Vodafone indicated that across renewables, wind power generation gains the greatest benefit from 5G Standalone technology
Transforming wind farms with 5G technology could help generate enough additional clean energy to heat 2.4 million homes across the U.K. by 2035, according to a recent research by Vodafone UK.
The Vodafone UK research stated that 5G can help make production and distribution more efficient, alongside the emissions savings brought about by avoiding gas and coal power.
However, this goal can only be achieved if mobile operators can invest in rolling out 5G across the U.K. at scale and at pace, the carrier said.
The research indicated that across renewables, wind power generation gains the greatest benefit from 5G Standalone (5G SA) technology, particularly through drones, sensors and remote monitoring systems.
The modeling conducted by WPI Economics for Vodafone reveals that the implementation of 5G in wind power generation could reduce total CO2 emissions by 63 million tons, the equivalent to taking 700,000 petrol cars off the road by 2035.
Vodafone noted that 5G remote maintenance drones could increase the energy capacity of wind farms by 8GWh by 2035. Over time, this could translate into an additional 27 TWh of energy output. When considered alongside the UK’s annual electricity consumption of 320.7 TWh in 2022, this additional output would be a significant stride forwards in renewable energy generation, according to the U.K. telco.
Meanwhile, 5G-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) solutions which take advantage of 5G SA’s low latency for real-time monitoring of wind farms to ensure operations can run smoothly, while IoT and machine learning can also optimize the angle of each turbine, enabling them to stand closer together, which could lead to a 30-68% improvement in the wind farms’ capacity, Vodafone said.
Andrea Dona, chief network officer at Vodafone UK, said: “Making the switch to renewable energy is fundamental in the U.K.’s Net Zero journey and I’m excited about the role 5G Standalone can play in accelerating this transition. 5G SA is critical in making renewable energy outputs more reliable, efficient and boosting capacity. This makes the need for a faster 5G rollout even more important.”
Vodafone Group and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings had previously entered into binding agreements in relation to a combination of their telecommunication businesses in the U.K. Under the terms of the deal, Vodafone will own 51% of the new entity while Hutchison Group will own 49%.
“As a combined business with Three UK, when the proposed joint venture completes, we will be committed to helping the U.K. deliver on its climate ambitions by investing £11 billion ($13.8 billion) over the next decade in rolling out 5G Standalone across the UK, reaching over 99% of the U.K. population by 2034 and helping the UK’s energy industry decarbonize sooner,” Dona said.
The merger is subject to approval from the Competition and Markets Authority, which is currently looking deeper into the proposed transaction. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2024, according to previous reports.
