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Telecom base station calculator

Diesel-to-gas conversion calculator for telecom base stations

Night-time genset case — indicative, site-specific, not a quotation

Compare staying on diesel with a CIMC virtual pipeline for a cluster of base stations: PV and battery by day, a gas genset at night, LNG delivered by trailer to a small tank at each site. Change the cluster size, night load, hours and your own fuel prices to see fuel cost per kWh, annual saving, investment and simple payback.

Indicative, preliminary estimate

Your inputs

Enter a whole number of sites from 10 to 2,000.
Use 5 – 80 kW.
Use 1 – 24 hours.
Delivered price at the site, in USD per litre. The default 1.53 is a Brazil example (ANP S10 pump converted at PTAX, plus a last-mile placeholder). Replace it with the operator's delivered price. Use 0.40 – 4.00 USD/L.
Enter your own gas price in USD/MMBtu. The default, 12, is a public Brazil industrial average used only as a starting point, not a CIMC tariff. Use 4 – 30 USD/MMBtu.

Results · LNG supply: Existing LNG source

Net annual saving——
Total investment——
Simple payback——
—
—
Fuel cost per kWh (US cents)
Delivered diesel fuelGas moleculeLiquefaction electricityRoad freight
Logistics at this cluster
LNG / month—
LNG / month—
Site refills / month—
Trailer trips / month—
Trailers + tractors—
Average supply—
Nameplate at 90% avail.—
Share of ~90 t/d plant—
This cluster needs more than the ~90 t/d regional-plant discussion figure. The maths still run; a larger plant or a second source would be needed.

Simple payback (years) versus number of sites

Existing LNG sourceNew regional liquefaction plantYour number of sites

Adjust the number of sites to see how the whole project's payback changes.

How it works

Diesel genset vs LNG, in four steps

Fuel cost per kWh, then the LNG logistics for your cluster, then the annual saving, then simple payback (investment divided by net annual saving, no discounting). Maintenance is costed at the same rate on diesel and gas, so it cancels out of the saving.

Diesel genset

Stay on diesel

The night genset keeps running on delivered diesel at the price you enter. Diesel use is taken at 0.30 L/kWh, a public-datasheet figure for a 20–30 kVA genset at good load.

LNG (CIMC virtual pipeline)

Gas genset fed by LNG trailer

Each site gets a small LNG tank and a gas genset (site equipment USD 40,000 per site, excluding tax). LNG trailers refill the site tanks on a milk-run of up to 9 sites per trip; a 25% spare is added to the fleet.

Method and key assumptions

What the calculator assumes

Night-time genset case for a cluster of telecom base stations: PV and battery carry the day, a genset runs at night. All figures are indicative and computed in your browser with the same formulas as the public API below.

Energy and fuel

  • Diesel genset: 0.30 L/kWh (public 20–30 kVA datasheet at good load), at the delivered diesel price you enter.
  • Gas genset: 0.315 Nm³/kWh (20 kW-class public datasheet, 32% electrical efficiency).
  • LNG: 585 Nm³ of gas per m³, 0.0411 MMBtu/Nm³, density 0.45 t/m³, 5% chain loss from plant to usable site tank.
  • Liquefaction: 0.9 kWh per kg of LNG at USD 0.10/kWh plant electricity.
  • The genset runs every night (365 nights a year). O&M is costed at the same rate on diesel and gas, so it cancels out of the saving.

Logistics and investment

  • Site: 5 m³ LNG tank, 90% usable, plus a gas genset; site equipment USD 40,000 per site, excluding tax.
  • Trailers: 45 m³ payload, up to 9 site drops per trip, 300 km delivery radius, one trip per truck per day, 25% spare fleet; owned fleet from 50 sites.
  • Freight: Brazil ANTT freight floor for 5-axle liquid bulk plus a 25% cryogenic premium, converted at PTAX 5.5146 BRL/USD.
  • Fleet unit (trailer + tractor): USD 225,000, a model estimate, not a quotation.
  • New regional liquefaction plant: USD 25 million CapEx (mid of a USD 20–30 million public benchmark) and 2.5% of CapEx a year non-energy OpEx. With an existing LNG source there is no plant CapEx.
FAQ

Questions about the telecom diesel-to-gas calculator

What does the telecom diesel-to-gas calculator compare?

