In 2021, EDF, Thales, and Ericsson partnered on CONNECT, a project aimed at delivering secure cellular connectivity to all of EDF's nuclear energy sites in France. The successful pilot implementation at the Blayais nuclear site marked the first step in a broader deployment plan to cover all EDF nuclear power plants across the country. Following the successful joint pilot, EDF has taken over independent operation of the connectivity solution at the Blayais site. Since then, the rollout to EDF's other power plants has been progressing at a rate of two to four plants per year.
As reported by RCR Wireless from the Private Networks Global Forum, EDF has so far deployed nine private LTE networks, and has a new target of six per year. It wants 21 private LTE networks at 21 nuclear sites, to connect workers and machines at 57 power stations. The article reported:
The company has been impressed by its work with Ericsson and Thales, and the coverage and performance achieved by its new private LTE setups, and has resolved to go faster with the project in France, it told the event on Tuesday (May 28). EDF (Électricité de France) said it had another private LTE deployment at an offshore wind farm, and a brand new private LTE pilot, with scope for a private 5G upgrade, at a thermal / gas power generation plant, as well.
Vincent Audebert, handling 5G and IoT in EDF Lab, the firm’s R&D department, said: “It is the first time in my 30-years at EDF that a telecoms project has finished ahead of deadline. Because there is such interest in this project, [and] EDF has decided to accelerate the deployment. So we are going to gain two years on our schedule – [and move to a schedule of] six networks… per year. We already have nine networks – out of 21 sites with 57 reactors. [The plan is] we will have 21 [private] networks.”
The company has a 10-year licence for 20 MHz of spectrum in the 2.6 GHz TDD band (band #38, 2570-2620 MHz) at its sites in France, as offered to metropolitan businesses by regulator ARCEP; it also has a deal with the French Ministry of Interior for two three-megahertz tranches of 700 MHz spectrum, officially prescribed for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR). “With that we’re able to cope with our jobs that we need to do on a day-to-day basis in the nuclear power plant,” said Audebert.
To an extent, upgrade-rollout of private 5G hinges on ARCEP making available spectrum at 3.9-4.0 GHz to enterprises in France. The R&D team at EDF Lab holds an experimental licence to develop 5G use cases in the 3.9-4.0 GHz band; Audebert said the R&D team is working with Ericsson, Thales, and France-based IoT chipmaker Sequans to develop new LTE and 5G applications (“drones, video, AR; anything like this”). “The output of the project will be delivered within two years,” he said.
He noted EDF’s interest in the 450 MHz band as well, which is subject to a parallel work stream within ARCEP.
You can read the complete article here.
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