Volume 5 Number 1 February 2022 (66-76)

DOI: 10.1016/j.gloei.2022.04.006

Production And
Hosting By Elsevier
Global Energy Interconnection
On Behalf Of KeAi Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
https: //www.sciencedirect.com/journal/global-energy-interconnection

Full-length article

Optimal configuration of 5G base station energy storage

considering sleep mechanism
Xiufan Ma, Qiuping Zhu, Ying Duan, Xiangyu Meng, Zhi Wang
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing
102206, P. R. China
Scan for more details

Abstract: The high-energy consumption and high construction density of 5G base stations have greatly increased the
demand for backup energy storage batteries. To maximize overall benefits for the investors and operators of base station
energy storage, we proposed a bi-level optimization model for the operation of the energy storage, and the planning of 5G
base stations considering the sleep mechanism. A multi-base station cooperative system composed of 5G acer stations
was considered as the research object, and the outer goal was to maximize the net profit over the complete life cycle of the
energy storage. Furthermore, the power and capacity of the energy storage configuration were optimized. The inner goal
included the sleep mechanism of the base station, and the optimization of the energy storage charging and discharging
strategy, for minimizing the daily electricity expenditure of the 5G base station system. Additionally, genetic algorithm
and mixed integer programming were used to solve the bi-level optimization model, analyze the numerical example test
comparison of the three types of batteries and the net income of the configuration, and finally verify the validity of the model.
Furthermore, the sleep mechanism, the charging and discharging strategy for energy consumption, and the economic
benefits for the operators were investigated to provide reference for the 5G base station energy storage configuration.

Keywords: 5G base station, Sleep mechanism, Energy storage configuration, Full life cycle, Bi-level optimization.

0 Introduction it, in the case of a power failure. As the number of 5G base

stations, and their power consumption increase significantly
Under the strategy of “New Infrastructure” and compared with that of 4G base stations, the demand for
“Information Power”, the scale of 5G base station backup batteries increases simultaneously. Moreover, the
construction has gradually expanded. The backup battery of high investment cost of electricity and energy storage for
a 5G base station must ensure continuous power supply to 5G base stations has become a major problem faced by
communication operators. The traditional configuration
Received: December 8 2021 Accepted: January 26 2022 Published:
method of a base station battery comprehensively considers
February 25 2022 the importance of the 5G base station, reliability of mains,
Qiuping Zhu Xiangyu Meng geographical location, long-term development, battery life,
1085785100@qq.com 826559034@qq.com and other factors [1]. Presently, communication operators
Xiufan Ma Zhi Wang and tower companies generally configure a uniform group
xfmhbdll@vip.sina.com wangzhimc@126.com of 400 A·h batteries that provides a backup time of 3~4 h,
Ying Duan for a 5G acer station based on the traditional configuration.
dy_dying@163.com This configuration faces the problems of idle energy storage

2096-5117/© 2022 Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications
Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http: //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).

