Telstra has installed a hydrogen fuel cell test facility at its Melbourne head office – the first installation of its kind at an Australian corporate headquarters.

Telstra Chief Executive Officer Sol Trujillo commented on the importance of Telstra’s work in this area.

“This is a corporate priority – it’s not a fashion or a fad,” he said. “We are at a unique moment in time when we have a tight alignment between the business need to reduce costs and the benefit to the environment. This will create benefits for our customers, our shareholders and for all of us as members of the community.”

Telstra’s National Energy Manager, Allan Gontar said:

“Our solar-powered sites include exchanges, radio terminals, small repeater stations and payphones that enable us to provide services to our customers in remote locations with limited or no access to mains electricity.”

The hydrogen fuel cell is part of Telstra’s Renewable Energy Installation which includes:

• One 5 kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell unit with 6 x 50 litre hydrogen cylinders that could provide 12 hours of continuous 5 kilo watt back up power for five Intelligent Service Access Manager (ISAM) cabinets – currently used as the access platform in the Telstra Next IP™ network.
• 12 high-powered 175 watt solar panels, generating enough energy per year to power 30 standard compact fluorescent lights continuously for one year.
• ‘Grid connect inverter’ technology that converts and exports the power produced by these panels to the electricity grid that supplies Melbourne’s central business district.

These technologies will be trialled by Telstra Property during 2008, followed by an assessment of the feasibility of their wider application in Telstra’s network and buildings.