Nokia has announced the proof of concept deployment of a liquid cooled base station system in Helsinki in the vendor's home market of Finland, in collaboration with operator Elisa and power systems supplier Efore.
The base station was deployed at an apartment building. Nokia Bell Labs developed the base station, while Efore developed the liquid-cooled power system and Elisa handled deployment.
Previously wasted heat from the system is meanwhile being used to heat the apartment building.
Analysis from Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre indicates that the deployment reduced CO2 emissions by up to 80% and energy operating expenses by up to 30%.
"Nokia and Nokia Bell Labs have conducted extensive research and testing to explore the possibilities of using a liquid-cooled base station in an operator's network,” commented Pekka Sunström, head of the Elisa customer team at Nokia.
“This first commercial deployment will enable us to understand the real-world benefits for customers such as Elisa as they transition toward 5G, and how the system can be implemented on a wider scale to help reduce the environmental impact of information and communications technology.”