66
 Xiufan Ma et al. Optimal configuration of 5G base station energy storage considering sleep mechanism
assets, and low investment utilization rate. Additionally, in
the context of carbon peak and carbon neutrality in China,
the permeability of clean energy, such as photovoltaics and
wind power, shall gradually increase, and the problem of
peak regulation of power grids shall become increasingly
prominent. Energy storage batteries, as the main flexible
regulation resource in a power system [2], could effectively
solve this problem. With the introduction of innovative
technologies, such as the 5G base station, intelligent energy
saving, participation in peak cutting and valley filling, and
base station energy storage resources can be effectively
activated to help achieve a win-win situation for both the
power grid and the communication operators. Therefore,
determining, and reasonably configuring the charging and
discharging strategy for a 5G base station energy storage has
become an important issue that needs to be solved urgently.
Recently, scholars worldwide have been conducting
extensive research on the optimal allocation of energy
storage. In these studies, the research focus was split
between the perspectives of energy storage configuration
and operation. Reference [3] solely studied the configuration
of energy storage, whereas [4] only studied the operation of
energy storage. Currently, there is urgent need for research
that comprehensively considers both the configuration
and operation of energy storage. The existing models
for optimal allocation of energy storage can be roughly
divided into three categories: single-layer model, two-stage
model and two-layer model. References [5-6] established
a single-layer hybrid optimization model for distribution
network batteries. In [7-9], the configuration and operation
of energy storage were divided into two stages. The power
and capacity of energy storage were optimized first, and the
day-ahead charge/discharge strategy of the energy storage
was optimized after the configuration results were obtained.
References [10-13] studied the two-layer decision-making
problem of energy storage planning and operation, and
obtained optimal configuration results and optimal operation
results of energy storage, through the iterative solution of
inner and outer layers. Compared with the single-layer and
two-stage models, the two-layer model can be used to study
two different or even contradictory objectives, and better
reflect the characteristics of practical problems.
Presently, there are relatively few studies on the energy
storage configuration of 5G base stations. Reference [14]
proposed a plan for transforming the power supply of
the machine room based on existing 5G base station site
resources, without considering the existing 2G/4G base
station energy storage configurations. Reference [15]
proposed a capacity calculation method, and configuration
results of energy storage batteries for three types of 5G
base station sites, namely, distributed unit (DU) centralized
machine room, common machine room, and active antenna
unit (AAU) remote site; however, the configuration was
not optimized from the perspective of the full life cycle
of the energy storage. Reference [16] proposed a refined
configuration scheme for energy storage in a 5G base
station, that is, in areas with good electricity supply,
where the backup battery configuration could be reduced.
Compared with the traditional battery configuration, the
battery allocation in the whole network could be reduced
by 30% on average; however, the factors considered were
relatively singular. Reference [17] revealed that the 5G base
station energy storage could participate in demand response,
and obtain certain benefits when it meets the basic power
backup requirements. Reference [18] analyzed the problems
existing in the current power configuration of base stations,
and proposed solutions, such as superimposed photovoltaic
power generation system, remote supply and centralized
power supply, peak clipping and valley filling power supply,
and integration of new battery power supply; however, it
did not involve a specific configuration method or model of
the base station energy storage.
In summary, currently, there is abundant research on
energy storage optimization configuration. However, most
of the research on the energy storage configuration of 5G
base stations does not consider the factors of participation
of energy storage in demand response, and the optimization
models are rarely implemented. A gap in the research
on energy storage optimization configuration of 5G base
station combined with the sleep mechanism of base station
remains. Therefore, in this article, we considered the base
station energy storage in the interests of the investors and
operators, and established a two-layer optimization model
considering the sleep mechanism. The model added 5G acer
station transmission power constraints, and other constraints
ensuring reliable backup power supply, optimizing energy
storage configuration, and the charging and discharging
strategy, under the premise of meeting 5G communication
coverage area, and backup power supply reliability.
1 Characteristics analysis of 5G base station
1.1 Composition of 5G base station
In the traditional configuration mode, a 5G acer station
is composed as shown Fig. 1, and is mainly divided into
two parts: iron tower, and equipment room. The AAU
and baseband processing unit (BBU) arranged on the
iron tower are connected through optical fibers, and the
equipment room is equipped with batteries, air conditioning,
monitoring, and other equipment.
67
Global Energy Interconnection
Equipment room/
square cabin AAU
Optical
fiber
Cabinet
BBU
Air Monit
Transmi Power Batte cond
Iron tower/
ssion supply ries ition oring
unit ing Pole
Fig. 1 Structure diagram of 5G acer station
1.2 5G acer base station power consumption model
The power consumption of a 5G acer base station
changes in real time according to the state of the base
station, and the change in communication load. Its power
consumption model [20] is expressed as follows in (1).
P = δ Ptx + Pfix , base station is active
PBS =  active (1)
P
 sleep 
, base station is sleep
where δ is a constant that represents the incremental power
consumption of the 5G base station when unit transmitting
power is increased.
1) When the base station is in active state, its power
loss Pactive consists of transmitting power Ptx and inherent
power Pfix. With an increase in the communication load of
the acer station, the corresponding transmitting power Ptx
increases linearly. The inherent loss Pfix refers to the loss
in data processing units, power amplifiers, cooling devices
and other components, which changes negligibly with the
communication load.
2) When the base station is in sleep state, its power loss
is fixed as Psleep.
1.3 Base station sleep mechanism
The electricity bill of 5G base stations has become
the most important operating cost of operators, and three
communication operators, that are China Mobile, China
Telecom, China Unicom, all regard energy saving and
electricity charge reduction as an important measure to save
costs. The sleep mechanism of a base station refers to the
intelligent shutdown of major power consumption devices,
such as the AAU of the base station, when there is no load
or the load is low, such that the energy consumption is
greatly reduced. Base station sleep mechanism has attracted
much attention because it is easy to implement, and does not
require change of hardware. In August 2020, China Unicom
regularly activated the deep sleep function for the AAU of
three different kinds of base stations that were connected to
the network under no-load state, to implement intelligent
control of base station energy consumption.
The principle of the base station sleep mechanism
involves selecting base stations with little or no load,
68
Vol. 5 No. 1 Feb. 2022
to sleep according to the dynamic changes in the
communication load, and transferring the communication
load of the sleeping base station to neighboring base
stations, thereby reducing power consumption while
meeting the requirements of communication coverage.
Based on this principle, the execution steps of the sleep
mechanism adopted in this article were as follows:
1) Obtain typical daily communication load curves and
power consumption curves of various base stations.
According to the real situation, set the value of δ,
Pfix, Psleep. Additionally, the communication load curve is
known. Since the communication load of the base station
is positively correlated with the transmission power, the
transmission power of the base station under different
communication load states can be obtained proportionally.
Substitute the known parameters into formula (1), and
the typical daily power consumption curves of various
base stations before performing sleep mechanism can be
obtained.
2) Select the periods where various base stations
experience no load.
Based on the typical daily communication load curve of
the base station, the communication loads of the base station
in each time period are compared separately, and the time
periods where the base station experiences the no load state
in 24 hours are selected. When the communication load of a
base station is zero, it directly enables the sleep state.
3) Select the periods where various base stations
experience light load.
Based on the typical daily communication load curve of
the base station, the communication loads of the base station
in each time period are compared separately. When a base
station is lightly loaded, the fourth step is implemented.
4) Determine whether the lightly-load base station can
transfer the communication load, and determine which base
station to divert the associated users to.
First, determine whether other base stations adjacent to
this base station are in the sleep state during this time period.
If so, this base station cannot perform communication load
transfer during this time period, so it remains in the original
active state. If there is at least one base station, whose
neighboring base station is active, the load status is further
judged, and the base station that can undertake the load
transfer task and has a lighter load status, is selected for
transfer.
5) Calculate the power consumption curve of different
base stations after the sleep mechanism is executed.
The transmitting power of the base station undertaking
the offloading task is superimposed on the transmitting
power of the sleep base station, and substituted into the 5G
 Xiufan Ma et al. Optimal configuration of 5G base station energy storage considering sleep mechanism

