06 November 2019
Pollution, climate change and the environment have all, for want of a better expression, long been “hot topics”.
Whether it’s the abundance of plastic in the oceans, the emission of greenhouse gases, melting icebergs or the way mobile network operators (MNO) continue to use diesel, governments and multinational corporations are coming under increasing pressure to do their bit before we all hoisted by our own petard and perish like the dinosaurs.
Yes, we can leave the global warming debate for another time, but when it comes to the harmful effects of diesel, the scientific evidence is overwhelming.
There’s also no doubt that some industries need to shoulder more responsibility than others – and there’s also no hiding from the fact that the telecom sector is complicit in this too, if only for the fact a vast number of base stations around the world are still powered – if not 100% – by diesel generators.
In general, they have an outsized impact on pollution compared to other sources of power because they tend to be dirtier per unit of energy provided.
Yet, while the method of powering telecom towers and base stations might not be on the tip of world leaders’ tongues when they imbibe at their summits – usually having just flown on a gas-guzzling private jet – the industry is acutely aware that more needs to be done to migrate from diesel-powered generators to reusable and green energy sources.
Bladon Micro Turbine produces a generator that runs on diesel, kerosene, paraffin fuels or a blend (to prevent theft and reduce fuel costs).
“Instead of having a piston based engine like all other diesel generators we use a micro turbine engine (like a turbocharger) to generate efficient electricity for telecom towers,” says Stuart Kelly, the company’s VP market development.
Conversely, some companies are the standard-bearers for re-usable and other alternative power sources.
For example, MTN Cameroon became a trailblazer in Africa when it went green with solar-powered base stations.
Evidence then that the industry is going some way to ameliorate the damage caused to our environment.
Alessandro Ravagnolo, a principal at telecom research house Analysys Mason says
MTN has invested in a big marketing push about what it’s doing in the power space, but it’s not the only operator that made the energy supply a key focus of their network strategy in Africa and other emerging markets.
“Orange is also very active, experimenting contracts with specialised ESCO companies that are charged with managing the energy infrastructure and achieve savings,” he says. “Investments in reliable and cost effective power source is also a focus of towercos that, in most cases, own the energy equipment on their sites and pass the cost to the MNO customers.”
Still, the rejection of diesel and take up of alternative power sources hasn’t happened at the speed many would like.
So, why hasn’t there been a race to become completely green, take the moral high ground (and move ahead of the competition in the process)?
“Through their investments, MNOs are mainly seeking efficiency gains (cost reduction) but also improvements in the quality of service through reduction in the number of outages and downtime,” says Ravagnolo. “It is not necessarily a move against competition as other operators can be expected to do the same at some point in time.”
However, we are now in 2019, so while many operators are investing in a green future, why in 2019 are we still using diesel at all?
“Diesel is still the only prolific and available fuel for providing more reliable electricity to the telecom tower market especially in Africa,” says Stuart Kelly, the company’s VP market development.
The industry is acutely aware that more needs to be done to migrate from diesel-powered generators to reusable and green energy sources
“The Bladon Microturbine generator can also run on cheaper kerosene or a fuel blend too. Other fuels such as methanol still do not have a reliable enough supply, nor does gas for that matter to allow it to be used at scale. There are over 180,000 telecom towers in Africa, over 35% are not connected to the electricity grid.”
The sales and marketing department at HIMOINSA, which designs and manufactures diesel and gas generator sets, hybrid generators, lighting towers and control panels, says:
“In many parts of Africa diesel is a most readily available, cost effective, fuel source. HIMOINSA manufactures gas and hybrid units as well as diesel, but unless a reliable, cost effective alternative is available there will be a place for diesel units when businesses are reliant on backup power.”
Giuseppe Taranto, telecom business leader at Ausonia says even if everybody would like to dispense of diesel, today gensets are still the only energy source which can guarantee energy when necessary.
