over 2mn

Recent figures show that the ICT sector produces 2.3% of

12 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

13:00 Why networks must become greener 13:50 Q&A

13 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Greening the Network at Meetup

More information on session, speakers and

14 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

15 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Greening the Network is supported by a Research Centre, where you

Ten quick questions about ESCOs

The first carbon neutral towerco

Camusat’s Aktivco: ESCO pioneers

i-eng: How and why ESCOs work

IPT Powertech, unlocking

16 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

TowerXchange define an ESCO simply: An energy

17 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

IPT PowerTech 10,050 Environ Solar / Bhaskar Solar, India 800

Biswal, Nigeria, 2,800

Energy Vision 9,800

*Enertika, CALA, 3,500

*Unverified site count Source: TowerXchange, Q2 2020

18 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

B2B and B2C IPPs

19 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

is too widely available and reliable for the ESCO

20 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

120,000 Source: TowerXchange Q2 2020

20,000 Both Orange and MTN emphasised the importance

21 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Battery bank Battery, cabinet and accessories

22 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Besides outsourcing energy capital spending,

How ESCOs are solving their partners’ power

Here we will excerpt from the comments of our

23 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Because site acquisition

24 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

are ESCO evangelists

The other option previously explored is a “do it

25 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

The first stage of the ESCO process, once a contract

Orange measures three key energy KPIs:

These three KPIs are then combined with more

26 | ESCO Roundtable Borderless Report 2020 | www.towerxchange.com/meetup/esco-roundtable-borderless/

Greening the Network is  supported by a Research Centre, where you