acer base station power consumption model, to calculate
the power consumption after the communication load is
transferred in the corresponding time period. The power
consumption remains unchanged except for no-load and
light-load periods. Finally, the power consumption curve
after executing the sleep mechanism is obtained.
It is worth noting that the basic coverage provided by
wireless communication must be guaranteed when using
the base station sleep mechanism [19]. The communication
coverage of a base station is closely related to transmitting
power, frequency, and other factors. When the frequency
of a base station increases and the transmitting power
decreases, its coverage decreases. As the coverage radius of
a single 5G acer station is generally lesser than 500 m, their
transmitting power must be limited within a certain range.
2 Energy storage optimization configuration
model of 5G base station considering
sleep mechanism
2.1 Overview of bi-level optimization model
The bi-level decision problem is a type of hierarchical
decision problem with a master-slave structure. The outer
layer decision can restrict the inner layer solution, and
the optimal decision of the inner layer affects the outer
layer decision. Thus, a mutually restricted master-slave
relationship between the inner and outer layers is formed,
which can effectively improve the objectivity of the
optimization results, with respect to the balance of interests
of each objective function. In the optimal configuration
of energy storage in 5G base stations, long-term planning
and short-term operation of the energy storage are
interconnected. Therefore, a two-layer optimization model
was established to optimize the comprehensive benefits of
energy storage planning and operation. Fig. 2 shows the bi-
2.2 Outer layer optimization model
From the perspective of the base station energy storage
investor, the maximum net income in the life cycle of
the base station energy storage system was considered as
the objective function of the outer layer, and the decision
variables were the total rated power, and rated capacity. The
constraint conditions of the energy storage configuration in
the multi-base station cooperative system included energy
storage investment cost constraints, and energy storage
battery multiplier constraints; the time scale was in years.
The outer objective function, was expressed as follows
in (2).
max F = ( F1 + F2 + F3 + F4 ) − (C1 + C2 ) (2)
where F is net income over the life cycle of energy storage,
F1 is the arbitrage of “low charge and high discharge”,
that is, the energy storage charges in the low price of
electricity, and discharges in the high price of electricity, F2
is energy storage system discharge subsidy revenue from
the government, F3 is recycling value of energy storage
batteries, F4 is special subsidies for the construction of 5G
supporting power facilities, C1 is initial investment cost, and
C2 is operation and maintenance cost.
In this article, we assumed that the 5G base station
adopted the mode of combining grid power supply with
energy storage power supply. In the context of time-of-
use electricity prices, the base station energy storage was
regulated to be charged when the electricity price was low,
and discharged to the grid when the electricity price was
high, to achieve “low charge and high discharge” arbitrage.
The arbitrage of “low charge and high discharge” is
expressed as follows:
t
T
 1 + ir 
F1 = ∑
t =1
DQ1  
 1 + dr 
(3)
24

∑ {P
level optimization model architecture for the energy storage
configuration established in this article.
Q1 = }m(i)∆i
dis (i ) Rdis (i ) − Pch (i ) Rch (i ) (4)
i =1
where T is the energy storage battery life, Q1 is the energy
storage arbitrage with “low charge and high discharge”
Decision Objective
variables
Constraints within a day, D is the battery usage days in a year, ir is the
function
inflation rate, d r is the discount rate, [(1 + ir ) / (1 + d r )]t is the
Maximum net
Outer Rated power income in the Investment cost compound cash factor, i is the i th hour of the day (24 h), ∆i
life cycle of the constraint
layer base station is time interval for each session (1 h), Pch (i ) and Pdis (i ) are
energy storage Battery multiplier
Rated capacity constraint
system the charging and discharging powers of the energy storage
Power constraints in period i, respectively, Rdis (i ) and Rch (i ) are the charge
Charging
power at Minimize the Capacity and discharge states of energy storage in period i (0/1),
Inner period i daily constraints
electricity respectively, and m(i ) is the mains electricity price for the
layer Discharging cost of the Emission power
power at system constraints of 5G period i.
period i base station
To encourage the development of energy storage on the
Fig. 2 Optimal configuration model architecture user side, energy storage is usually subsidized according
69
Global Energy Interconnection Vol. 5 No. 1 Feb. 2022

to the amount of discharge. Therefore, in this article, we composed of 5G acer base stations, the objective function
calculated the government electricity price subsidy income of the inner model was to minimize the daily electricity
for energy storage and discharge as follows: cost of the system, and the decision variable was the daily
t
T
 1 + ir  charging and discharging power of the energy storage. The
F2 = ∑
t =1
DQ2  
 1 + dr 
(5) constraints were the power constraint, the energy constraint
considering the backup power demand of the base station,
24
Q2 = ∑P
i =1
dis (i ) Rdis (i )∆imb (6) and the 5G base station transmitting power constraint; the
time scale was in days.
where Q2 is the daily subsidy income from energy storage The inner objective function, was expressed as follows
system, and mb is the government subsidized electricity in (13).
24
price.
min f = min{∑ [ ∑ (δ Ptx,z (i ) + Pfix ) +
The recycling value, initial investment cost, and i =1 z∈Z ′ (13)
operation and maintenance cost of energy storage, ∑ Psleep ]m(i) − Q1}
respectively were expressed as follows: z∈Z ′

