Clean Power Systems provides end-to-end power solutions that dramatically reduce diesel generator runtimes, diesel fuel consumption and overall operating expenses for cell sites in developing markets where power is unreliable or unavailable. CPS’s technology consists of AVR/Line Conditioning Platforms for On-Grid applications, Hybrid/Renewable Platforms for Off-Grid Applications and Remote Performance & Alarm Monitoring Systems for all systems. The combined technology has been proven and deployed on thousands of cell sites across the Middle East and Africa.
TowerXchange: Where do Clean Power Systems fit in the telecoms infrastructure ecosystem?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
Clean Power Systems, or CPS, are entirely focused on power solutions for off-grid or unreliable on-grid (poor-grid) cell sites. Few cell sites in Africa have stable grid power, with many reliant on diesel generators (DG) as primary or heavily used backup power. DG runtime can be 18-20 hours a day even at sites connected to the grid as power is intermittent and sensitive equipment requires that voltage fluctuations mean a switch from mains to DG. With regulators and service level agreements targeting 99%+ uptime, outages are unacceptable.
CPS’s niche is to solve these problems on existing and new cell sites using the latest hybrid, line conditioning and renewable power technologies that reduce OPEX by 50-60%, and as a side benefit reduce carbon emissions by the same. We often start with a low cost initial base system – we don’t have to deploy renewable power immediately, but our upgrades introduce clean technologies that allow solar and wind power to be added down the road and eventually eliminate DG over three to five years.
TowerXchange: What’s the balance of your business between pure product provision and installation versus energy as a service?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
We fall between the two. Our ultimate goal is the full service model – to become a total energy and power optimisation provider. But we recognise that we don’t necessarily get the whole pie from the outset, we may start with supply and installation. In the end, we want to sit on same side of table as our towerco partners with aligned interests making the partnership larger than sum of the parts, which ultimately serves our mutual end customer, the mobile network operator.
TowerXchange: Who is CPS’ target customer?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
Towercos make up the majority of our business in Africa. Our focus has been on towercos because we share the MNO as the end customer – they view us as a partner and not just a vendor.
Towercos must make power optimisation a priority. When towercos agree on service level agreements that transfer responsibility for power onto them, they’re taking on the risk of choosing the right power provider, and it’s in the towerco’s interest to optimise sites immediately to maximise return on their substantial investments in towers. In many cases, Towercos make agreements with anchor tenants to supply power at a certain price, and that price is often based on legacy power equipment with high DG runtime. By helping the towercos optimize power on these sites, it results in reduced energy costs by 50% or more, which can have a significant impact on site level profitability.
We’ve proven CPS technologies over the last four years and spent a lot of resources proving our technology and services with our existing towerco customers. In our experience, the Towercos prefer to optimise their supply chain and to rely on a central point for end-to-end power services. This includes site surveys and turnkey installation to O&M and Remote Monitoring Systems. For Africa, CPS has a presence in Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa, and works with most of the major towercos in Africa.
We also sell to MNOs directly and through channel partners, although the MNO mindset isn’t quite as focused on capital expenditure to reduce opex. I believe the trend for Africa’s mobile network operators to sell towers to specialist towercos will continue.
TowerXchange: What kind of capital outlay should operators and towercos anticipate to upgrade each site, and what’s the timeline to ROI?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
The capital outlay depends on size of site and whether it’s on or off-grid. CPS has developed two product lines that address the “on-grid market” which means the site has access to AC Mains/ grid power and the “off-grid market” which refers to sites that are currently using two generators as the main source of power. For all of our product offerings, we also include our Remote Performance Monitoring and Alarm System to allow live performance monitoring and alarm management.
For most off grid sites, we provide our SolSite™ hybrid systems, which typically cost around $25-30,000 fully installed, with twelve months or less to ROI.
For most on-grid sites, we provide our SolSite™ Stability Series (Line Conditioning Platforms) and the cost is typically around $10-15,000, fully installed, with a faster ROI of 8-12 months. We have even had ROI’s less than eight months as this system focuses on utilizing the AC mains power when one or two of the three phases go down, while still maintaining a steady 220 volt output across threelines. Although hybrid and renewable solutions get most of the recognition, in reality, our on-grid SolSite™ system is having the greatest opex-reducing impact across Africa.
