NEC completes green energy tower demo in India

NEC has completed a demonstration in India involving use of renewable energy management technology at telecoms tower sites with unstable power supplies.

The project incorporated solar power photovoltaic generation systems and lithium-ion rechargeable battery systems to reduce reliance on diesel generators as backup power sources.

Indian tower companies are under pressure to reduce fuel consumption by diesel generators due to cost reduction requirements and the conditions outlined in the Indian government’s Green Telecom policy.

The demonstration project was organized by the Indian government in collaboration with its Japanese counterpart and overseen by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). NEC was selected to implement the project in 2014.

“NEC is focused on providing solutions for society that are friendly to people and the Earth,” NEC general manager for ESS Michihiro Ezawa said.

“With approximately 400,000 telecom tower sites throughout India, there is a great deal of promise for these technologies to significantly reduce the impact on our environment, while improving business conditions. Moving forward, we aim to proceed rapidly with the verification of business models that enable effective commercialization of these technologies.”

He said that through its involvement in the project NEC has demonstrated reductions in diesel fuel consumption, energy costs, CO2 emissions and total costs of ownership, as well as the safety of lithium-ion batteries and the reliability of AI-powered prediction technologies in estimating power failures and recovery times.