F3 = σ C1 (7) where f is the daily net electricity expenditure of 5G

C1 = cp Pmax + ce Emax (8) operators, Z ′ is the set of base stations in active state in the
t system at period i, Z ′ is the set of base stations in sleep state
T
 1+ i 
C2 = ∑ ( co Pmax )  r 
 1 + dr 
(9) in the system at period i, Ptx,z (i ) is the transmitting power of
t =1
where σ is the recovery factor, cp is the unit charge/discharge
base station z at period i, and ∑ (δP
z∈Z ′
tx,z (i ) + Pfix ) + ∑P sleep
z∈Z ′
power cost, ce is the unit capacity cost, co is the annual is the total power consumption of a multi-station system
operation and maintenance cost per unit charge/discharge at period i. The nonlinear part of the product of the 0-1
power of energy storage system, Pmax is the rated power variable and the continuous variable were linearized using
of energy storage system, and Emax is the rated capacity of the method stated in Appendix A.
energy storage system. The constraint conditions of the inner model includes
Since the number of repetitions of charging and power constraints, and capacity constraints. The power
discharging is an important factor affecting the life of constraints were expressed as follows in (14) and (15).
energy storage batteries, combined with the current status 0 ≤ Pdis (i ) ≤ Pmax Rdis (i )
of energy storage applications [21], the operation cycle of  (14)
 0 ≤ Pch (i ) ≤ Pmax Rch (i )
energy storage batteries does not exceed 10 years in the
Rch (i ) + Rdis (i ) ≤ 1 (15)
case of frequent charging and discharging of energy storage
The main difference between 5G base station energy
batteries. The formula for calculating the actual life of the
storage and other ordinary user-side energy storage is that
energy system could be expressed as follows in (10).
the base station must guarantee power backup. Since the
 N  communication load of the base station is different at each
T = min  ,10  (10)
 Dn  time of the day, the minimum reserve capacity required to
where N is the cycle life of energy storage battery, and n is ensure the reliability of the power supply of the base station
the charge and discharge times of energy storage in a day. is different at each time [23]. Therefore, the minimum
The constraint conditions of the outer model included standby capacity of the energy storage system for each time
investment cost constraint, and energy storage battery period was calculated, as follows in (16).
multiplier constraint [22], expressed as follows in (11) and i +Tmin
res
 
∫  ∑ (δP ∑P
(12), respectively. Emin (i )= tx,z (i ) + Pfix ) + sleep di
res
(16)
C1 + C2 ≤ Cmax (11) i z∈Z ′  z∈Z ′

Emax = β Pmax (12)
where Cmax is the investment cost limit, and β is the energy
multiplier of energy storage battery.
2.3 Inner layer optimization model
From the perspective of the base station energy storage
operator, for a multi-base station cooperative system
The capacity of each period of energy storage must be
greater than the minimum standby capacity and less than the
rated capacity, expressed as follows in (17).
res
Emin (i ) ≤ E (i ) ≤ Emax (17)
res
where Emin (i ) is the minimum spare capacity for period i,
res
and Tmin is the minimum storage standby time.
Storage capacity must also ensure continuity between

70
 Xiufan Ma et al. Optimal configuration of 5G base station energy storage considering sleep mechanism

time periods, expressed as follows in (18). Start

Load basic data

E (i +1) = E (i ) + Pch (i ) Rch (i )∆iηch −
Implement sleepmechanism to
1 (18) optimize power consumption
Pdis (i ) Rdis (i )∆i curve of 5G base station system
ηdis
where E (i ) and E (i +1) are the capacities of the energy Initialize rated power and Outer
capacity of energy storage layer
storage system at period i and period i+1, respectively, and optimization

ηch and ηdisare charge and discharge efficiencies of the Invoke the Cplex solver
energy storage, respectively.
Optimize the typical daily Update rated power
Additionally, to ensure the periodicity of the continuous charging and discharging strategy and capacity of
of 5G base station energy storage energy storage
operation of the energy storage, the energy stored at the
beginning and end of the day must be consistent, expressed Collect the battery charge and
Inner discharge counts
as follows in (19). layer
optimization Calculate battery life
E (0) = E (24) (19)
Emission power constraints of 5G base station, was Calculate the net income in the
life cycle of the base station Perform genetic
expressed as follows in (20). energy storage system manipulation ,
ross
c over and
Ptx,z (i ) ≤ Ptx,max (20) Calculate fitness values
mutation

