Electricity Usage
The cost of electricity has a significant impact on the bottom line of any teleport. Pricing plans for electricity vary greatly around the globe, from a flat rate per unit of consumption (typically kilowatt/hours in the United States) to variable pricing per unit of consumption based on demand throughout the day — the higher the demand, the higher the price. Regardless of pricing format, energy prices have risen over the last decade bringing the use of this resource under increasing scrutiny. In late 2009, the WTA announced the Green Teleport Campaign to educate members on their consumption of electrical power and ways to decrease usage. Industry studies reveal that most teleports spend $300,000 to $1 million per year on electricity, and the enthusiastic endorsement of going green for the sake of being green differs around the world, however, no one can argue that a cut of up to 40 percent in the electric bill is a bad thing.
As part of the initiative, WTA released a white paper, “The Green Teleport: The Case for Sustainability,” which outlines keys steps that a teleport can take to lower its electricity consumption. Among the measures are: implementing a comprehensive energy audit to understand energy consumption and uncover quick and easy energy conservation methods; increase the staff’s energy knowledge, as the decisions they make directly affect energy consumption; make capital investments in major systems designed to operate more efficiently and save money; and make the move to energy independence withe efforts to develop geothermal, solar, and wind systems.
Hall notes the importance of engineering equipment rooms. “To really get the biggest payback in energy efficiency you must plan out the equipment rooms. Proper planning helps maximize air flow, thereby insuring efficient cooling.” When designing air conditioning systems for telecommunications and information technology rooms that require cooling in the winter, Hall points out the effectiveness of Leibert’s Free cooling coils of lowering utility bills. The Leibert Free system pumps a glycol mixture to transfer heat from the computer room to a heat exchanger located outside. The glycol loop is much more efficient at transferring heat than with air and the pump used circulate the cooling fluid requires far less energy to run than an air conditioning compressor.
Hall and Hatch both note the powers savings that occur when solid state power amplifiers (SSPA) are used in lieu of RF amplifiers, which use klystron tubes. “We strive to use HPAs and other electronic devices which are electrically efficient and require less maintenance. Specifically, for our broadcast services, we mostly use indoor TWT HPAs instead of combined klystron HPAs,” says Hall. “As a result, we use about 50 percent less electricity from transmissions. This includes lower air conditioning costs because we generate much less indoor heat than with tube amplifiers. In other applications, we work to use outdoor (antenna mounted) HPAs, which provide long term savings as they don’t need to air conditioned,” he says.
“Klystron amplifiers draw lots of power,” says Hatch. “Going to sophisticated SSPA is capital intensive, but there is a definite payback. It is somewhat similar to the decision airlines make when it to equipping their airplanes with engines: Do you rebuild the old engines, which cost less, or buy new engines and use less fuel and cut long term maintenance costs?”
Conclusion
Most teleports do not have research and development labs in which to experiment with and evaluate new technologies. Therefore, their engineering staffs must do the proper due diligence when investigating promising new technologies. Although it involves a degree of risk, the adoption of new technologies allows teleport operators to do their jobs in a faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective manner. Look for technological enhancements to continue to drive improvements in service delivery and increased profits to teleport operators’ bottom lines.
Greg Berlocher has been active in the satellite industry for twenty five years and is the President of Transcendent Global Networks LLC.
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