Polish energy sector company PGE Systemy has appointed Nokia to deploy a pilot version of a private LTE network in the 450 MHz band.
The 450 MHz band is being adopted across Europe for smart grid applications. PGE Systemy’s private wireless network could upport up to 20,000 private radio users, 14 million smart meters, and 35,000 SCADA connections, if the pilot goes to plan.
Nokia described the proof as the “first big step” in the “digitalization of critical communications” in the Polish energy sector, and a “critical first step” for the 450 MHz band for energy distribution system operators (DSOs) in the country.
The 450 MHz band has good propagation properties, generous power levels, and strong availability of voice and data radios from a variety of equipment suppliers to support numerous applications. It is the band of choice for the support of machine-to-machine communications in the energy sector, including smart meters and wireless SCADA connections required, for example, with wind turbines.
Future applications of the network may include distributed energy resource management and other digital smart grid applications. PGE Systemy will use the band to further develop a country-wide critical communications network.
Andrzej Piotrowski, vice president of PGE Systemy, said: “Poland has a strong concern to digitalize our energy grid because further integration of renewables with grid as well as conversion to distributed energy systems requires ubiquitous, reliable and safe communications.
“Private wireless operating in the 450 MHz range is the communications technology of choice for the energy sector right across Europe, which ensures support from industry suppliers. The Nokia proof of concept has demonstrated that it will meet our needs in terms of coverage, service quality, resilience and long-term availability.”
Chris Johnson, vice president of Nokia’s enterprise business, said: “Nokia has a big commitment to Poland’s communications infrastructure with over 6,000 employees in country working in our R&D centres, developing our newest technologies, including 4.9G and 5G.
“Thus, we are very pleased to be providing further support for the digitalization of the Polish electrical grid by PGE Systemy. Nokia’s proof of concept, 5G-ready private network has ably demonstrated the superiority of cellular systems for mission-critical and machine-to-machine communications in these advanced applications.”