where Ptx,max is the maximum transmitting power of base

station. Are termination
conditions met?
N

3 Solution of two-layer optimization model Y

for energy storage configuration Output the optimal solution

Genetic algorithm and mixed integer programming were End

used to solve the bi-level model using Matlab platform.
The outer model adopted genetic algorithm, transferring
the initial decision variables, that is, the rated power and
rated capacity of base station energy storage system, to the
inner layer. The inner layer invoked the Yalmip toolbox
and the Cplex solver to optimize the daily charge and
discharge strategy under the initial energy storage rated
power and rated capacity, and transferred it to the outer
layer. Furthermore, the outer layer calculated the net income
in the life cycle of the base station energy storage system,
and obtained the fitness value. Subsequently, the updated
configuration power and capacity of the base station energy
storage system were obtained through genetic operations,
such as crossover and mutation, and the optimal solution of
the two-layer model was finally acquired through repeated
iterations. Fig. 3 shows the specific solution process.
4 Case study
4.1 Case description
Considering the sleep mechanism of the base station,
and the scale of the energy storage configuration, 50
5G acer base stations in a certain city were selected as a
system. The stations were located in a mixed work and
residence area (type 1), university boarding school area
(type 2), restaurant and cafe area (type 3), residential area
Fig. 3 Flow chart of solution
(type 4), and business circle workspace factory area (type
5). There were ten base stations of each type. Fig. 4 shows
the system structure. We used the optimized configuration
model established in this paper to analyze this case. The
detailed explanation of the sleep mechanism implemented
in the case study are presented in Appendix B. Fig. B1
shows the power consumption curves of 5G base stations
at the edges of various areas before and after performing
sleep mechanism. Fig. B2 shows the power consumption
curves of 5G base stations inside various regions before and
after performing sleep mechanism. Fig. B3 shows the total
system power consumption and reduced percentage before
and after performing sleep mechanism. The configuration
results only indicated the total energy storage resources
of the system. The energy storage batteries of the 5G base
station were arranged in a decentralized manner, and were
distributed locally in the machine rooms of each 5G acer
base station.
Since China uniformly implements general industrial
and commercial electricity prices for 5G base stations, the
general industrial and commercial peak and valley time-of-
use electricity prices of a certain city were selected, as listed
in Table C1. The inflation rate was 2%, and the discount
rate was 8%. Considering the operation and maintenance

71
Global Energy Interconnection Vol. 5 No. 1 Feb. 2022

time of the battery, the battery usage days in a year was Different battery types affected the size of the system’s
assumed to be 345 days. Three types of energy storage energy storage configuration, battery life, and net income
batteries were selected: lead-carbon batteries, brand-new during the full life cycle. It is seen from Table 1 that in
lithium batteries, and cascaded lithium batteries. Table C2 the 5G macro base station system, the net income of the
lists the specific parameters of the energy storage batteries. brand-new lithium battery was the highest, followed by
The energy multiplier of an energy storage battery was 2.74. the cascaded lithium batteries, and the lead-carbon battery.
Based on the actual situation, the minimum storage backup The brand-new lithium battery had the advantages of a
time was set to 3 h, the battery recovery factor was 0.5, the long service life, green environmental protection, and light
energy storage discharge subsidy was 0.3 CNY per kW·h, weight. In the case of frequent charging and discharging
and the investment cost limit was 2 million CNY. of energy storage, they exhibited longer life, higher
efficiency, and the largest net benefit in the full life cycle.
A system consisting of 50 However, they had the disadvantages including high cost,
5G acer stations and poor security. Since the current cascaded utilization
Mixed work University Restaurant of lithium batteries had a high hidden cost, and the model
and boarding and cafe
residence school
area ...10
built in this article did not consider the environmental
...10 ...10
benefits of using cascaded lithium batteries, the resulting
economy was not ideal. Lead-carbon batteries had a low-
...10 ...10
cost advantage similar to that of traditional lead-acid
Residential Business circle batteries, thus under the same investment cost constraints,
area workspace
factory their configured capacity was relatively larger; however on
account of their low energy density, they were not suitable
Bidirectional for use in the communication base station where the energy
interaction
storage battery is required to be light in weight, and small
in volume. Additionally, the lead-carbon battery had a
short life when it was charged and discharged many times,
thus resulting in a low net profit over the full life cycle. In
summary, since the relevant technical conditions for battery
Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of system
echelon utilization were not sufficiently mature, the 5G acer
4.2 Analysis of optimized configuration results base station system was most suitable to be equipped with
a brand-new lithium battery, with an optimal configuration
The 5G base station energy storage optimization
power of 271 kW, and an optimal configuration capacity of
configuration double-layer model was solved using
742.54 kW·h.
the Matlab platform, and Table 1 lists the optimization
configuration results obtained for the three types of batteries. 4.3 Analysis of optimized operation results
It is seen from Fig. B3 that the percentage reduction in
Table 1 Optimal configuration results of 5G base station
system power consumption of the 5G base station was up
energy storage
to 23.45% after the sleep mechanism was implemented,
Lead- Brand- Cascaded and the sleep mechanism demonstrated an evident effect on
Battery type carbon new lithium lithium
reducing system power consumption when the base station
batteries batteries batteries
communication load was less.
Pmax/kW 648 271 442
Fig. 5 shows the daily electricity bill, and the reduction
Emax/(kW·h) 1,775.50 742.54 1,211.1 in electricity bills under the four combinations.
Battery life/year 1.44 4.97 4.83 It is seen from Fig. 5 that when energy storage was only
Life cycle cost used as a backup, the daily electricity bill was not influenced
194.70 187.99 192.35
/104 CNY by the configuration plan; however, it was directly related
Lifetime to the load curve. After the implementation of the sleep
200.98 203.05 201.23
earnings/104 CNY mechanism, the daily electricity expenditure was reduced
Net income over from 1,877.81 CNY to 1,863.87 CNY, which was a small
the life cycle 6.28 15.06 8.88 reduction. Generally, under the three different battery
/104 CNY
configuration schemes, the daily electricity cost for energy

