Communication in the Antarctic
Location: South Georgia
The island of South Georgia is a challenging environment, with a 3000 m mountain chain across the centre, low temperatures, frequent snowstorms and severe winds.
The Habitat Restoration Project:
Native petrel, prion and pipit populations had been devastated by brown rats and other rodents, who arrived as stowaways on whaling and sealing ships from the 18th century onwards. Rats eat the eggs and chicks of many ground nesting bird species. The South Georgia Heritage Trust instigated the ‘Habitat Restoration Project’ to save the native ecosystem by eradicating rodents, using the helicopters to spread bait. The entire island was successfully baited and birds are already returning to areas where they had previously not been seen in living memory.
The project required multiple line-of-sight 12 V / 108 W radio transceivers, two of which were sited high up on the mountainside, inaccessible except by helicopter. The extreme weather conditions made wind turbines and solar panels unsuitable for dependable power.
The EFOY Pro 2800, the latest fuel cell generation, is the ideal power supply solution for this application.
“Simply perfect!”
The perfect deep field solution for powering reliable safety communications in the sub Antarctic.
Mr Rob Webster, Deputy Project Manager, South Georgia Heritage Trust
Fuel cell power is ideal for remote, off-grid applications as the units are highly efficient with minimal emissions. They also offer almost silent operation. This gives a real advantage when wishing to minimise the environmental impact of any field work.
Two EFOY Pro 2400 fuel cells (entspricht neuster Brennstoffzellen Generation (corresponds to latest fuel cell generation EFOY Pro 2800) are supplied, in rugged cold climate enclosures, with methanol fuel to provide more than 100 days of power without maintenance.
