- The New Zealand Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) has chosen Redflow to store energy in off-grid telecommunication sites in remote locations
- RCG is building over 400 new cell sites in rural locations to extend coverage to more than 34,000 rural homes and businesses
- The first site is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will use eight Redflow batteries
- This project will also provide mobile coverage to a further 1000 kilometre of state highways to compliment 100 New Zealand tourist destinations
- RedFlow is up 14.89 per cent on the market today and is trading at 5.3 cents apiece
The New Zealand Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) has chosen Redflow to store energy in off-grid telecommunication sites in remote locations.
In 2017, RCG was established by the New Zealand Government, to build, operate and maintain a new open-access network.
RCG will build over 400 new cell sites in rural locations to extend mobile and wireless broadband coverage to more than 34,000 rural homes and businesses.
As part of the project, RCG will use Redflow batteries and its Head of Procurement and Commercial, Richard Spencer, is looking forward to working with Redflow.
“We have closely examined Redflow’s energy storage technology and believe it provides a compelling solution for RCG due to its deep cycling capability, its long life and its environmental benefits over competing technologies,” Richard said.
By December 2022, the company will also provide mobile coverage to a further 1000 kilometres of state highways, providing connectivity to top New Zealand tourist destinations.
This project is funded by the Government’s Telecommunications Development
Levy. Mobile network operators Spark, Vodafone and 2Degrees have provided an additional $75 million to the project.
The new cell sites will be a combination of both off-grid and on-grid locations. RCG will use Redflow batteries in the project.
“RCG’s off-grid cell sites will meet their energy needs through a combination of PV solar panels, Redflow batteries and a backup generator,” the company told the market this morning.
The first site is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will use eight Redflow batteries.
Redflow CEO Tim Harris says the company has been working with RCG over the past six months and is excited to be chosen for this project.
“This adds to the success of our recent deployments with Optus in the Daintree rainforest in Queensland, our current system powering an off-grid site for Vodafone New Zealand in the Thames Coromandel area and our recent order for one of South Africa’s largest telecommunication companies,” Tim said.
“We look forward to negotiating the supply arrangements with RCG and finalising the detailed financial elements of the relationship,” he added.
RedFlow is up 14.89 per cent on the market today and is trading at 5.3 cents apiece at 2:33pm AEDT.