72
 Xiufan Ma et al. Optimal configuration of 5G base station energy storage considering sleep mechanism

Sleep mechanism 0, energy storage “low charges and high discharges” As seen in Fig. 6, for the three configuration schemes,
Sleep mechanism 1, energy storage “low charges and high discharges”
2000 Sleep mechanism 0, energy storage for standby only
Sleep mechanism 1, energy storage for standby only
three different charging and discharging strategies were
1877.81 obtained with the minimum daily electricity cost of the
1800 1863.87
325.45 energy storage system as the optimization goal. There were
Daily electricity bill/CNY

326.29 313.65 313.64

1600 1552.36 1537.58 1564.16
1550.23 some differences in the charging and discharging power, the
1400 967.35 charging and discharging period, and the times of charging
967.35 and discharging. Therefore, in the bi-level optimization
1200 model established in this article, the outer layer energy
1000
storage configuration was closely related to the inner layer
910.46 896.52 energy storage operation.
800
Fig. 7 shows the optimized results of charge and
Lead-carbon Brand-new lithium Cascaded lithium
Battery type
discharge after the implementation of the sleep mechanism,
based on the results of the brand-new lithium battery
Fig. 5 Daily electricity rate of base station system
configuration.

storage with “low charge and high discharge” was lower

Time-of-use price
than that when energy storage was only used for standby. Original load curve
Synthetic load curve 600
After the sleep mechanism was implemented, the system 1.2 Charge and discharge power
incurred the lowest cost under the condition of energy 0.6
500

storage with “low charge and high discharge”, wherein the 400
0.0
Electricity price/(CNY/kWeh)

lead-carbon battery exhibited the most evident effect on 300

–0.6
the reduction of electricity cost. This was attributed to the

Load power/kW
200
–1.2
configuration capacity of this kind of battery being much
100
–1.8
larger than that of the other two kinds of batteries; thus,
–2.4 0 0
providing more space for the arbitrage, such that the effect 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
–100
on daily electricity cost reduction was more prominent. –3.0

Fig. 6 shows charge and discharge control strategies –3.6 –200

for the three different configuration schemes, after the –4.2 –300

execution of the sleep mechanism. When the charging and 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Time/h
discharging power is positive, it denotes charging; when
the charging and discharging power is negative, it denotes Fig. 7 Optimized results of energy storage charging and
discharging; when the charging and discharging power is discharging
zero, it denotes the battery in a floating state, that is, neither
charging nor discharging. It is seen from Fig. 7 that there was a strong correlation
between the charging and discharging strategy of energy
storage and the time-of-use electricity price curve. Energy
Time-of-use price
2 Lead-carbon battery storage was charged when the electricity price was low,
Brand-new lithium battery
Cascaded lithium battery 600 and discharged when the electricity price was high. After
0.99 1.12 0.99
the original load curve was superimposed on the charge
Electricity price/(CNY/kWeh)

1
0.66 0.66 400
0.33 and discharge power, the composite load characteristics
0.33
0 200
were found to be inversely related to the peak and valley of
Power/kW

0 the electricity price. Therefore, when the electricity price

–1 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
was at its peak, the base station system had a low power
–200
–2 load and would discharge to the grid in part of the time.
–400 Conversely, when the electricity price was at its low, the
–3 –600 base station system had a high power load. This was a
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
concrete embodiment of the 5G base station playing its peak
Time/h shaving and valley filling role, and actively participating in
Fig. 6 Charging and discharging strategies under three the demand response, which helped to reduce the peak load
configuration schemes adjustment pressure of the power grid.