It compares a diesel genset with a gas genset fed by LNG delivered by a CIMC virtual pipeline: LNG trailers refill a small LNG tank at each base station. It models the night-time case, with PV and battery by day and the genset at night, for a cluster of 10 to 2,000 sites.

How are the saving and payback calculated?

Fuel cost per kWh comes first: diesel at 0.30 L/kWh times your delivered price, and LNG as gas molecule plus liquefaction electricity plus road freight. The net annual saving is diesel fuel minus LNG gas energy and freight. Simple payback is total investment divided by net annual saving, with no discounting. O&M is costed the same on both sides, so it cancels.

What is the difference between the two LNG supply options?

With an existing LNG source, the investment is site equipment (USD 40,000 per site, excluding tax) plus the trailer fleet. A new regional liquefaction plant adds USD 25 million CapEx, the mid of a USD 20-30 million public benchmark, and deducts plant non-energy OpEx of 2.5% of CapEx a year from the saving.

What result do the default inputs give?

At the defaults (500 sites, 22 kW night load, 12 hours a night, delivered diesel USD 1.53/L, gas USD 12/MMBtu), fuel cost is about 45.8 US cents/kWh on diesel and 20.3 US cents/kWh on LNG. Simple payback is about 1.69 years with an existing LNG source and 3.93 years with a new regional liquefaction plant.

Is the result a quotation?

No. It is an indicative, preliminary estimate, not a CIMC quotation, tariff or fuel-saving guarantee. The diesel consumption of 0.30 L/kWh is a public-datasheet assumption that should be checked with the operator, and the default prices are examples to replace with your own.

Can AI agents or software use this calculator?

Yes. A public, read-only JSON endpoint at https://cimcenergysystem.com/api/tools/telecom-d2g returns the same numbers as the page, described by an OpenAPI 3.1 file and a JSON model specification. The page also accepts query parameters such as ?sites=500&lng_supply=existing.

For AI agents and developers

Use the calculator from code

A public, read-only JSON endpoint returns the same numbers as this page. No key is needed. Optional query parameters: sites (10–2,000), lng_supply (existing or new_plant), night_load_kw, night_hours, diesel_usd_per_l, gas_usd_per_mmbtu.

GET https://cimcenergysystem.com/api/tools/telecom-d2g?sites=500&lng_supply=existing
Full report

Download the full PDF report for this run

On-screen results are free. Leave your details and we will generate a PDF of your inputs and results, and the CIMC team can follow up with the questions that matter for your sites.

  • Background, method and both LNG supply options
  • Your inputs, fuel cost per kWh, logistics, saving, investment and payback
  • Payback-versus-sites curve with your cluster marked
  • Every assumption with its value and source tag

We use your details only to follow up on this enquiry. The report is an indicative, preliminary estimate, not a quotation.

Next step

Check the numbers for your own sites

Send us the operator's delivered diesel price, monthly litres and night load, and we will review the virtual-pipeline case with you.

Contact CIMC ENRIC Chat on WhatsApp

Indicative, preliminary estimate. Site-specific figures, not a CIMC quotation, tariff or fuel-saving guarantee. Diesel 0.30 L/kWh is a public-datasheet assumption, not a Brazil-tower measurement, and must be validated with the operator. The Brazil delivered-diesel default includes a last-mile placeholder. With an existing LNG source, delivered-LNG cost is a model build-up, not a supplier tariff. The new regional liquefaction plant CapEx is a public benchmark, not a CIMC quotation. The Africa telecom gas work is at pilot stage only; no pilot measurements are used in this calculator.