NBN hits 25 GWh energy goal early with fibre upgrades

NBN Co has reached its target of cutting the annual energy use of the national broadband network by 25 Gigawatt-hours ahead of its December 2025 deadline, as the company pushes wider climate and fibre upgrade programs across Australia.

The reduction in power consumption comes from a set of modernisation projects across the fixed, wireless and cable parts of the nbn network. The initiatives form part of NBN Co's climate mitigation programme and sit within its Climate Transition Plan.

Energy target hit

The company set the annual 25 GWh energy saving goal in 2021. It has now confirmed that projects already delivered achieve that level of reduction.

NBN Co has upgraded 84 Points of Interconnection under its Aggregation Network Evolution programme. The upgrades introduced higher-capacity network equipment. The newer equipment uses less energy than the legacy systems it replaces.

The operator has also implemented energy saving modes at around 2,400 fixed wireless towers. It has removed about 3,200 legacy pay TV line power supplies and associated plant from the hybrid fibre coaxial cable network.

These actions sit within NBN Co's stated effort to cut absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 95 per cent by the 2030 financial year, measured from a 2021 base year. The company has adopted science-based emissions reduction targets.

Guy Scott, Chief Technology Officer at NBN Co, said the network upgrades were reshaping the company's energy profile.

"nbn is delivering a more sustainable network with faster speeds and greater energy-efficiency including rolling out new fibre across the nation.

"Our target of saving 25 GWh per annum by December 2025 was set in 2021, and we are delighted to have met this milestone as it is enabling us to reduce our emissions and reduce our costs.

"This is all part of our actions to meet our science-based emissions reduction targets, our ongoing efforts to increase energy efficiency and purchasing renewable energy sources," said Scott.

Legacy cable switch-off

NBN Co has been consolidating and upgrading former cable TV infrastructure into its broadband network in recent years. It previously acquired and selectively upgraded legacy cable TV networks to support high-speed HFC broadband services.

During the transition period, the company agreed to support pay TV services in both nbn HFC and non-HFC broadband service areas. Co-existence of pay TV services on the cable network ended in 2023. Pay TV services now run mainly over internet and satellite platforms.

As a result, infrastructure that supported pay TV in non-HFC broadband service areas has been progressively powered down. In HFC broadband areas, NBN Co can now use the full bandwidth of the cable for broadband services. This change increases broadband capacity on the network. It also improves energy efficiency because the network runs fewer legacy systems.

Wireless energy savings

The company is also pursuing energy reductions in rural and regional areas. It has installed Ericsson's Microsleep Tx software on about 2,400 fixed wireless towers. The software introduces energy saving modes on the radio units.

The changes deliver continuous energy savings, particularly during low traffic periods. NBN Co reports that overall power consumption of the radio units on its fixed wireless towers has fallen by 5 per cent. It expects to save 3.75 GWh of energy each year on this part of the network, which it says is equivalent to the annual consumption of about 700 Australian homes.

Fibre expansion

Alongside efficiency projects, NBN Co is extending fibre deeper into communities. The company states that full fibre connections are more energy efficient than legacy copper-based technology. It also expects the fibre network to offer greater resilience during climate-related events.

More than 9.8 million homes and businesses are currently eligible for higher-speed services over upgraded infrastructure. NBN Co expects that figure to rise to more than 10 million by the end of the year. The footprint will support multi-gigabit wholesale speeds for premises with fibre to the premises connections.

The company has announced plans to upgrade remaining fibre to the node services across Australia. The upgrade programme is backed by up to AUD $3 billion of equity funding from the Australian government and more than AUD $800 million from NBN Co itself. The investment will cover around 622,000 homes and businesses, with more than half in regional areas.

NBN Co expects that over 95 per cent of these premises will have the option to switch to full fibre via fibre to the premises. The company is carrying out further design work on the remaining locations to determine appropriate upgrade paths.

Green finance push

The network operator is pairing its infrastructure strategy with the use of labelled sustainable debt. NBN Co now has more than AUD $8.6 billion equivalent of outstanding green or sustainable financing. This level of issuance makes it the largest Australian corporate issuer in green and sustainability format in domestic and international debt capital markets.

Net proceeds from NBN Co's green bonds are allocated to eligible fibre projects. The company states that fibre technology consumes significantly less energy than copper on its network.

NBN Co plans further fibre expansion and network modernisation projects in the coming years as it pursues its 2030 emissions reduction target and continues to adjust the network for higher speeds and changing customer demand.