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FINAL WORD
Huawei predicts 10
emerging trends in
telecom energy in next
five years
Huawei has released 10 emerging trends in telecom energy
in 2025, aiming to provide a reference for operators on site
infrastructure construction.
5
G is coming. Telecom networks need
to undergo these three significant
changes: introduce new spectrums and
technologies; a lot of new sites; and mobile
Edge Computing (MEC) sinking. At the same
time, as 5G is applied to more industries, IT
and CT will be further merged and network
infrastructure will be shared more. So where
will these changes drive telecom energy?
Trend 1: Energy digitalisation
Key point: 90% of sites worldwide will
achieve energy digitalisation.
With the advent of 5G, the number of sites
increases sharply and O&M becomes more
complex. The rising OPEX will consume
operators’ profits. Energy digitalisation is
crucial to simplifying O&M and reducing
site O&M costs. Thanks to digital sensing,
control and processing technologies, it is
estimated that 90% of sites worldwide will
have digitalised energy by 2025, making
it possible for operators to build simplified,
green and autonomous driving networks.
Trend 2: Increasing the adoption of
green energy
Key point: Adopting green energy
promotes energy saving and emission
reduction for the sustainable
development of the industry.
To cope with climate change and achieve the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of
the United Nations, many global operators
have adopted strategies for saving fuel,
lower maintenance, zero diesel generators
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across the entire network, lower carbon
emissions and sustainable development.
In light of this, the investment in green
energy has been continuously increasing.
New energy technologies such as PV, wind
energy, hydrogen fuel cells and lithium
batteries are maturing. Although such
technologies require relatively high initial
investment, they are gradually becoming
favoured by operators for their benefits,
such as environmental friendliness, low
carbon emissions, maintenance-free and low
electricity costs.
Trend 3: Replacing lead-acid
batteries with lithium batteries
Key point: Lead-acid batteries will
be replaced by lithium batteries and
batteries will be increasingly used as a
power source rather than backup energy.
As 5G is developing rapidly, the power
consumption of sites has doubled. An energy
storage system with higher energy density
is required. Lithium batteries are a perfect
choice. Currently, the cycle life of lithium
batteries is five times that of lead-acid
batteries and the float charge life of lithium
batteries is twice that of lead-acid batteries.
The life cycle cost of lithium batteries is lower
than that of lead-acid batteries. In the next
three years, the price of lithium batteries will
be reduced by 30%. It is estimated that the
cost of lithium batteries will be roughly the
same as that of lead-acid batteries in 2022.
In addition, the cycle feature of lithium
batteries can be fully utilised. The peak
shaving feature can avoid mains capacity
expansion and reconstruction and elastic
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