Nepal’s leading telecom operator Ntc uses various power equipment to keep its services running throughout the country. As it provides services throughout the country, the company needs a continuous power supply to keep its services afloat. For this, it manages its power operation from the Power Department which consists of infrastructures such as generators, air conditioners, batteries, rectifiers, UPS, etc. The telco is also planning to study the idea of implementing hydrogen technology as it seeks to harbor the latest and advanced tech & innovations to elevate its capabilities.
The telco says that power tools play an important role to run its telecommunication services in a sustainable manner. At times, an alternative power supply is required even for the same location. “The effort to make power supply more sustainable and reliable is ongoing. At the same time, efforts are also made to reduce expenses,” Ntc says.
Grid Tied Solar Systems
At present, Ntc has a total of 328 kw grid-tied solar systems in its offices in Sundhara, Biratnagar, Chhauni, Pokhara, and its central office. As per the company, electricity worth over Rs 12 million (1.20 crore) has been generated so far. The expectation is to further reduce expenditure on electricity in the coming days.
Power Optimization Work (POW)
LIkewise, the Power Optimization Work (POW) has started from Ntc Office Patan. And it is currently being done at various sites too. POW work has been completed in Bharatpur while it is ongoing in Janakpur, Rajbiraj, Hetaunda, Butwal, Sundhara, and Nepalgunj. For the company, the system has helped cut down on electricity and fuel consumption. Likewise, Ntc also claims that it has increased the reliability of the power system.
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Downsizing of load to reduce peak “demand” charges
When the load is decreasing in different parts of the country, the transformer is downsized to reduce the charge for maximum power demand. At the moment, Ntc is setting up a transformer in Attaria from 500 KVA to 200 KVA, in Patan from 1500 KVA to 750 KVA, and in Dharan from 200 KVA to 50 KVA. The fuel consumption rate of generators is also getting lower than before.
Remote monitoring and control system
The generators in different parts of the country have a capacity for remote monitoring and control systems. For this, work is ongoing in 30 places and the plan is to extend this system to over 150 places. The system allows generators to run from a certain location, while information, information about alarms, and fuel can also be obtained. This will end the need to reach remote places for power. In addition, the NTRMS app is in use to measure battery, voltage, room temperature, etc. of telecom equipment such as exchange, transmission core, etc. The system is currently installed at 80 different locations, and this could increase to 100 soon. At the moment, upgradation work is also in progress.
Smart lithium-ion batteries
Nepal Telecom in plans to use lithium-ion batteries and phase out VRLA batteries which are prone to low performance due to weather fluctuations. Likewise, the company is also procuring Lithium-ion batteries with heating systems for high mountains and hilly sites. These batteries will ensure a similar capacity irrespective of weather while power backup will also remain strong. You may also like to read: Xiaomi Gets a Major Breakthrough in Solid-State Battery Tech
Dual Power system
NT is also switching from single to dual-power systems to improve the reliability of its services. The telco is using rectifiers with high efficiency of up to 96%. Already, this system has been deployed on Mid-Hill Highway (Madhya Pahadi Lokmarga) and in the GSM core network. In the near future, there is a plan to change the main backbone link to a dual-power system.
Hybrid rectifier system
Due to the complaints of poor performance and lack of uniformity of solar charge controllers, the company is planning to use a hybrid rectifier system. It works on both grid and solar power as per the requirement and improves the reliability of power and saves power bills.
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Equipotential Earthing to avert lightning
There have been cases of lightning causing damage to equipment emanating from poor earthing systems. To address this, Nepal Telecom Power Department carried out a study and devised the concept of Equipotential Earthing. The telco has successfully tested this in over 30 cities. It will come into operation in other sites in the near future.
Ntc will soon study the prospect of using advanced power equipment
In addition, Ntc is collaborating with Telecommunication Training and Research Center (TTRC) to research the latest technologies of power systems in the coming year. The telco will explore the prospect of hydrogen use in diesel engines, sodium-ion batteries, smart energy storage, hydrogen ethanol fuel cells, perovskite solar cells, vertical wind turbines, and natural cooling systems, etc.
Nepal Telecom is Nepal’s largest telecom operator with over 2.10 telephony and around 1.95 crore 4G subscribers. The company also provides FTTH fiber internet service to over 2.22 lakh users across the country.