73
Global Energy Interconnection Vol. 5 No. 1 Feb. 2022

5 Conclusion y2 (i ) = Pdis (i ) Rdis (i )

In this article, we established a bi-level optimization
model for a 5G base station energy storage configuration
considering the sleep mechanism, taking into account the
time-scale difference of the two-layer model, the “low
charge and high discharge” arbitrage during the full life
cycle of the 5G base station energy storage, and factors such
as special subsidies for the construction of 5G base stations,
full life cycle costs, and the cost of daily electricity charges
for 5G base stations. The analysis results of the case study
showed that:
1) The effectiveness of the bi-level model established
in this article was effectively verified. The model com-
prehensively considered both the 5G base station energy
storage operation and planning issues. On the premise
of ensuring energy storage and backup power, it greatly
improved the income during the life cycle of the energy storage.
2) The optimized configuration results of the three types
of energy storage batteries showed that since the current
tiered-use of lithium batteries for communication base
station backup power was not sufficiently mature, a brand-
new lithium battery with a longer cycle life and lighter
weight was more suitable for the 5G base station.
3) The base station sleep mechanism could reduce the
power consumption of the base station, while meeting the
communication coverage requirements. There was a strong
correlation between the charging and discharging behavior of
the base station energy storage and the time-of-use electricity
price curve. It could fulfill the principle of “low charge
and high discharge” to a great extent. Furthermore, it could
alleviate the problem of high electricity bills for 5G base
stations, and reduce the pressure on power grid peak shaving.
The optimization configuration method for the 5G
base station energy storage proposed in this article, that
considered the sleep mechanism, has certain engineering
application prospects and practical value; however,
the factors considered are not comprehensive enough.
Further research will be conducted in the follow-up on
the collaborative optimization of the energy storage
configuration of 5G base stations, distributed photovoltaics,
Add constraints as follows:
−M(1 − Rch (i )) ≤ y1 (i ) − Pch (i ) ≤ M(1 − Rch (i ))
−M Rch (i ) ≤ y1 (i ) ≤ M Rch (i )
−M(1 − Rdis (i )) ≤ y2 (i ) − Pdis (i ) ≤ M(1 − Rdis (i ))
−M Rdis (i ) ≤ y2 (i ) ≤ M Rdis (i )
where M is a large positive integer.
Appendix B
The detailed explanation of the sleep mechanism
implemented in the case study of this article is as follows:
In the base station system, only a few base stations
that were located at the edge of the area (the coverage area
overlaps with other types of base stations) had the possibility
of achieving communication load transfer; whereas, base
stations located inside the area (all nearby base stations of
the same type) could not transfer the communication load,
only when the communication load is zero can it go to sleep.
Therefore, it was assumed that 2 of the 10 base stations of
each type were located at the edge of the area (the coverage
area overlaps with other types of base stations), and 8 base
stations were located inside the area (all nearby base stations
of the same type).
Assuming Ptx,max = 200 W, δ = 15, Pfix = 1000 W, and
Psleep = 600 W, when the communication load of the base
station in a certain period of time was lower than 6% of the
peak communication load of this type of base station in one
day, it was regarded as light load.
• The steps for 5G base stations located at the edges of
various areas to perform the sleep mechanism are as stated
in 1)-5), in Section 1.3 of the main text. Fig. B1 shows the
power consumption curves before and after performing the
sleep mechanism.
Before sleep, type1
Before sleep, type2
4000 Before sleep, type3 4000
Before sleep, type4
Before sleep, type5
After sleep, type1
3500 After sleep, type2 3500
After sleep, type3
After sleep, type4
3000 After sleep, type5 3000
Power/W

Power/W

and wind power. 2500 2500

2000 2000
Appendix A 1500 1500

The nonlinear part of the product of the 0-1 variable, 1000 1000

and the continuous variable in (13), that is, Pch (i ) Rch (i ) and 500 500
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Pdis (i ) Rdis (i ), were linearized using the following method: Time/h

Fig. B1 Load curves of 5G base stations at the edges

y1 (i ) = Pch (i ) Rch (i ) of various areas before and after sleep mechanism

74
 Xiufan Ma et al. Optimal configuration of 5G base station energy storage considering sleep mechanism

• The steps for 5G base stations located inside various System power consumption before executing the sleep mechanism
System power consumption after executing the sleep mechanism
160
areas to perform the sleep mechanism are as stated in 1)- Percentage reduction in power consumption

Percentage reduction in power consumption%

120
2), in Section 1.3 of the main text. Fig. B2 shows the power 140

consumption curves of 5G base stations before and after the 100

120
sleep mechanism.
100 80

Power/W
Before sleep, type1 80
Before sleep, type2 60
4000 Before sleep, type3 4000
Before sleep, type4 60
Before sleep, type5
After sleep, type1 40
3500 3500

23.45
After sleep, type2
40

18.22
After sleep, type3

17.1
After sleep, type4
3000 After sleep, type5 3000 20
20

3.82

2.94
2.22
Power/W

Power/W

1.2
2
2500 2500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
2000 2000
Time/h

1500 1500 Fig. B3 Total system power consumption and reduced

percentage before and after sleep mechanism
1000 1000

500 500
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 Acknowledgements
Time/h

Fig. B2 Load curves of 5G base stations inside various This work was supported by the State Grid Science and
regions before and after sleep mechanism Technology Project (KJ21-1-56).

The power consumption of the five types of base stations Declaration of Competing Interest
located at the edge of the area, and the inside of the area were
superimposed to obtain the total power consumption curve We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
of the multi-base station cooperative system before and after
executing the sleep mechanism, as shown in Fig. B3. References

Appendix C [1] Xu H, Tian Z Y, Zhao Z H (2020) Research on base station

power system innovation based on 5G network. Telecom Power
Table C1 Time-sharing electricity price for general industrial Technology, 37(02): 23-26+29
[2] Jiang H Y, Du E S, Zhu G P, et al. (2020) Review and prospect
and commercial users
of seasonal energy storage for power system with high proportion
Electricity prices/ of renewable energy. Automation of Electric Power Systems,
Time period Time
(CNY/kW·h) 44(19): 194-207
Flat 7:00—8:00、12:00—19:00 0.6578 [3] Alharbi H, Bhattacharya K (2017) Stochastic optimal planning
of battery energy storage systems for isolated microgrids. IEEE
Critical peak 19:00—21:00 1.1183
Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 9(1): 211-217
Peak 8:00—12:00、21:00—23:00 0.9867 [4] Feng B, Guo Y Z, Chen Y, et al. (2021) Charging and discharging
Valley 23:00—7:00 (the next day) 0.3289 strategy of cloud energy storage based on GRU multi-step
prediction technology. Automation of Electric Power Systems,
45(09):46-54
Table C2 Energy storage battery related parameters
[5] Xiang Y P, Wei Z N, Sun G Q, et al. (2015) Life cycle cost
Ce/ Cp / Co/ based optimal configuration of battery energy storage system in
N/
Battery types [CNY/ [CNY/ [CNY/ η/% distribution network. Power System Technology, 39(01): 264-
times
(kW·h)] (kW)] (kW·a)] 270
Lead-carbon 650 1200 25 88 3000 [6] Liu W X, Yang M Y, Wang J, et al. (2021) Energy storage
planning for incremental power distribution systems based on
Brand new
2000 1120 97 90 12000 the intellectual generating method of operational strategies.
lithium
Proceeding of the CSEE, 41(10): 3317-3329+3658
Cascaded
1150 760 48 75 5000 [7] Guo J Y, Liu Y, Guo Y L, et al. (2020) Configuration evaluation
lithium
and operation optimization model of energy storage in different

