Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

With tariffs being slashed repeatedly, falling ARPUs (average revenue per user) have emerged as a major area of concern for the Indian telecom industry. This has significantly lowered the margins of telecom operators. In such a scenario, operators are looking at sharing infrastructure in a big way, not only as a means to facilitate a rapid rollout of networks in rural India, but also to keep capex and opex at a minimum.

To offer a perspective on the vast potential of the infrastructure sharing segment, tele.net recently organised its fourth annual conference, Telecom Infrastructure in India: Growth, New Developments, Opportunities and Challenges. The following section on the Role of Renewable Energy brings forward the views of Sharat Chandra, President and Chief Operating Officer, Strategy and New Technologies, GTL Limited and Arvind Prasad, Head, Business Development, Solar Energy, ACME Tele Power

Sharat Chandra, President and COO, Strategy and New Technologies, GTL Limited

Due to long running hours of diesel generator (DG) sets in rural areas (8-10 hours), the energy challenges include high opex, higher fuel costs due to increasing fuel transportation costs, pilferage and theft. Also, indoor base transceiver stations require cooling that consumes 50 per cent of power at the tower site.

While operators go rural, the grid power availability remains poor. Also, there are difficulties in measuring actual power consumption. Most of the direct/indirect sources of power are carbon emitting. Besides, considerable capex is required to invest in alternative energy solutions. Today, the total CO2 emissions from towers annually in India equal 5.3 million tonnes.

Impact on business

Unreliability/Poor quality of grid power leads to requirement of large battery banks and expensive DG sets

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Rising fossil fuel costs impact profitability as opex increases and ARPU falls

Manpower for refilling, maintenance, reconciliation and back office functions put additional burden on opex

Less control on remote and local human dependencies leads to KPI defaults, low maintenance, network outages

Long hours of running DGs require diesel in large quantities, resulting in air and sound pollution, high fuel costs, pilferage and theft

Climate change and increased social pressure to go green require capital investments in green power.

Technology options: Solar and wind power

Diesel consumption can be reduced to the bare minimum

Drastically reduce operational costs

Reduce emissions and noise pollution

Dependence on grid can be completely eliminated

Allow penetration of cellular networks in rural areas

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Maintenance required is reduced

Attractive payback period

Saves 40,000 tonnes per year of carbon emissions caused by DGs of 100,000 cell towers

Government subsidy (Rs 100 per watt).

Government initiatives

Off-grid opportunities

Soft loans at up to 5 per cent annual interest rate and 30 per cent subsidy for select applications including telecom sites. 200 MW capacity solar applications in the first phase, and focus on rural power supply, and replacement of diesel telecom towers.

Grid-connected solar power

1,000 MW solar power (connected to 33 kV or more grid) to be purchased by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has announced tariffs for 2009-10: PV Rs 18.44 per unit

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Power purchase agreement duration is 25 years.

Key imperatives for adoption

No carbon emission, environment friendly

Significantly reduces manpower

Zero fuel cost, reducing opex vastly

Insulation from tariff fluctuations

Assured supply with limited local dependence

Government subsidies/Financing less capex burden

Carbon credits, green balance sheets, corporate social responsibility.

What if we dont

Margins are nosediving due to tariff wars, denting the profitability of operators

Pilferage and thefts continue to go unchecked month after month

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Thousands of DG sets running 24 hours a day in rural areas

Additional manpower required on field with increasing tower footprint

Government subsidies on renewable energy may not be there tomorrow

Unsustainable cost structures as fossil fuel costs bound to go up.

Shape of things to come: The evolving ecosystem

Energy, a critical cost determinant, is not the core competence of the operator

Priorities should operators focus on users or grapple with managing energy?

Huge variations in energy costs month-on-month without a handle on control

Energy-saving technology still evolving some require huge investments

Need of fixing energy costs while maintaining the same levels of service level agreement/KPI

De-risk operator from process restructuring, technology evolution and obsolescence

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Independent third parties having expertise in energy management.

What GTL has tried

Fuel optimiser

Microprocessor controlled

Stand-alone solution

Significant savings if combined with free cooling

Free cooling

Stand-alone free cooler

Microprocessor controlled

Substantial savings in the cost of air conditioning

Rugged design

Works on 48/24 V DC.

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Wind turbine

Installed first wind turbine on telecom tower in India

Suitable for outdoor sites in hybrid with solar

Costly solution with low return on investment

No plan for mass deployment.

Achievements and initiatives in the pipeline

Aimed at bringing in a green revolution in telecom by reducing CO2 emissions

Reduction in energy consumption by 20-30 per cent by:

Sharing of telecom towers

Energy management

Alternative fuel and technologies.

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Finally, it is important that tower companies use renewable energy wherever possible as tomorrow will be too late.

Arvind Prasad, Head, Solar Business, ACME Telepower Limited

The energy challenge faced by operators and infrastructure providers today is that the quality and cost vary a lot with the electricity board/grid. These can vary up to 100 per cent from state to state. The power solution is expected to get even more challenging as the wireless carriers go deeper into the rural heartland. Most sites start with 24-hour DG operation in the first few months due to delays in electricity board connection. The conventional back-up power sources are DG sets and batteries, which have problems like carbon emissions, noise pollution, maintenance, fuel logistics, especially given the pilferage situation. Also, industry batteries have certain drawbacks.

Solutions available in alternative energy

Solar energy as the primary source for rural areas

Fuel cell systems to replace batteries and DG sets for urban areas.

Solar power solution

Solar energy is available in most parts of the country and is reliable.

Solar photovoltaic system: Converts sunlight into electrical energy and consists of solar modules 48 V DC; battery -48 V deep cycle type; storing power for back-up; giving back-up in case there is no power source available, controller for solar and DG.

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Where can we leverage solar energy?

Use solar as the primary source in a no- grid situation

Ideal for rural areas with little chance of shadow effect

Zero carbon emissions

Less possibility of site outage as the site runs on solar power during the daytime.

Solar solution

It can be a smart solution that uses renewable energy, cuts down the usage of exhaustible sources, and is a highly sustainable and green option. It has been successfully tried out at many sites in states like Bihar and Orissa.

Fuel cell introduction

Fuel cell is a generic term that encompasses a wide range of technologies that produce from 1 watt (cellphone) of power to several megawatts (small factory) of power

Fuel cell fuel is typically hydrogen, but hydrogen is made from many different fuels and in different ways

Applications for fuel cells cover the entire range of energy use including residential, commercial, back-up, cogeneration, portable, remote and transportation.

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Benefits of fuel cell systems

Reduced operation and maintenance costs

Space optimisation and highly efficient

Compliance with regulations

Tax incentives

Reduced recycling cost

Green PR

Reduced total cost of ownership

Reduced pollution (lead, noise and CO2)

Improved reliability (predictive maintenance, broad temperature range and over 10 years lifespan).

Are renewable energy solutions expensive?

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Role of Renewable Energy

Telecom Infrastructure in India, May 18, 2010

Not if we consider life-cycle cost, environmental impact, cost of energy with DG sets, especially in rural areas, and the impact of the National Solar Mission.

Further, a well-structured opex model with the right volume can help make the transition to a renewable energy solution worthwhile.

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