TowerXchange: Tell us about the real costs of maintenance at remote cell sites.
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
We typically find that total OPEX as it relates to power is approximately 55% fuel-related and 45% O&M related. Some sites are so remote that it will take a field O&M engineer a full day just to get there. When you consider that off-grid sites are running 24/7 on diesel generators, and generators require a 250-hour service interval; this means they require maintenance every 10-11 days. You can then appreciate solutions that reduce DG runtime as this not only saves on fuel but also extends the interval between maintenance visits to 42 days.
TowerXchange: Tell me about dimensioning a site for wind, solar or hybrid energy. What data does the MNO or towerco need to evaluate a site’s suitability for hybrid energy solutions?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
When dimensioning for a hybrid site, peak load has been used in sizing the generator at traditional sites where the generator is the primary source of power and generates power based on the fluctuating load. At such sites, it’s critical that the generator is capable of meeting the load requirements when and if they reach the peak load.
However, average load is the key factor in dimensioning a hybrid site. This is because an energy storage device (battery bank) is the primary source of power, and this can meet the fluctuating load of the site as required. Therefore, hybrid sites site must be sized according to the average daily load of the site.
The dimensioning of hybrid systems requires a different paradigm, which can be challenging to get across, especially when presenting to engineers who have been dimensioning sites based on peak load for so many years in this industry.
Traditional sites with generators as their primary source of power seldom reach their peak load for more than a few minutes at a time. Most of the time, the required load is at less than 40% of peak, which means the generator is running at a low load most of the time, causing the generator to run inefficiently, resulting in glazing, corrosion, and reduction to the lifetime of the generator.
In contrast, when the generator starts on a hybrid site, it runs at a high load during the boost recharge period to charge the battery bank AND power the existing site load. The generator is therefore running at a much greater efficiency, perhaps 80-90%, which extends its lifetime.
To evaluate a site, it’s also useful for the operator or towerco to know the generator capacity and cost per delivered litre of fuel, as well as grid power availability and rates, and the average cost of service and frequency of maintenance visits.
TowerXchange: Are hybrid sites a necessary first step to more widespread adoption of renewable energy, as solar and wind technologies become more affordable?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
Yes. To utilize wind and solar energy in off-grid locations, the site design must include some form of energy storage to provide power when there isn’t enough sunshine or wind. Hybrid systems provide the perfect platform for the immediate or future adoption of renewable energy sources, especially for off-grid sites.
TowerXchange: How do you control which power source is used at which time?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
The key to a good Hybrid system is the power manager or controller, which provides the essential function of managing battery and generator cycling, and ensuring maximum energy harvest of renewable energy sources through intelligent software controls. Additionally, through our Remote Site Performance Monitoring System (SolSite™ Manager), fuel information from the generator is collected alongside battery and power data in order to provide complete statistics on the status and performance of the site. This allows for remote configuration and optimisation on the site to maximise performance of the system. Site data is extended via alarm relays and a GPRS Modem.
The power solutions at a site need to be designed so they can be upgraded easily in the field if additional tenants are added
TowerXchange: How do requirements vary when dealing with a single tenant compared to multi-tenant shared cell sites?
Bill Bubenicek, Managing Director, CPS:
The power solutions at a site need to be designed so they can be upgraded easily in the field if additional tenants are added. We might need as few as three added parts, depending on the number of tenants we’re adding.
All cell sites have to be economical in their use of limited space, but that focus is even greater at multiple tenant sites. So it becomes even more important that hybrid power systems have a minimal footprint. Our SolSite™ systems are typically single cabinet integrated hybrid systems and they can handle up to 3kW average load, before requiring an additional battery cabinet.
CPS’s experience with towercos means we’re used to dimensioning solutions that are prepared for multiple tenants from day one, with multi-tenant distribution boxes and power metering, giving the towerco options on how to monitor and bill for power, for example charging each tenant according to their equipment’s power consumption.