“Solar and wind cannot give operators the power continuity the generators can offer, so the best way is to understand how you can reduce the run hours, get efficiency and fuel savings,” he says.
“Following this requirement towards OPEX reduction, some gensets manufacturer has designed and deployed different capacities of DC generators worldwide, as (the Italian company) AUSONIA. The DC Gensets are used as back up to site and as a battery charger when Grid/Solar/Wind is not enough to power the sites and batteries are low with voltage. On off grid sites, the operators also can save the costs of rectifiers and ATS, as well to the issues connected to their potential failures.”
If you are reading this with very little knowledge of the wireless world, you would be forgiven for pointing the finger of blame at developing nations.
However, Ravagnolo says both developed and developing nations are still using diesel and that the reason for this is due to the fact that being connected to the grid does not come with the guarantee of having a reliable power source.
“In emerging markets, the national grid may be powered for only few hours per day. In developed markets, this is rare but operators do not want to take the risk on specific strategic sites (e.g. exchanges) where they will have both backup batteries and generators,” he adds.
“Having diesel generators gives operators the certainty of the service provided tanks are adequately refuelled.”
Stéphane Téral a technology fellow and an advisor for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at IHS Markit Technology, says the reason diesel is still so prevalent is because research needs to be conducted first – and as ever, that takes time and money.
“Because due diligence and planning start with thorough analysis and review of solar radiation, sunlight intensity, and solar panel geolocation as key parameters; depending on the BS location, diesel might still be the best alternative,” he says.
“The location of a needed BS is dictated by the coverage and capacity demand and sometimes PV systems can’t work.”
In Kelly’s opinion, “diesel is still the only prolific and available fuel for providing more reliable electricity to the telecom tower market”. He says: “The Bladon Microturbine generator can also run on cheaper kerosene or a fuel blend too. Other fuels such as methanol still do not have a reliable enough supply, nor does gas for that matter to allow it to be used at scale.”
Prima facie, the power of diesel cannot be disputed.
However, there are cost implications, too.
After all, it’s no secret that diesel generators require regular maintenance and two need to be installed so one is operational while the other undergoes maintenance.
Are the costs sustainable?
“That’s part of the Opex and you also need periodic replacement,” says Téral.
HIMOINSA says there are numerous factors at work here. “When reliable power is required to guarantee the safety of mine workers, for example, then the cost is secondary to reliability,” it says.
“Total cost of ownership for the units needs to be taken into account. HIMOINSA is a vertical manufacturer so its units are designed and manufactured with efficiency and longevity as key factors. With 500-600hrs service intervals, excellent fuel efficiency, OEM support and remote management of the units the units efficiencies can be monitored and costs can be managed.”
Ravagnolo says no business “will intentionally deploy a site that isn’t sustainable” or has a negative business case. “A reduction in the cost to run a site would improve the business case for rural deployment, where a limited number of customers can connect to the cell site and generate revenue,” he adds. “This implies that operators will be able to stretch their networks further.”
Kelly disagrees. “In a word,” he says, “no because 50% of operating expenses related to running a telecom tower is related to fuel and maintenance expenses for diesel generators. Bladon’s proposition eliminates the need for monthly (or more) site visits related to generator maintenance and instead needs a two-hour service once a year.”
Monitoring and managing the generators is usually straightforward in cities and other built up areas.
But how easy is it to do so within rural environments, particularly in developing nations?
Taranto says that gensets are monitored via Wi-Fi or LAN connection, even with 4G modem being available today.
“All the operational data and performance indicators are often stored on a web-server (cloud) from which the authorized personnel can monitor and control the power system in any place in the world, editing also statistic and report for their better analysis and evaluation of the power solutions reliability and real operational costs.”
Téral says they are equipped with sensors and send information via the cellular network provided by the BS they power.
“The base station itself is remotely monitored from a network operation centre (NOC) and therefore sends info about everything including power function,” he adds.
“Drones are increasingly used to monitor remote sites,” says Ravagnolo.
