Since 2020, telecom operators have stepped up deployment of 5G base stations and promoted the replacement of base stations. The demand for lithium batteries in the communications field has surged.
Among the energy storage projects in the first three quarters of 2020, communication energy storage projects accounted for nearly half of the entire energy storage market.
lithium ion battery pack
It is estimated that by 2025, the demand for new and reconstructed 5G base station batteries will exceed 50 million kilowatt-hours.
More and more energy storage companies including lithium battery energy storage have formed in-depth cooperation with many mainstream 5G communication equipment system integrators in the communication energy storage market.
The upgrading of communication technology is giving birth to a new lithium battery application market. In the whole year of 2020, about 580,000 5G base stations will be added, and a total of 718,000 5G base stations will be built.
As the demand for 5G base stations continues to increase, the market’s demand for energy storage lithium batteries also increases accordingly.
For a long time, 5G base stations have mainly used lead-acid batteries. However, with the improvement of battery performance and lifespan requirements, lead-acid batteries are gradually being replaced by lithium batteries.
Traditional batteries
The battery is the core equipment to ensure the continuous power supply of the communication base station. During normal power supply, the battery can assist smooth filtering to improve the quality of power supply. When the power supply is abnormal or faulty, the battery can be used as a backup power supply.
“For a long time, lead-acid batteries have been mainly used for communication backup power, but lead-acid batteries have short service life, frequent daily maintenance, and are not friendly to the environment.
5G communication base stations have high energy consumption, and show a trend of miniaturization and lightness. Energy storage systems with higher energy density are needed.” said Liu Yong, secretary general of the Energy Storage Application Branch of China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association.
Feature and advantages
Lithium iron phosphate batteries have the advantages of high safety, long life, and low cost. Continuous breakthroughs have been made in terms of performance, heat dissipation, ease of integration, and group technology. At the same time, the footprint and load-bearing requirements have been greatly reduced.
It is expected that the application demand for lithium iron phosphate batteries in the field of communication energy storage will increase significantly in the future.
The “replacement wave” from lead-acid batteries to lithium iron phosphate batteries is due to the new requirements for expansion and upgrade of the power supply in the field of communication energy storage. Practitioners in the lithium battery industry added that cost is also one of the reasons for the emergence of the “replacement wave”.
When purchasing batteries used in the field of communication energy storage, price is a priority factor for companies. From the perspective of cost, lead-acid batteries are lower than lithium batteries and are more accepted by the market.
In recent years, the cost of lithium batteries has dropped significantly to the point that China Mobile, China Tower and other companies have begun to favor lithium iron phosphate batteries in their bidding purchases.
From the perspective of the types of lithium batteries, at this stage, lithium iron phosphate batteries are mainly used in the field of communication energy storage, and the proportion of ternary lithium batteries is not high.
“On the one hand, the overall performance of lithium iron phosphate batteries is more prominent in terms of battery materials, production processes, safety performance, and service life.
On the other hand, it is also a cost factor. Due to the international supply of raw materials, the price of lithium iron phosphate batteries is lower than ternary Lithium batteries.”, “However, lead-acid batteries have not completely withdrawn from the market, but their proportion is gradually decreasing, and replacement is a gradual process.”
Demand will exceed 50 million kWh
The demand for energy storage lithium batteries will exceed 50 million kWh
Since 2020, communication operators have stepped up the deployment of 5G base stations and continuously promoted the replacement of base stations. Affected by this, the demand for batteries in the communications field has surged.
Among the energy storage projects in the first three quarters of 2020, communication energy storage projects accounted for nearly half of the entire energy storage market. It is expected that the next few years will be the peak period for the construction of 5G base stations.
5G base stations
By 2025, the demand for new and reconstructed 5G base stations will exceed 50 million kilowatt-hours.
Market demand is emerging, and companies are following the trend. Recently, China Tower announced the candidates for the 2021 centralized bidding project of lithium iron phosphate battery products for backup power, and many of them are energy storage companies.
Public information shows that the bidding project will purchase 12 specifications of lithium iron phosphate battery packs with a total capacity of about 2 million kilowatt-hours.
More and more energy storage companies have deployed in the communication energy storage market or have entered the fields of electric energy storage and communication energy storage. Or, as early as 2017, started to develop smart lithium iron phosphate batteries for 5G communication systems with high safety and reliability.
Huawei believes that the lithium battery-based backup power supply can be widely used in scenarios that require high power supply weight, volume, cycle life, and magnification. In the era of big data, scenarios with limited space such as shared stations and central computer room expansion also gradually require the participation of lithium battery backup power sources.
In the future, with the realization of large-scale production of energy storage lithium batteries, the cost continues to drop, and lithium batteries will play an increasingly important role in the field of communication backup power supplies.
