Ericsson Offers Wind-Powered Base Station

Ericsson has unveiled a wind-powered base station produced in collaboration with Vertical Wind AB and Uppsala University in Sweden.

It said the wind-powered version of its Tower Tube requires no feeders or cooling systems, lowering power consumption by up to 40% against traditional base station sites. The tower includes a four-blade turbine with five-meter blades vertically attached to the tower.

Ulf Ewaldsson, vice president at Ericsson, said: “Combining wind power with Ericsson’s Tower Tube brings further opportunities to support mobile communication in both urban and remote areas with no or limited access to the electricity grid.”

The move follows a series of initiatives the company has taken to improve energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and lower the cost of mobile networks for operators. These include solar-powered base station sites; a power-saving feature that puts a network in stand-by mode during off-peak hours; biofuel-powered telecoms sites; a hybrid solution using diesel and batteries; and a solar charger co-developed with Sony Ericsson.