Henri Winand runs a fuel-cell company. Fuel cells run on hydrogen to produce energy. So why has Intelligent Energy, Winand’s firm, just agreed a deal to manage some 16,000 diesel-powered mobile network towers in India?

One reason is that the deal will bring in an estimated £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in revenue for the company over the next decade. For a business that posted a £48-million loss on revenue of £13.6 million for the last full year, the income certainly helps. But the larger reason is that Winand plans, over time, to replace the diesel generators that power rural mobile towers in India with fuel cells. Winand can become his own best customer.

Setting up a fuel cell in India.(Intelligent Energy)

Winand’s plan might just work. Intelligent Energy has been in India since 2009, and already manages 10,000 of the country’s mobile towers, many of which are off-grid for eight hours a day. As the diesel generators that keep them running the rest of the time begin to mature, Winand has started replacing the majority of them with fuel cells. Speaking with Quartz before news of the new deal, Winand characterized the tower agreement with gleeful confidence: “We have eight-year visibility,” he said, referring to the minimum length of the contract. “It’s like a pension fund.”

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SunEdison – the leading renewable energy developer – expands deeper into emerging markets.

In a conference room in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, large screens glowed bright orange with the SunEdison logo. But the gathering was not a sales pitch for SunEdison, argued the company’s CEO, Ahmad Chatila.

“We hope next year there will be many more companies here with us, and many more after that,” Chatila told the audience during an impromptu address.

The company was front and center, however. At the Eradication of Darkness Summit this week, SunEdison announced plans to bring electricity to 20 million people by 2020, with an interim goal of lighting up 1 million homes in 2015.

The commitment would only address a fraction of the 1.3 billion people who live without electricity and the billion others who only have intermittent access to power. But it is a considerable pledge from a single company — and a helpful boost to the World Bank’s goal of getting 500 million people connected to power through private business investments.

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SunEdison sets goal to bring power to 20 million people by 2020

SunEdison has announced a plan to bring electricity to 20 million people in underserved world communities by 2020. The project will be conducted by SunEdison Social Innovations, a group whose mission is to help rural communities by developing business models and introducing new communities to help renewable energy sustainable.

“Billions of people worldwide don’t have access to electricity,” said Ahmad Chatila, president and chief executive officer at SunEdison. “Without electricity they can’t access many of the things we take for granted — health clinics with vaccines, or schools with computers and fans. But by applying a mix of new business models, new technology, and charitable donations, we are tackling the issue head on.”

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4 February 2015 – OMC Power and Bharti Infratel have been shortlisted in the 2015 Global Mobile Awards, which are this year celebrating 20 years of achievement and innovation across the mobile industry.

OMC Power and Bharti Infratel have been recognised for their pioneering work in the development and deployment of the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) power supply model which provides green electricity to off-grid telecom towers and rural communities.

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