MAY 2018
DEEP RESEARCH | 360° WATCH
TELECOM SECTOR :
A PARADIGM SHIFT
TOWARDS
CLEANER ENERGY
MAY 2018
CONTENTS
Introduction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3
Telecom industry and energy consumption - - - - - - - - - 3
Power availability by region in India - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
Plans & strategy of Indian telecom companies - - - - - - 4
Case study - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5
Diesel consumption distribution for telecom sites- - - - - 5
Saving & payback - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
Estimated emission reduction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
Energy management and challenges - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
Govt. Initiatives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
Conclusion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
A
MAY 2018
Every year, 120,000 new base stations are deployed servicing 400 million new
mobile subscribers around the world. Remote regions of India often rely on
inefficient diesel generators for power, which significantly grow the carbon
footprint. Operational costs in remote areas are aggravated more due to
transportation difficulties and the fact that diesel costs have risen 100% since
2015. It is expected that deregulation of diesel prices, if continued with current
regulatory fees, tax structure and marketing margin, would result in an increase
in diesel price further in upcoming days. In other words, energy costs could
constitute more than 90% of the cost of operating telecom towers, everything
else being constant. So, to curb the power issues and to reduce carbon
emissions, it has become imperative for the telecom industries to evaluate all
alternative options. The growing cost of energy due to diesel prices and concerns
over rising greenhouse emissions have caused tower infrastructure companies to
focus on better power management methods. Various methods in the categories
of demand management, supply management and renewable energy
technologies (RETs) are being adopted.
• Unreliable electrical grid supply is one of the biggest challenges faced by the rapidly growing telecom tower industry in India. Today, on average, 70 percent of the approximately 400,000 mobile towers in India face electrical grid outages in excess of 8 hours a day
▪ India is the second largest telecom market in the world followed by China. The telecom subscriber base in the country is dominated by the wireless segment which accounts for about 97% of the total subscriber base.
▪ The wireless subscriber base in India stood at 1,033.6 million at the end of 2015-2016 financial year.
▪ Approximate consumption of mobile tower is 3-5 kilowatts depending on the numbers of operator using the tower.
▪ According to TRAI an average fuel consumption of 8,760 liters diesel every year per tower assuming 8 hours of operation by diesel.
▪ Total Co2 Emission by using of Diesel is 10 metric tone.▪ By using of Renewable Energy like solar energy can reduce the Co2
foot print And consumption of Diesel.
INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW OF TELECOM INDUSTRIES AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION
3
MAY 2018
The 2.5 billion litres of diesel consumed, emit 6.6 million metric tons of CO2
annually, making the current use of diesel generators both an environmentally
and economically unattractive solution. This research article details true energy
costs of a telecom tower site facing average power outage of 12 hrs a day. The
above mentioned site is powered by a diesel generator and a pack of batteries,
a configuration that currently exists in over 90% of the telecom tower sites.
Gri
d a
vaila
bili
ty p
er d
ays
(hrs
)
0
5
10
25
15
2019.1
13.8
7.4
18.8
21.5
13.5
19.117.2
18.5
20.719.5
12.1
18.1
20.7
18.1
13.8
19.3
16.7
20.3
8.8
10.4
7.2
AVERAGE PER DAY GRID AVAILABILITY BY REGION IN INDIA
OPERATIONAL DIAGRAM OF HYBRID SOLAR POWER TELECOM TOWER
4
MAY 2018
Now TRAI (Telecom regulatory Authority of India) And DOT (Department of
telecommunication) jointly Working to reduce the carbon emission by 25% by 2020.
The telecom tower industry in India is estimated to consume over 2.5 billion litres of
diesel annually making it the second largest consumer of diesel in the country. This
business continuity service results in a revenue under-recovery (revenue loss) of INR
14.64 per litre of diesel to the public sector oil marketers totalling to approximately
INR 3,660 Crore (USD 732 million approx.) annually. The 2.5 billion litres of diesel
consumed, emit 6.6 million metric tons of CO2 annually, making the current use of
diesel generators both an environmentally and economically unattractive solution.
This research article details true energy costs of a telecom tower site facing average
power outage of 12 hrs a day.
