Elisa, the Finnish telecommunication company, is now the first mobile network operator who uses wind energy to power its mobile network. They have installed vertical axis wind turbines on their mobile tower in Hyvinkää. The wind turbine was supplied by Cypress Wind Turbine Oy, a Finnish renewable energy company.

The move was part of a new strategy to reduce purchased electricity. Wind power is an expanding renewable energy industry and the vertical shaft turbines are ideal for installation on mobile network towers. Since a significant part of network costs come from electricity consumption, this move could eventually reduce operating costs by as much as ten percent.

Cypress Wind Turbine Oy has designed a range of wind turbines especially for the needs of mobile network operators.

The concept of mobile networks powered by renewable energy is not that new. In fact, there are plenty of examples of this elsewhere, like in this case in Austria. Another useful aspect of independent power supply for mobile networks is that this approach allows coverage of remote areas, as described here, where there is no infrastructure, for example in deep forest areas or mountainous and desert areas.