North Africa 5g energy base station power grid

According to the mobile telephone network (MTN), which is a multinational mobile telecommunications company, report (Walker, 2020), the dense layer of small cell and more antennas requirements will cause energy costs to grow because of up to twice or more power consumption of a 5G base station than the power of a 4G base station.

In the future, it can be envisioned that the ubiquitously deployed base stations of the 5G wireless mobile communication infrastructure will actively participate in the context of the smart grid as a new type of power demand that can be supplied by the use of distributed renewable generation.

There are now commercial 5G networks in more than 10 countries in the region, with stakeholders in many more countries expecting commercial 5G to be available in their markets by 2025. By the end of this decade, there will be more than 340 million 5G connections in Africa, equivalent to a fifth of total mobile connections.

In South Africa, for example, MTN is building private 5G networks for 14 companies in the mining and ports sectors. Most stakeholders in the 5G Africa Survey envisage demand for private 5G networks in their market, with mining, ports, oil and gas, education and agriculture among the prospective sectors.

This report on bringing 5G to power explores how the shift to renewables creates opportunities and challenges through connected power distribution grids.

There are a number of multilateral stakeholders and organisations that engage with and represent various parts of the 5G ecosystem. In Africa, these include the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), the ITU, the GSMA, Smart Africa and sub-regional digital and communications authorities.