SPV WIND TURBINE BIOMASS FUEL CELL
ENERGY SOURCE PV energygenerating systemcoverts sun energyinto electricenergy
The kinetic energy of wind converted mechanical energy into electrical energy
Waste composed or recently dead organisms are used to produce alternative fuels for producing energy.
Chemical energy hydrogen converted to electricity ,water vapor and heat.
EFFIENCY 6.2-19.7% 20% 20% 20%
Co2 FOOT PRINT Zero at point of use
Zero at point of use
Minimal Zero at point of use
MAINTAINANCE Minimal Minimal Biomass fuel cost and plant maintenance.
Hydrogen fuel cost and system maintenance.
COMPARISON OF ENERGY SOURCE
ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND
CHALLENGES
• The major players are BSNL, Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone, Idea.
• Bharti Airtel has no clear cut policies regarding the emission of GHG (Green
House Gas) but it has committed to solarizing 2000 mobile towers.
• Reliance has no plans for cutting their emission.
• The Vodafone group has set a reduction target for Carbon emissions of 50 %
by 2020.
• BSNL calls for increasing the number of towers working under solar energy.
But they don’t have other plans.
• Idea Cellular wants to develop solar-DG hybrid solutions and Hydrogen fuel
cell solutions but nothing comes into practice yet.
WHAT ARE THE
ROADMAP OF INDIAN
TELECOM COMPANIES
5
MAY 2018
The scenario in this case study is of a 3 BTS outdoor telecom tower site. The site
includes a 10kVA diesel generator and a 48V, 600Ahr battery bank. The average
electrical power demand of the site is 3 kW. On average, electrical grid power is
available for 16 hours a day only.
CASE STUDY: 3 BTS SITE WITH 16 HRS OF ELECTRICITY GRID SUPPLY
SMPS: 50,000 INR
PIU: 75,000 INR
DG: 2,00000 INR
ELECTRICITY GRID / YEAR 3,11,710 INR
PERCENTAGE OF DG, BATTERY, SMPS, PIU AND ELECTRICITY GRID
The site requires 8 hours or 24 kWh/day equivalent of back-up power .
To meet the site off grid energy requirement of 24kWhr/day, the solar photovoltaic solution should be capable of providing 33kWhr/day.
Assuming average of 4 hours of sunshine per day, an 8kW solar photovoltaic system will need to be installed. It is assumed that, the 8 hours of outage can occur during sunshine availability hours or during non-availability hours.
Considering average standard sunshine of 4 hours and 30% depth of battery discharge per day, a battery capacity of 1720 Ah @ 48 volts will be required. As per energy requirement of this site the installation area required is 900sq.ft.
At the current price of INR 125/Wp, this installation will cost INR 10,00,000.
It is to be noted here that the system life of a solar photovoltaic system is estimated to be 20 years and that of the battery is 3 years.
At the current price of INR 125/Wp, this installation will cost INR 10,00,000. It is to be noted here that the system life of a solar photovoltaic system is estimated to be 20 years and that of the battery is 3 years.
6
MAY 2018
Site Configuration Units Value
Site type Outdoor
Number of BTS 3
Average power demand from the site kW 3
Output Power Requirement kWh/day 24
Electrical grid
Unit cost of electricity INR/kWhr 6
Diesel generator data
Average DG run hour per day hrs/day 6
Size of diesel generator kVA 10
Landed cost of diesel generator INR 2,00,000
Average diesel consumption for 2.52 kW lph 1.8
Cost of diesel INR/L 60
Delivery cost of diesel to site INR/L 2
Battery bank data
Battery bank capacity at 48 VDC Ahr 600
Landed cost of battery bank INR 1,44,000
Battery run hours hrs/day 4
SMPS and PIU data
Landed cost of PIU INR 1,00,000
Landed cost of SMPS INR 50,000
Direct Cost of Energy per day
Cost of unit of grid energy INR/KWhr 6
Grid energy consumed per day kWhr 24
Cost of grid energy INR/day 144
Diesel consumption per day lpd 10.5
Total cost of diesel INR/day 662
Total direct energy cost per day INR/day 806
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
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400
Ap
ril
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e
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gust
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DIESEL CONSUMPTION (LTR)/ SITES
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
Ap
ril
May
Jun
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July
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DIESEL CONSUMPTION (LTR)/1000 SITES
AGGREGATE DIESEL CONSUMPTION DISTRIBUTION FOR OVER ONE THOUSAND SITES
CASE STUDY: 3 BTS SITE WITH 18 HRS OF ELECTRICITY GRID SUPPLY
7
Dependency upon diesel will reduce & power interruption chance is very low
Low cost than the other sources like biomass, wind turbine.