Giuseppe Taranto says even if everybody would like to dispense of diesel, today gensets are still the only energy source which can guarantee energy when necessary
“It is an effective measure to monitor the infrastructure for maintenance requirements but could also be used for security reasons.” The latter is a whole new topic in itself.
He adds that mobile networks are expanding into more rural areas in emerging markets and the chances of having grid connectivity is low there.
“Electricity grids are not expanding at the same speed,” says Ravagnolo.
“This means that MBO, or whoever is managing their energy infrastructure, will continue using diesel for a long time despite investments in solar and other energy sources.”
However, Taranto adds: “In many countries the traditional set up to power off-grid sites was by means of installing a dual Gensets system (1+1, master and slave), but today, whenever possible, MNOs and TowerCos are trying to eliminate at least 1 DG on site, to be replaced with batteries, and possibly by adding also solar, if the site allows.”
So, what of hybrid solutions?
After all they work in other industries, such as the automobile one.
“Operators are increasingly deploying hybrid solutions, which included solar panels, batteries and one genset,” says Ravagnolo.
“No need for a second generator. The idea is that the site would be running on solar and the genset kicks in when more power is required or there is something faulty. This reduces consumption and cost substantially compared to sites running exclusively on diesel.”
Taranto concurs and adds that not only is the hybrid model “definitively the solution today”, it’s already passed 10+ years of operation on site and it’s the one that had “really allowed” MNOs and TowerCos to reduce their OPEX and increase their savings.
“However, even if many companies today offer hybrid solutions consisting into genset, battery and optional solar, only a few of them have the consolidated experience allowing to offer a debugged unit to the end user, so buyers should carefully take care of this when looking for potential partners,” he says.
Kelly argues that the hybrid solution “has been borne out of necessity” to avoid expensive service visits for the diesel generator.
“Combining a diesel generator with a box full of batteries, control electronics and solar panels has been the common practice,” he adds.
“However, if your baseline engine does not have a need for oil, service visits or require expensive (attractive to steal) batteries then there’s no need to build a hybrid. For off grid sites, we have found that having a Microturbine running 24 hours a day using diesel or kerosene as fuel is far more economical, scalable, and least attractive to theft.”
With regards to greenhouse emissions, Ravagnolo says upgrading to more efficient energy solutions is not just a matter of cost savings but it also allow reducing emission, which is good for the environment.
“In some countries there may be some taxation associated with carbon footprint (aka carbon taxes) providing an incentive to operators to become more efficient and greener,” he adds.
It’s also important to remember that there are other options too.
Fuel cells have often been lauded as the next big thing in the energy space, but the talk, until now has been more about how good they will be and less about how good they are.
So, how long until they become the norm?
“Fuel cells are still at the early stage and also the supply chain is not diffused yet to in many countries and regions, so I guess many years will be still needed to have this technology widely deployable,” says Taranto.
Kelly says the fuel cell trials his company has witnessed has shown that the supply chain for hydrogen or ammonia fuel cells is far from mature “especially in Africa” and the transport of it is more hazardous than diesel fuel. Large telecom operators are also risk averse and “therefore are not keen to embrace new technologies en masse”.
HIMOINSA says: “As the market and technology develops this will naturally increase efficiency and reduce the currently high cost of fuel cells.”
Téral is less sure. “I don’t know but one sure thing, with 5G requiring more cell sites, the demand for energy keeps going up so we need to find new alternatives,” he says.
The GSMA report In early 2014 also says that for the first time, the number of mobile phone subscriptions in the world exceeded the global population.
Now, with over seven 7 billion active mobile phone connections in the world – a number that will only grow – there can be no room for complacency.
What’s more, GSMA indicates that future mobile subscriber growth will be concentrated in developing countries in Africa among populations that are currently ‘unconnected’ to mobile phone networks. In other words, developing nations.
Could 5G, as Téral points out, be the catalyst?
