"2 GW or More Solar PV installations will spring up in India based only through Telecom Towers"
Now a days, cost optimization, and not government policy, is emerging as the top agenda for Telecom tower companies. During these cost-conscious times, energy management has emerged as the key issue which needs to be addressed and these has led to the greening up of the Indian telecom industry. And Energy Storage and Solar systems are toping the agenda of the Tower companies. And with the pan-India deployment of 3G and broadband wireless technologies, more energy storage will continue to be required.
Currently India is the second largest and fastest growing mobile usage market in the world. The Country also continues to add between 15 and 20 million new mobile subscribers each month. According to the latest information provided by the ministry of Communications and IT, the country has a total of 7,36,764 Base Transceiver Stations and an additional built-out of 250,000 mobile towers will be required to cater the explosive growth in Data Communications.
Given that many parts of the country are power deficient—where intermittent power is available – diesel generators account for 35 to 70% (urban-rural) of the power generator for a telecom tower, with the remainder met by grid-connected power. Approximately 2 billion of litres of diesel are consumed each year by power the telecom towers. With the rising costs of diesel (which is heavily subsized in India) and the pilferage concerns (in some places upwards of 26%), battery technology has emerged as the ‘black gold’, or oil equivalent, for the telecom sector. As a result, energy storage solutions will form an integral part of the strategy away from diesel and fossil-fuel power generation to renewable energy technology in India.
For example Indus Towers has reduced their energy costs by 18-20% by moving to renewable energy and battery solutions. In fact, the company has already made 9,000-10,000 sites diesel-free and is targeting to take this up to 20,000 sites by March 2013. Other energy efficient alternatives include eliminating the air conditioning, use of free cooling units, reducing the power consumption on the base station, and remote power management capabilities.
As we watch the telecom sector take steps to reduce their carbon footprint, we see opportunities in India for companies in energy management software, renewable energy generation, energy storage (fuel cells, batteries), smart grid, and traffic management.
Source: Indus Towers, Ministry of Communications and IT, Bridge to India
