<div>Intelligent Energy, a British hydrogen fuel cell developer and manufacturer, said it had signed an $82 million contract, its biggest so far, to provide its technology for mobile phone masts in India.<br /><br />Chief Executive Henri Winand said the technology, originally developed with Suzuki Motor Corp to power motor scooters, was cheaper and more reliable than diesel generators, which have provided back-up power for the towers.<br /><br />The agreement with India's Ascend Telecom Infrastructure covers 4,000 towers serving some 10 million mobile phone users, said Intelligent Energy, a privately owned company named by Deloitte as one of the fastest growing UK technology companies in 2013.<br /><br />"We have been generating power quietly for two years (in India), but now we are taking contracts where we are competitive and more cost-effective than the distributed diesel generation baseline," he said in an telephone interview.<br /><br />"It's the first contract we have taken of this nature and this size and scope."<br /><br />The hydrogen fuel cell systems provide back-up power when electricity from the grid fails, which can happen for up to 12 hours of each 24, Winand said.<br /><br />The contract lasts more than five years and has the potential to grow to about $200 million as Ascend's mast coverage grows, he said. <br /><br />(Reuters)</div>
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