Energy audit: measuring network power consumption per site and per bit

gNB Power Consumption Breakdown

A typical 5G macro site consumes 2-5 kW of power, with the breakdown varying by configuration. The power amplifier dominates at 40-60% of total consumption — this scales directly with output power and bandwidth. Baseband processing accounts for 20-30%, increasing with higher MIMO layers and more complex scheduling. Cooling (fans, air conditioning) adds 10-20% depending on climate and enclosure type. Backhaul equipment, power supply losses, and ancillary systems contribute the remaining 5-10%. A fully loaded 64T64R Massive MIMO site with 100 MHz bandwidth typically consumes 3.5-4.5 kW, while a…