It can be installed in the unused space. It not required any extra space for installation
MAY 2018
Saving and Paybacks
Items Unit Particular
Diesel Consumption/year Ltr 2,961
Price of 1 Ltr Diesel Rs ₹ 64.00
Diesel cost/year Rs ₹ 1,89,494.46
Grid Electricity/Unit Rs/unit ₹ 6.00
Annual charge on electricity
bills @ 18Hrs runningRs ₹ 52,560.00
Total Saving/ year Rs ₹ 2,42,054.46
Cost of 10kW SPV System Rs ₹ 10,40,000.00
Payback period Yrs. 4.2
Saving and Paybacks
Items Unit Particular
Diesel Consumption/year Ltr 700
Price of 1 Ltr Diesel Rs ₹ 64.00
Diesel cost/year Rs ₹ 90,000
Grid Electricity/Unit Rs/unit ₹ 6.00
Annual charge on electricity
bills @ 18Hrs runningRs ₹ 25,000
Total Saving Rs ₹ 1,15,000
Cost of 10kW SPV System Rs ₹ 8,50,000
Payback period Yrs. 7
Estimated Emission Reduction
form Each
Sites per year
Kg Co2
Diesel Consumption/year 2,961 7994
Annual Saving on electricity
bills @ 18Hrs9000
7560
Total Carbon Reduction(kg Co2) 15554
SAVING & PAYBACK FOR EACH SITES
SCENARIO 1: THIS PAYBACK
CALCULATION IS BASED ON FULL SPV
POWER SYSTEM
SCENARIO 2: THIS PAY BACK
CALCULATION IS BASED ON HYBRID
POWER SYSTEM
ESTIMATED
EMISSION
REDUCTION
8
MAY 2018
▪ Some in i t iat ives have been taken by govt . o rganizat ions to encourage the use o f renewable energy resources .
▪ As part o f the NAPCC the Jawahar la l Nehru Nat iona l So lar Miss ion ( JNNSM) prov ides support for insta l l ing photovol ta ic ce l l s .
▪ In order to decrease the r i sk o f deve lopers the NVVN would share the costs o f the pro ject .
▪ The government a lso prov ide he lp to deve lopers harness ing power through o ther sources l ike wind energy .
▪ In India the government set a target to run 75% of tower in rura l area and 33% in the urban area under so lar Energy .
Energy management and challenges
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
Conclusion
9
The Energy cost is a dominant cost component for telecom companies. The energy consumption is mainly for operating the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or simply mobile towers.. Majority of the mobile towers are in the rural sector, where continuous supply of grid connected electricity is not available. Moving further 25 % of these towers are located in areas with no grid connectivity. Electricity availability in a day ranges from about 7 to 21 hrs. across the major telecom circles in India. In order to curb this menace the telecom companies keep a backup power source. The back up power source will be a 15-25kva 40kva diesel generator. Energy expenses constitute one third of total OPEX costs for telecom towers. Each tower consumes an average of 4000 liters of diesel every year. A telecom operator should have to spend Rs 3 billion every month for running this generators. By using the diesel generator the telecom sector is responsible for over 10 metric tones of CO2 emissions annually.
Cost Viability: The total cost of energy to operate a telecom site is major cause of concern for Telecom tower infrastructure providers. The rising electricity cost & operating & maintenance costs of DG, all together are pushing the telecom industry to look for Renewable energy solutions. Our study showing that the total cost of solar energy to run a 3 BTS unit is less among all other types of power sources .
Power Outrage: As per the above graph, most of the states in India are suffering from power cuts and scenario is more awful in rural areas. while Solar power allows mobile tower to run without power cuts.
Green Energy: As solar power is completely environmental friendly and our study shows that each 3 BTS unit can save up to 16000 kg co2/year which is equivalents to 9000 unit(kWh) electricity.
MAY 2018
10
DEEP RESEARCH | 360° WATCH
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