In much of Africa, electricity grids are limited and unreliable, so many people rely on diesel generators to power their homes and businesses. There are an estimated 7 million standby diesel generators in sub-Saharan Africa alone, consuming more than $20 billion in diesel annually.
Diesel generators not only emit carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, but also emit particulates that reduce air quality, can cause respiratory disease, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and even cancer.
South African energy startup Hyena is looking to reduce South Africa’s dependence on diesel generators.
The company’s POWER POD is approximately 1.5 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 1.8 meters high and is intended for use in off-grid locations or where energy supplies are unstable. It converts liquid petroleum gas (LPG) into hydrogen and then into electricity, producing heat and water as by-products.
Hyena co-founder Jack Fletcher says PowerPods produce no harmful particles and emit 15% less carbon dioxide than diesel generators.
Fuel cells, which generate electricity from hydrogen, are not a new technology, but a lack of infrastructure for hydrogen production, storage, and distribution has limited their adoption in Africa. Hyena’s innovation is to develop something that also produces hydrogen from LPG, a mixture of gases that includes propane and butane.
“Liquid petroleum gas is the same gas you buy locally for cooking and heating your home,” Fletcher told CNN.
“It is available throughout Africa and is easily stored. Regulations for its use are already in place and people are accustomed to using it, so there are no particular barriers to its use.”
Fletcher said the POWER POD has the potential to deploy fuel cell technology at scale across the continent, even in remote areas, by producing hydrogen from LPG at the point of use.
He believes one of its main uses will be to power communication towers, which require a near-constant source of energy. Due to frequent grid outages and lack of connectivity, three-quarters of Africa’s telecommunications towers are powered by “hybrid grid-diesel systems,” according to market research firm Mordor Intelligence.
The first proof-of-concept deployment of POWER POD on live towers is scheduled for early 2026.
Fuel cells are not only cleaner, but also quieter and require less maintenance than diesel generators, said Dr Saqib Khan (no relation to Hyena), founder of South African hydrogen economy consultancy Enarek.
Although POWER PODs still emit carbon dioxide, Khan believes hybrid technologies like Hyena, which utilize existing fuel infrastructure, are essential to Africa’s decarbonization.
“The solution that the hyenas have come up with is a practical solution and a bridge,” he said, adding that Africa needs to consider social and political considerations when implementing green energy technologies.
“Our path to net zero will be different than, for example, Europe’s. It will be more decentralized,” he added. “In Europe… almost everyone has power, so we can focus on emissions.
“We also need to look at energy access and balance it with emissions.”
According to the International Energy Agency, global hydrogen production reached almost 100 million tonnes in 2024, but less than 1% came from low-emission hydrogen technologies.
The African Green Hydrogen Alliance aims to foster cooperation between Africa’s hydrogen-producing countries, highlighting that the continent’s vast solar and wind resources make it well-positioned to become a significant producer of green hydrogen (hydrogen made from water using renewable electricity).
“If green hydrogen is available, we can feed it directly into fuel cells, leading to zero carbon emissions,” said Fletcher, who hopes the POWER POD will be a step towards a large-scale transition to carbon-free energy in Africa.
Although the South African government has launched several initiatives to support the country’s hydrogen economy, Fletcher says there are “not many investors in hydrogen in Africa”.
Hyena has raised about $2 million, including a donation from the University of Cape Town, where the company started as a research arm, but more money is needed, he says.
“The biggest challenge we have faced so far is raising the necessary funding. This technology is not cheap, especially as a start-up. We are only producing a few units at a time,” he added.
Fletcher added that the technology could be available domestically “in the long run” if the company can increase production capacity and lower manufacturing costs.
Khan said price could be a barrier to adopting fuel cell technology like POWER POD, and it could also be a barrier to training people to use it, adding: “Upskilling people is expensive.”
Still, Fletcher has high hopes for POWER POD. “I think it’s probably another year or two before we really get our technology out there,” he says.
“We now have a system that can be deployed anywhere in the world using the available fuel infrastructure, making fuel cells a real possibility.”
