Since entering the market 7 years ago, Huawei Telecom Energy has become the number one supplier in the telecom energy industry. Investing over 10% of revenues into R&D, the company is focussed on ensuring their products are at the cutting edge of technology, of the highest quality and future proofed to be ready for changing requirements in the telecoms sector. TowerXchange speak to Wang Zhiwu, General Manager of Huawei Telecom Energy to learn more.
TowerXchange: Please can you introduce Huawei and their energy division.
Wang Zhiwu, General Manager, Huawei Telecom Energy:
Huawei is the largest telecommunications company in the world with revenues of over US$60bn last year. The network energy business is one of 7 huawei product lines, which is divided up into four units; telecom network energy, data centre energy, solar power stations and secondary power supply.
For the network energy division we have nine energy centres; seven in China, one in Japan and one in Germany. We employ over 2,000 energy engineers and 10% of our revenue we invest in R&D.
Our energy division entered the telecommunications field back in 2009 and since then we have become the number one supplier in the telecom energy industry in terms of market share (as highlighted in an independent study conducted by Frost & Sullivan). We work in over 170 countries and so have an extensive footprint.
TowerXchange: As such a global organisation, how have Huawei observed the switch to renewable energy to power cell sites amongst the world’s MNOs and towercos? What rate do you see this trend progressing at?
Wang Zhiwu, General Manager, Huawei Telecom Energy:
In my opinion, renewable energy in the MNO and towerco space is at a very early stage, only an estimated 2% of sites have renewable energy as a source of generation. This means that most sites in poor grid areas are reliant on diesel generators at present and there is a huge opportunity for renewable energy as the costs come down. In some countries, the cost of renewable energy generation is approaching grid parity and so the business case is becoming more compelling.
In addition, renewables offer a good backup option even for grid connected sites, offering that level of security in the event of grid failure. There are cases even in the UK where MNOs are looking at renewable energy on their cell sites.
A further driver in the move towards renewable energy is in the reduction of carbon emissions. In China and other developing countries where the economy is growing rapidly, pollution is becoming a major concern and so governments are investing heavily in renewable energy. In China, China Tower Company has a portfolio of over one million sites and have plans to deploy solar on a large scale in line with objectives from the government.
TowerXchange: How does Huawei’s solution support the use of renewable energy at cell sites?
Wang Zhiwu, General Manager, Huawei Telecom Energy:
The deployment of renewable energy on cell sites has stalled because of the costs but this will change. All of our energy solutions have the ability to support all energy inputs, be it solar, wind, grid or any other source of generation. The system is ready to accept whichever generation technology and so when the time is right for a company to make the switch to renewables, the integration will be as seamless as possible.
All of our energy solutions have the ability to support all energy inputs, be it solar, wind, grid or any other source of generation. The system is ready to accept whichever generation technology and so when the time is right for a company to make the switch to renewables, the integration will be as seamless as possible
Secondly there is a high degree of flexibility in our systems. Due to space constraints for example, not all cell sites have a big enough footprint to handle the size of the solar system that is required to power the site. Our power systems have the ability to support different power generation capacities and so are suitable for all scenarios.
Thirdly, we have intelligence built into our network management systems and controllers which automatically can select the best power setting. For example, with hybrid sites, when the sun is shining the controller will prioritise power generation from the solar panels as this is the cheapest form of energy, when power is being generated from solar, the system will switch to grid (when available) as the next cheapest power generation source before relying on the diesel generator. The ability to move between different sources of generation automatically in order to ensure the lowest cost of electricity is one of the key features of Huawei’s system.
TowerXchange: Typically what proportion of costs/ energy usage is attributed to air conditioning and what strategies are being deployed globally to bring this down?
Wang Zhiwu, General Manager, Huawei Telecom Energy:
In the past five years I have travelled very widely and seen lots of different scenarios. In Saudi Arabia, for example, temperatures can rise to over 50C in the daytime, in this instance we found in our test lab that up to 40% of power usage will be due to air conditioning to bring this temperature down.
Companies need to rethink their cooling strategies in order to control costs and we see three key ways they can tackle this.
Firstly, MNOs and towercos need assess and reduce the susceptibility of equipment to high temperatures. A lot of equipment can operate at temperatures up to 60C, yet MNOs are still cooling it to 25C; equipment that can withstand the higher temperatures should be kept in separate compartments to that which needs to be cooled and this will reduce the cooling requirements.
It is usually only the battery that exhibits strong sensitivity to high temperatures and as such, we have been working for the past three years on how to increase the performance of batteries at these extremes. In 2014 we launched a new high temperature battery that can operate at temperatures up to 45C. This means that the aircon system in the aforementioned case where temperatures reach 60C, will only need to bring the temperature down by 15C rather than 35C and this can equate to energy savings on a cell site of up to 30%.
A second area that tower owners should consider is cooling on demand. Whilst aircon may be essential in the height of summer, in winter or cooler evenings, a simple fan will provide the cooling required. Switching from aircon to a hybrid system will enable a reduction in power consumption used by cooling by as much as 20-35%. Huawei’s controller has the ability to intelligently switch between the two cooling systems automatically, dependent on the temperature inside and outside the cabinet.
TowerXchange: How is energy being more effectively controlled and managed at cell sites, what intelligent solutions do you see being built into systems and how has this evolved?
Wang Zhiwu, General Manager, Huawei Telecom Energy:
When we talk about intelligent solutions there are two levels; network level intelligence and site level intelligence.
At the network level I believe that in the future, all sites will be fully integrated into an energy network management system which enables tower owners to look at the bigger picture in terms of energy usage on their networks. This is particularly important for towercos who have much higher power usage due to the presence of multiple tenants on their sites. With a single tenant a site may use 5kW but as you add further tenants this could go up to 15kW. With an energy management system, towercos can spot weakness of their energy system, looking at which province or which district within a province has the highest power consumption. Having this information, helps inform towerco decision making when it comes to investments and energy efficiency improvements.
When it comes to site level intelligence, the usage of hybrid generation systems is at a very early stage but intelligence built into the system that enables switching between each generation source automatically will bring considerable savings to tower owners. Huawei’s control system enables this automatic switching, ensuring that the cheapest source of energy is used be it solar, grid or diesel.
TowerXchange: What makes Huawei stand out from its competitors in the field?
Wang Zhiwu, General Manager, Huawei Telecom Energy:
There are three key areas where we feel Huawei stands out from its competitors. Firstly, in the past seven years, over 10% of Huawei network energy product line revenue has been invested into energy R&D. This is a much larger investment than any of our competitors and it ensures that our technologies are always at the cutting edge of research, bringing innovative solutions to improve network efficiency.
The second area is in regards to quality. Huawei have very strict processes in place to guarantee that our products are manufactured to the highest standard. We have adopted systematic managed processes, like the Integrated Product Development (IPD) process learned from IBM, which helps control our production processes and ensure that we are always reaching the highest quality levels.
Finally, Huawei bring an understanding about the telecoms sector that other energy equipment providers simply do not have. The tower industry has changed as towers have moved into the hands of independent towercos and with this new energy requirements have been created. Huawei’s understanding of the telecoms sector allows us to tailor our solutions to ensure that we stay aligned with the future shape of the industry.
Huawei are Platinum Sponsors at the TowerXchange Meetup Africa & Middle East, being held on 19-20 October at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg. Click here for more information.
