Telecommunication networks as smart energy consumers in space and time

Abstract

Telecommunication networks and power grids are parallel hierarchical maintenance structures with system-wide reach. National telecommunication carriers figure among the top energy consumers in developed national economies and, thus, it is important to improve the network energy efficiency - in particular in the light of the increasing user and usage demands. One promising option is to exploit traffic dynamics by introducing load-adaptive operation modes leading - besides internal energy efficiency improvements - to a systemic electricity consumer with spatially and temporally fluctuating electricity demands. Newways of coupling both of the two network types open up the possibility of an optimized joint control of the 'energy' and 'transport' dimensions of the telecommunication network. Due to the high overall electricity demands of telecommunication networks, their new flexibility can be assumed to be of a relevant scale, leading to optimized overall energy consumption. To fill out such a role, networks have to be made amenable to control signals of different nature. Thus, the hitherto static and unidirectional powering of the telecommunication network is replaced by feedback options and overall load variability in space and time. In the project DESI, funded by a German federal grant and conducted by a topically wide-ranging consortium, the different coupling mechanisms such as load-adaptive network operation mode or distributed energy storage capability were studied in detail along the entire information and communication technology services delivery chain. This article summarizes theoretical and practical project results and gives insights on their expected future relevance. Project results showed that the coupling and joint optimization leads to an overall optimized energy efficient and reliable telecommunication network operation at the same time offering valuable stability services to power grids.