e& and Huawei Launch Middle East’s First Net-zero 5G Massive MIMO Site

At the recent UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), Huawei and e& announced the inauguration of the region’s ground-breaking net-zero 5G massive MIMO site, setting new benchmarks in sustainability and technological innovation.

This site is powered entirely by renewable energy and represents the convergence of sustainability and cutting-edge wireless technology. Massive MIMO technology, the cornerstone of 5G, improves capacity, coverage and user experience. The collaboration not only ushers a new era of green network infrastructure, highlighting the future low carbon potential of the telecom industry, it is also the region’s most energy-efficient fully off-grid 5G site to date, powered by an innovative AI-based energy management system. The expectant result is a reduction in CO2 emissions by about 26 tonnes per year.

Increasing costs and demand for 5G among barriers to reduce emissions

Since 2020, the cost of energy has risen significantly, increasing telcos’ operating costs, either directly, where they are using generators, or indirectly, where they are using the power grid. At the same time, base stations—accounting for most of the energy consumption for a typical mobile network—are increasingly equipped with 5G radios. While this enhances the user experience, it often consumes more power.

Against this backdrop, telecoms operators are constantly seeking ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs. To do that without impacting their customer experience, they need to maximise the use of renewable energy such as solar and wind power.

Driving change through energy efficient and zero-carbon sites

As part of their efforts to pilot solutions, e& and Huawei have transformed one of the base stations into a zero-carbon site as a proof of concept at the EXPO City in Dubai, using solar panels and smart lithium ion batteries. During the daytime, the solar panels charge the batteries and supply power to the base station. In turn, the batteries supply power to the base station during the night.

The site is a model of green innovation, using solar power and smart energy storage solutions at every turn. It utilises advanced MetaAAU (64T64R with 384 antenna array), multi-band RRU—which reduces the radio weight by up to 66%—and green antennas to improve energy efficiency by up to 25%. Managed by NetEco, an artificial intelligence system, the site’s energy consumption is meticulously optimised with a focus on real-time energy management.

Huawei and e& described the base station as the first 100% off-grid 5G massive MIMO site, the first AI-based energy management site, and the first autonomous energy efficiency site in the Middle East.

To help achieve e&’s 2030 net zero goal, Huawei has also signed an MoU with e& to help with decarbonisation across all its ICT infrastructure, including RAN sites, fixed access, transport network, core, storage, and data centres. The effort to decarbonise e&’s network will employ a mix of Huawei’s energy-efficient technology innovations and solutions.

Digital Revolutions powered by Renewable Energy

On the side lines of COP28, AE4RIA and Huawei also hosted a session with the UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub to “Accelerate Green Innovation” and released an important white paper titled Twin Skills for the Twin Transition: Defining Green Digital Skills and Jobs. 

Opening the event, Vicky Zhang, Vice President of Corporate Affairs from Huawei, said, “I am proud to launch the new report today with our partners. The report focuses on developing a new classification for Green Digital Skills that will define the course of action to reskill and upskill people to build and spread the net-zero technologies needed to achieve the Paris Agreement objectives.”

In an era of multiple crises, addressing economic growth without paying equal attention to sustainability is no longer possible and does not ultimately produce the expected financial results. The presence of digital technologies in almost all aspects of our lives has exponentially increased the speed of changes and impact on people and businesses—and this digital transition will only be successful if it is a clean-tech revolution. Producing the green energy required for this transition will require new skills that create new jobs, and Huawei underscored its commitment to sustainability with this paper, which serves as a blueprint for the journey.

The report is now available at: https://www.europeandigitalskills.eu/white-paper/