Grid Crux signs 10-year deal to power Dolphin Telecoms

Lagos-based clean energy developer Grid Crux Energy Solutions has signed a 10-year energy-as-a-service agreement with Dolphin Telecoms to provide solar power to the company’s cable landing station in Lagos.

Under the agreement, announced by Grid Crux on Tuesday in a statement, the energy company will design, finance, install and operate a solar power system at Dolphin’s Lagos Cable Landing Station.

The facility is a critical link in Nigeria’s international communications infrastructure, receiving capacity from the Africa Coast to Europe submarine cable before it is distributed to telecom operators, internet service providers, businesses and government agencies across the country.

The agreement marks the first renewable energy-as-a-service deployment at an ACE cable landing station in Anglophone Africa. It was signed at a power agreement ceremony themed “Powering Connectivity, Enabling Growth” and forms part of Dolphin Telecoms’ long-term strategy to diversify its energy mix while improving the sustainability and resilience of its infrastructure.

The partnership brings together two increasingly interconnected parts of Africa’s infrastructure landscape: energy and digital connectivity. As demand for data and communications services grows, reliable power has become increasingly critical to the operation of landing stations and other digital infrastructure.

Present at the signing ceremony in Lagos were the Chief Executive Officer of Grid Crux Energy Solutions, Mojola Ola; Managing Director of Dolphin Telecoms, Abdelrahman Bashar Khalifa; Project Lead, Strategy and Performance at Grid Crux, Atinuke Adeniran; Technical Manager at Dolphin Telecoms, Bolaji Mudashir; Head of Sales, Nigeria, at Dolphin Telecoms, Kareem Yussuff; Sales Manager at Dolphin Telecoms, Henry Chukwuma; and other members of staff from both organisations.

Ola stressed that Grid Crux would focus on improving the reliability of Dolphin’s power supply while reducing costs and emissions.

“A landing station is where Nigeria connects to the rest of the world, and it cannot go dark. Our job is to keep it powered reliably while bringing down both the cost and the carbon behind every kilowatt-hour,” he explained.

“We are focused on three things for Dolphin: reliability, cost reduction and ESG. We look forward to delivering the quality of service Grid Crux is known for and supporting Dolphin on this journey,” Ola added.

A cable landing station is among the most power-critical assets in the digital economy. It operates around the clock, with interruptions potentially affecting banks, mobile networks, businesses and public services that depend on the connectivity it carries.

The solar system is projected to generate more than 144 megawatt-hours of clean energy annually and more than 1,500 megawatt-hours over the term of the agreement. It will operate alongside the station’s existing power sources, reducing its reliance on diesel generation while lowering energy costs, carbon emissions and noise.

The system will also provide real-time remote monitoring, allowing for closer operational oversight and proactive maintenance.

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For Dolphin, the agreement comes as demand for digital connectivity continues to increase, placing greater emphasis on the reliability of the infrastructure supporting international communications.

“Power is more essential in these times, and people are using it more than ever. This is our way of committing to the future by making provision for the next generation. We are delighted to have Grid Crux with us on this journey,” Khalifa noted.

The ACE submarine cable stretches about 17,000 kilometres along Africa’s Atlantic coast from Europe to South Africa, serving around 17 African countries. Dolphin Telecoms has invested more than $60 million in the system and holds landing rights in Dakar, Accra and Lagos, markets that together represent about 80 per cent of West Africa’s population.

Grid Crux and Dolphin described the Lagos project as a model that could be replicated across other critical infrastructure sites.

The engineering design, commercial structure and monitoring platform developed for Lagos can be adapted for other cable landing stations, data centres and network facilities along the ACE route, according to the companies.

“This project has been three years in development and represents a long-term commitment to integrating renewable energy into critical infrastructure. We built it to be repeatable. What we have delivered in Lagos can be taken to any landing station or data centre on the continent,” Adeniran noted.

The project also highlights the growing convergence between energy and digital infrastructure in Africa. Digital connectivity is increasingly viewed as a driver of productivity, employment, financial inclusion and economic growth, while inadequate infrastructure and unreliable power remain constraints to expansion in many markets.

For operators of landing stations, data centres and telecommunications networks, the need is therefore not only for more power but for electricity that is reliable, cost-effective and increasingly lower-carbon.

Grid Crux’s energy-as-a-service model allows clients to access renewable power without making the upfront capital investment. The company takes responsibility for the design, financing, installation and long-term performance of the systems.

The agreement expands the company’s focus beyond commercial and industrial solar into digital infrastructure, alongside its work in battery storage and mini-grids.

Grid Crux is now engaging operators of landing stations, data centres, telecommunications networks and other mission-critical facilities in Nigeria and across Africa seeking more resilient and lower-cost power solutions.