Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel has listed its recent green initiatives to cut down energy costs to improve profits.
Airtel – in its annual report for 2016-17 – said it has achieved the milestone of 1 MWP Rooftop solar capacity at its main switching centres (MSC) sites last year.
Airtel aims to reduce carbon footprint by over 70 percent in the next three years. In addition, the largest telecom operator will be promoting a shift to green mobile tower technologies that consume less power.
Green Network Infrastructure
Airtel has green power wheeling agreements for the procurement of green energy of 88 Mn units per annum. Airtel completed trials at own and partner sites by switching off air-conditioners and utilising natural solar cooling to reduce the energy demand.
Airtel has completed 381 sites with 300 Wp solar on own and partner sites by switching off its air-conditioners and utilising solar and natural cooling to reduce the energy demand.
Airtel is implementing several initiatives to inculcate passive site sharing. This method involves ground-based or rooftop tower, cables, shelter cabinets, power supply, air-conditioning, alarm systems, among others. Tower sharing saves utilisation of various resources like steel, cement, concrete, zinc and land, besides optimising power usage.
Airtel said base station with outdoor BTS does not require air-conditioning, which results in potential reduction of energy consumption by 25 percent.
Airtel has converted over 48,973 sites to outdoor sites to reduce energy consumption. Airtel is also utilizing intelligent shutdown technology to ensure that the equipment remains switched off during non-peak hours. Indus and Infratel have converted over 47,937 sites to green sites till date.
Green data centers
Airtel has implemented energy conservation and efficiency program at its data centers across the country.
Airtel is installing Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) in its HVAC systems, reducing a motor’s speed and power draw when there is lower system load. Cold aisle containment uses a physical barrier to reduce the mixing of cold supply air and hot exhaust air in data centre aisles. This delivers lower energy consumption and more efficient cooling.
Airtel recycled 2,400+ tons of e-waste from IT and network infrastructure through its authorised partners.
Rooftop solar energy
Over the past 5 years, Airtel has set up 17 rooftop solar plants at its main switching centers, with a total generation capacity of 1 MWp. This will result in tentative emission reduction to the tune of 965 tons CO2 per annum.
In FY 2016-17, Airtel has installed rooftop solar plants at 3 locations, with a total installed capacity of 200 kWp.
Airtel said the deployment of low-power consuming BTS achieved a reduction in power consumption by a minimum of 30% over the last 4-5 years. In FY 2016-17, Airtel deployed 4301 such base stations.
Airtel implemented 48973 tower sites with outdoor conversion solutions. Battery Hybrid solutions have been implemented in over 11946 additional sites by its network partners, across the country, to eradicate the use of diesel.
Solar-DG Hybrid Solution uses 3 kw – 7 kw capacity solar panels in tandem with battery banks, which helped reduce the DG run hours from 20 to 6 hours a day by providing 18 hours of power. The system is optimized by a hybrid solar controller. Presently 17.4 MWp is the installed solar capacity on 3263 sites.
Over the past 4 years, 17 rooftop solar plants were set up at our main switching centers, with a total generation capacity of 1 MWp.
Airtel made green power wheeling agreements for the procurement of green energy, under open access of 88 Mn units per annum. Trials for solar natural cooling completed for 381 sites with 300 Wp solar on each site and partner sites by switching off air-conditioners and utilizing solar natural cooling to reduce the energy demand.
