Wind energy for telecom hybrid sites: challenges and experiences from a pilot site

The use of renewable energy can reduce the diesel consumption and thereby the operational costs and CO2 emissions at telecom base stations that are not connected to a grid or connected to a weak grid. Whereas solar energy has been widely adopted for such hybrid telecom sites, wind energy has been less applied and studied. In addition to the extra civil works required, and the practicalities with logistics and installation, the use of wind energy represents some challenges different from solar energy due to the mechanical and electrical dynamics of the wind turbines and generators. This paper presents the experience with a live hybrid telecom site from more than one year of operation. The telecom site is powered by wind energy in addition to power from solar panels. A contactor in combination with the power grid connection is used to emulate the back-up power from a diesel generator. The result from the pilot site shows that the wind energy system has worked without any significant problems. The dump-load has been used only for 5% of the total wind energy produced. The site has been powered in average by about 60% renewable energy, and the wind energy has represented more than 10% of the total energy in average. This pilot site demonstrates that wind energy is a viable additional energy source for powering telecom sites where wind resources are sufficient. For an optimal capacity dimensioning of the wind energy system, telecom sites could be build "wind energy ready" so that decisions on and engineering of a possible wind energy system can be done after having obtained operational experience and site specific wind measurements.