Elisa pilots the use of wind power in electricity production for its mobile network

Elisa is the first in Finland to pilot a new, vertical-shaft wind turbine in electricity production for its mobile network in Hyvinkää. The goal of the unique pilot, carried out in cooperation with Cypress Wind Turbine Oy, is to find out the opportunities for more extensive utilisation of wind energy in the electricity production for Elisa’s network.

- We have investigated renewable energy sources as one alternative for reducing the need for purchased electricity. Wind power is one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world, and the towers required by the mobile network enable the use of a vertical-shaft wind generator, says Jouni Pekonen, Head of Department at Elisa.

A significant part of the mobile network’s costs are caused by electricity consumption. More extensive use of wind power in electricity production would decrease the network’s operating costs by as much as ten per cent. Decisions on expanding the use will be made on the basis of the piloting results.

- Effective use of energy is a great opportunity to reduce the environmental load and provide cost-efficient solutions. With this co-operation we aim to achieve requirements set for renewable sources of energy, says Pekonen.

As its partner in the wind power piloting, Elisa selected the Finland-based Cypress Wind Turbine Oy, the products of which have particularly been designed for telecom operators.

- Cypress Wind Turbines Oy sees the cooperation with Elisa Corporation as a fine opportunity for developing leading Finnish technology, which will enable immediate cost advantages for telecom operators, says Kari Wahlroos, Marketing Director of Cypress Wind Turbines Oy.

Elisa Corporation is a leading Nordic communications services provider and a publicly listed Eurotop-500 company, with operations in the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Russia. We serve about 2 million consumers regionally and around 15,000 enterprises internationally, offering a wide range of subscriptions with services. We provide experiences for people and enhance productivity for organisations online. Elisa focuses on developing consumer and corporate ICT and online services. Our revenue for 2008 was EUR 1.49 billion and we employ approximately 2,900 people. Elisa’s global alliance partners are Vodafone and Telenor. For more information, visit www.elisa.com

Cypress Wind Turbines Oy is a Finnish technology company, which has developed a vertical-shaft wind turbine for providing energy for mobile base stations in particular. The company has licensed its technology to the United States. Cypress Wind Turbines Oy will also launch extensive wind turbine manufacturing in Finland soon. www.cypresswind.com