Green goes mainstream

With escalating fuel prices, frequent blackouts, and expansion of networks to rural areas off the electricity grid, operators in emerging markets in particular are trialling renewable energy sources to help run their telecoms networks. Given the relatively cheap and reliable energy resources in the GCC, operators in this region are yet to feel the pinch, though threats of an impending energy crisis are set to affect service providers globally. Michelle Mills considers the economically viable ‘green’ energy alternatives that are gaining popularity

There is increasing demand from operators in emerging markets to have their own renewable energy-powered telecoms networks, such as this solar-powered Ericsson site in Indonesia for Telkomsel.

Energy is a costly and rising operating expense in the mobile telecoms sphere, with some network providers in Africa and parts of Asia having to fork out half of their OPEX on energy, and as much as 80 per cent of energy being consumed by base station sites. Such companies are increasingly coming under pressure to develop alternative, affordable energy resources.

“I’ve received a significant number of enquiries from the operator community into the alternatives to a reliance on the electricity grid and generators,” comments Dawn Haig-Thomas, director of the GSM Association (GSMA) Development Fund.

“Especially over the past nine to 12 months, in line with the price of diesel rising.” The GSMA represents the bulk of the globe’s mobile operators and Haig-Thomas is in a good position to identify the energy issues affecting telecoms providers, particularly in developing countries. She notes that two years ago, operators in Africa were spending up to two-thirds of operating costs on diesel to power base stations that were located off electricity grid sites, this before the price of fuel rose in the manner in which it has done in recent months.

In India, the electricity grid is so inconsistent, that all mobile operators use diesel generators, not only to power base stations off the grid, but as backup support to those run on the grid.

“The grid is so insecure that even city base stations in Delhi and Mumbai are affected by frequent power cuts and need backup generators. It is of critical importance to an operator’s network reliability.”

Highly populous nations such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan are also among those known for erratic power supplies, while in some parts of Asia there is talk that the amount of electricity produced on the grid may be capped, leaving operators amongst other users facing a reduction in energy output.

In combatting this looming emerging shortage, Haig-Thomas notes that the price of alternative energy sources is reducing with the price and availability of wind turbines and solar panels coming down, enticing more operators to use renewable energy sources than before.

“As there is a hike in the price of diesel, wind and solar becomes more appealing. The CAPEX for base stations run on renewable energy sources is higher at the initial outlay, but there is virtually zero per cent operating costs for wind turbines and solar panels. Some wind-turbines even come with a maintenance-free warranty for 30 years,” explains Haig-Thomas.

Australia is one of the leading lights in the area of the use of renewable-powered sites, with local operator Telstra claiming more than 7,000 solar-powered base stations and other network components.

The Philippines is another example of successful use of alternative energy sources, in a country comprising more than 7,000 islands. Wind and solar sources have also been trialled by Motorola and MTC Namibia, while Ericsson has deployed solar-powered base stations in Morocco for Maroc Telecom. Biofuels are also being used in Idea Cellular sites in India.

New generation ‘green’ base stations designed by manufacturers such as Huawei, Ericsson and others, are of huge interest to operators in their new network rollouts, according to Haig-Thomas, but for operators with existing infrastructure, alternative power is costly to switch to.

A new breed of vendor is also emerging, which is looking to compete with traditional suppliers, and are often small start-up companies specifically geared towards helping operators switch their power sources to renewables. Such companies include Winafrique in Kenya and Sweden’s Flexenclosure.

Consideration for alternative energy sources is not as acute in the Gulf as it is in other emerging markets, though it is something to be taken into consideration in the medium to long-term. In the UAE for example, recent media reports forecasted annual peak demand for energy would rise to 40,858MW by 2020, up 163 per cent from present, due to the rapid pace of development and growing population.

In the UAE emirate of Ajman – which is set to undergo dramatic socio-economic change in the next decade with 20 major developments in the works – property developers are planning to acquire their own power generators in case the government fails to meet demand. The impact of this shortage in power supply will be reflected across all industries the country over, as well as further afield in the region.

“What ever price we are paying for electricity now, in five years time it will seem like an absolute bargain,” comments Jeremy Foster, marketing and strategy director at Ericsson Middle East.

“The escalating costs will be the economic drivers for operators to consider more energy-efficient infrastructure, with a spin-off benefit being a lower impact on the environment. In Sweden electricity is a lot more expensive so energy efficiency has always been high on its agenda, but it is inevitable that the energy challenge will soon come to the Middle East as well.”

Reducing power consumption is a big theme in Ericsson’s portfolio, such as the power savings feature for base transceiver stations. This reduces electricity use during low traffic periods by putting network radio resources that are not being used into standby mode.

Foster also believes the telecommunications industry has the opportunity to positively impact every other industry through making businesses more effective and more profitable, for example by reducing the need to travel and eliminating inefficiencies.

“We’re working closely with all operators to prepare them for a future when energy isn’t as cheap as it is now,” Foster states. “I feel they have enormous value to add to every industry by developing smart solutions that help businesses become more efficient with all of their resources, not just energy savings.”

Jan Cron, head of Nokia Siemens Networks’ (NSN) Middle East and Africa region, agrees that the monetary savings to be gained by service providers in reducing operating costs is clearly the driving factor in the demand for energy-efficient and renewable-powered solutions.

“Especially with rising fuel prices, there is an increasingly attractive business case for our customers to turn to greener, more energy-efficient technologies,” asserts Cron. “With our energy efficiency package, we can reduce energy consumption of an average base station site by up to 70 per cent, and that has a direct impact to the operator’s expenditure. We have also calculated that the initial investments made in base stations running on renewable energy will pay off within three years.”

NSN boasts it has sites in more than 30 countries currently powered by renewable energy sources. This includes working with the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) on solar-powered solutions for more than 50 autonomous sites that are out of reach of the electricity grid, and providing small, low OPEX and low impact base stations for China Mobile Group Beijing Ltd.