75
Global Energy Interconnection
typical user-side. Power System Technology, 44(11): 4245-4254
[8] Zhao Y T, Wang H F, He B T, et al. (2020) Optimization strategy
of configuration and operation for user-side battery energy
storage. Automation of Electric Power Systems, 44(06): 121-128
[9] Chen H H, Du H H, Zhang R F, et al. (2018) Optimal capacity
configuration and operation strategy of hybrid energy storage
considering uncertainty of wind power. Electric Power
Automation Equipment, 38(08): 174-182+188
[10] Ding Y X, Xu Q S, Lv Y J, et al. (2019) Optimal configuration of
user-side energy storage considering power demand management.
Power System Technology, 43(04): 1179-1186
[11] Ma X F, Chen Jing, Yu S Y, et al. (2020) Research on user side
energy storage optimization configuration considering capacity
market. Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society, 35(19):
4028-4037
[12] Li J L, Guo B Q, Niu M, et al. (2018) Optimal configuration
strategy of energy storage capacity in wind/PV/storage hybrid
system. Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society, 33(06):
1189-1196
[13] Dvorkin Y, Fernandez-Blanco R, Kirschen D S, et al. (2016)
Ensuring profitability of energy storage. IEEE Transactions on
Power Systems, 32(1): 611-623
[14] Gong G Y, Ding Y (2019) Solution to power supply reform of
5G base station. Telecom Power Technology, 36(03): 106-108
[15] Lin T L, Tan L J, Dong B (2020) Discussion on power matching
solutions for 5G site construction. Designing Techniques of Posts
and Telecommunications, 2020(04): 89-92
[16] Chen D X (2019) The impact of 5G on power supply matching
and its ountermeasure. Information and Communications
Technologies, 13(04): 32-37
[17] Liu J H, Guo P, Li H J, et al. (2020) Feasibility study on energy
storage configuration and demand response of 5G base station.
2020 Excellent Scientific and Technological Papers Review
Conference of Henan Society for Electrical Engineering, 28
August, Zhengzhou Henan, China:6
[18] Huang H, Tong E, Wang W B, et al. (2020) Discussion on
base station power demand and solutions in 5G deployment.
Information & Communications, 2020(11): 177-179
[19] Li D (2018) Research on base station sleep mode technology
under 5G dense heterogeneous nerwork. Dissertation, Beijing
University of Posts and Telecommunications
[20] Liu Y B, Wang Q, Zeng Q, et al. (2021) Key technologies and
Prospects of energy consumption management for 5G network
in background of energy internet. Automation of Electric Power
Systems, 45(12): 174-183
[21] Sun Z, Tian H P, Wang W X, et al. (2021) Research on economy
of echelon utilization battery energy storage system for user-side
peak load shifting. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica, 42(04): 95-100
[22] Chen L J, Qu T T, Liu H B, et al. (2019) Demand management
based two-stage optimal storage model for large users.
Automation of Electric Power Systems, 43(01): 194-200
[23] Yong P, Zhang N, Ci S, et al. (2021) 5G communication base
stations participating in demand response: key technologies and
prospects. Proceeding of the CSEE, 41(16): 5540-5552
76
Vol. 5 No. 1 Feb. 2022
Biographies
Xiufan Ma received the B.S. and M.S. degrees
in Electrical Engineering from Northeast
Electric Power University, Jilin, China, in 1992
and 1995, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree
in Electrical Engineering from North China
Electric Power University, Beijing, China, in
2013. She is currently an Associate Professor
with the School of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering, North China Electric Power University. Her current
major research interests include distribution network planning and
operation, and electric vehicle planning and operation.
Qiuping Zhu received the B.S. degree in
Electric Engineering from Shanghai University
of Electric Power, Shanghai, China, in 2019.
She is currently working towards a Master’s
degree at the School of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering, North China Electric
Power University, Beijing, China. Her research
interests include the optimal configuration of
energy storage, and the power market.
Ying Duan received the B.S. degree in
Electric Engineering from North China
Electric Power University, Beijing, China,
in 2018. She is currently working towards a
Master’s degree at the School of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering, North China Electric
Power University, Beijing, China. Her research
interests include the optimal configuration of
energy storage, and the power market.
Xiangyu Meng received the B.S. degree in
Electric Engineering from Minzu University
of China, Beijing, China, in 2018. She is
currently working towards a Master’s degree
at the School of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering, North China Electric Power
University, Beijing, China. Her research
interests include energy storage optimization
scheduling, and the power market.
Zhi Wang received the B.S. degree in Electric
Engineering from North China Electric Power
University, Beijing, China, in 2019. He is
currently working towards a Master’s degree
at the School of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering, North China Electric Power
University, Beijing, China. His research
interests include energy storage optimization
scheduling, integrated energy systems, and the power market.
(Editor Yajun Zou)