World's first liquid cooled 5G base station deployed in Finland
Finnish telecom operator Elisa has deployed the world's first commercial liquid cooled 5G base station. The technology has been developed by Nokia and allows using the waste energy of the mobile network device to heat a building or hot water. Liquid cooling can reduce base station energy consumption by 30% and CO2 emissions by up to 80%.
The development of a commercial grade liquid cooled 5G base station has been an important project for both Elisa and Nokia, as the companies strive to be more sustainable and environment friendly. For a number of years the companies have collaborated on different ways to improve the efficiency of cellular network tech, including a liquid cooled 4G cell:
The base station requires an installation location from where the excess heat dissipated from equipment can be captured and directed to the building using water circulation. This can provide significant cost reductions in the long term as 90% of the energy of 5G base stations is converted into heat. With common outdoor installations this energy is completely wasted.
Nokia's liquid cooled production grade 5G network device has been designed and built at the Nokia factory in Oulu, Finland. According to Tommi Uitto from Nokia, the device is the first commercial solution for operators looking to decrease energy use and carbon footprint.
* Image is copyright Nokia, not the base station in question