Renewable energy
Empower wind and solar construction and operations with private LTE/5G communication networks
As global energy consumption continues to rise, unquestionably, the new energy source is renewables.
The downsides of fossil fuel-based energy generation are well known. Aggressive zero-emission targets and environmental regulations must be met for a sustainable future. According to the IEA, “If today’s energy infrastructure continues to operate as it has in the past, it would lock in by itself a temperature rise of 1.65 °C.”
The good news is the drive and demand for renewable energy is well underway with growth in DERs from consumer solar and wind adoption, and large utility-scale energy sources from wind and solar farms, hydroelectric, biomass, and more. In fact, according to WindEurope, the EU Commission estimates half of Europe’s electricity will be wind-generated by 2050.
On this page:
- A renewable energy future for business and economic growth
- Build it better, and build it safer with high-performance wireless broadband
- Move beyond Tetra and vSAT to high bandwidth, ultra-low latency connections
- Solutions in action: Providing pervasive coverage for a North Sea wind farm
- A focus on 5G for renewable energy solutions operations excellence
- Deploy a communications solution customized for your digitalization needs
- A partner focused on sustainability and business results
Wind farm communications for Industry 4.0
Wind is essential to a carbon-neutral energy supply. Located in remote and often harsh environments, wind farms pose unique challenges to communications systems. Safety and operational continuity are essential. The Nokia Wind Farm private wireless solution provides mission-critical reliability and low-latency, broadband connectivity for connecting workers, sensors, cameras, and turbines. See how Nokia is working with wind farms to reach net-zero.
A renewable energy future for business and economic growth
The market volatility seen in fossil fuels over the past decades makes for an unstable, difficult to plan, and at times risky business environment. Renewables offer the opportunity for oil and gas companies, to pivot their business models to take advantage of resilient, stable, renewable resource supplies - and at the same time help the world address the climate crisis.
Sustainable solar and wind installations at mining sites help fuel fleets of electric mining vehicles and automated technologies. The mines perform better with new automation, but also are safer for workers and the environment, while reducing the effects of a diesel-fueled operation.
Renewable energy is also helping provide a path to economic stability throughout the world following the global COVID-19 pandemic. Many governments and regional authorities are offering funding and investment incentives for renewable energy development. Investment in this area offers many areas hard hit by the pandemic the opportunity to increase economic development, build new jobs while at the same time shifting their dependency on non-renewable energy sources.
Related reading around the industry:
"Nokia ranked as leader in industrial IoT Networking Solutions"
Guidehouse Insights Leaderboard Grid - Industrial IoT Networking Solutions Vendors (2Q 2021)
Build it better, and build it safer with high-performance wireless broadband
Realize an optimized wind or solar operation during all phases – from construction to maintenance. Enhance worker safety, collaboration, and productivity. Accelerate the benefits of Industry 4.0 automation and predictive maintenance for your operation.
Utility-scale wind and solar farms are growing in size and increasingly located in remote locations that lack commercial mobile service and fixed communications to the nearest town. System construction is slower and maintenance costs are higher due to their geographical location. A larger size operation means any system downtime has a larger revenue impact. High-performance networks and edge cloud solutions can help you:
- Accelerate construction, improve the flow of operational data and simplify maintenance of your assets to minimize costs and enhance productivity
- Take advantage of new use cases for your operation, including the addition of new sensors, enhanced high definition video for improved worker safety and site surveillance, and ubiquitous network coverage for remote worker connectivity.
Move beyond Tetra and vSAT to high bandwidth, ultra-low latency connections
Oftentimes a lack of available commercial mobile services in remote areas and performance limitations of available traditional communications solutions like VHF radio and satellite make it difficult to deploy promising new use cases requiring ultra-low latency or to cost-effectively keep pace with the greater data transfer requirements of connecting onsite workers, large vessels, and operations centers.
Nokia can help you address these challenges and succeed with your renewables strategy. Our 4.9G/LTE and 5G industrial-grade private wireless solutions make your wind and solar farms safer for workers and optimize your operations. They enable you to accelerate your Industry 4.0 strategy with digitalization and automation options that span from construction to control, to the maintenance of your operation.
Nokia communication solutions for industries and public sector
Empower your workforce with secure private wireless communication
Push-to-talk and push-to-video communication are important between workers spread throughout the site, in helicopters, on-board vessels, maintenance vehicles, and onshore or in the hub office during the construction phase. This enables collaboration between teams, remote assistance, communication with emergency services and communication with friends and family during long-term assignments. The ability to share large data files such as construction blueprints is also a time-saving necessity.
With real-time communications and monitoring of operations, you can improve situational awareness of the work zones, improve overall maintenance operations and get the most out of your generation assets. With the pervasive connectivity, low-latency, and bandwidth needed to implement more automated controls, your operation runs as efficiently and smoothly as possible.
Solutions in action: Providing pervasive coverage for a North Sea wind farm
Nokia worked with a partner to provide North Sea wind farms a private wireless solution to speed construction and enable seamless operation and maintenance.
Private 4G/LTE solution ensures that these North Sea wind farm operators can keep workers, vessels, sensors, and operation centers reliably connected. Traditional technologies like satellite, 3G services, and VHF radio would not provide the needed performance.
Keeping Belgian North Sea wind farms connected
Article written by Power Technology on the Belgian North Sea Wind farms connected case study
Harnessing the cost benefits of 5G wireless broadband communications for wind farms
Article written by Power Technology on harnessing the cost benefits of 5G wireless broadband communications for wind farms
A focus on 5G for renewable energy solutions operations excellence
Industry 4.0 trends will impact data transfer needs. IoT, predictive maintenance, drones, and AR/VR applications all require lower latency, higher bandwidth, and higher speeds. Being 5G-ready means that wind and solar farms will be prepared for their digital transformation.
Overall, wind farms and remote solar installations are faced with the challenge of providing wireless connectivity at speeds far beyond what could have been imagined five years ago, but how can this be done in a way that is both efficient and cost-effective?
Realize more from your renewable investments. Enhance remote worker safety and productivity. Accelerate construction through enhanced team collaboration. Optimize operations and cost through digitalization and IoT.
Deploy a communications solution customized for your digitalization needs:
Choose a 4G/5G private wireless approach that provides secure, reliable, ubiquitous connectivity across your wind and solar farm with a Nokia industrial-grade private wireless solution.
- Address poor or lack of mobile coverage on-site during the construction phase
- Move beyond vSAT and Tetra-based local group communications to deploy richer, high-speed communication systems – even in remote and offshore sites
- Compensate for a lack of fixed communication to the nearest urban area
Featured solutions
A partner focused on sustainability and business results
Nokia is committed to helping deliver a cleaner and more connected world. In 2017 we were among the first 100 companies in the world to commit to reducing our emissions in line with the landmark Paris climate agreement. For our energy customers, we are committed to bringing leading network and cloud technologies and solutions to their operations, helping them more easily and effectively make the move to renewables to achieve productivity, efficiency, and revenue goals.
