AI Turns Spanish Telecom Towers into Virtual Power Plants

HELSINKI, FINLAND – February 23, 2026 – A groundbreaking partnership in Spain is set to redefine the role of mobile phone towers, transforming them from passive communication nodes into active participants in the nation's energy grid. Vantage Towers, a leading European infrastructure operator, has joined forces with Elisa Industriq's energy optimization arm, Gridle, to deploy an AI-powered system that turns telecom battery backups into a sophisticated Virtual Power Plant (VPP).

This initiative, starting with an initial deployment at selected radio base stations, aims to bolster the resilience of Spain's critical communication networks while unlocking new financial value and advancing sustainability goals. By intelligently managing energy storage, the collaboration tackles three of the industry's most pressing challenges: rising energy costs, grid instability, and the need for uninterrupted service in the face of growing threats.

The Birth of the Telecom VPP

At the heart of the initiative is Gridle's AI platform, which will take control of the vast network of batteries already installed at Vantage Towers' sites. Traditionally, these batteries serve a single, passive purpose: to provide emergency power during a grid outage. The new system reimagines them as dynamic, coordinated assets.

A Virtual Power Plant in this context does not generate new electricity but rather aggregates and intelligently manages distributed energy resources—in this case, thousands of individual batteries. The AI analyzes the grid in real-time, making decisions to charge the batteries when electricity is cheap and clean (such as overnight or during periods of high solar generation) and discharge them during expensive peak demand hours. This simple arbitrage can dramatically reduce a tower site's operational energy costs.

"In moments when storms, power cuts and hybrid threats challenge the resilience of communications networks, it becomes our duty as an industry to explore all avenues that can help strengthen continuity of service," said Nicolas Mahler, Interim CEO and CFO of Vantage Towers. "Through this collaboration, we contribute technologies that support operators in keeping networks running not only for hours, but for days when circumstances demand it."

But the system's capabilities extend far beyond cost savings. By aggregating the capacity of its battery network, Vantage Towers can offer services to the national grid. The VPP can sell stored energy back to the market during price spikes or provide critical balancing services that help grid operators manage fluctuations from intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar. This transforms the energy infrastructure of the telecom network from a necessary cost center into a revenue-generating profit center.

A Blueprint for Resilience and Profit

This strategic pivot comes at a critical time. The memory of last year's widespread blackout across Spain and Portugal, which crippled communication and disrupted society, remains fresh. That event highlighted the vulnerability of even modern networks to power grid failures.

"Batteries are essential in protecting nationally critical telecom infrastructure," noted Jukka-Pekka Salmenkaita, Managing Director of Gridle and VP of AI at Elisa. "The blackout...reminded us how quickly society is disrupted when networks go down. We are pleased to collaborate with Vantage Towers to demonstrate how battery investments can turn resilience into operational excellence and financial gains when managed with intelligent systems like Gridle."

By optimizing the charge state and health of thousands of batteries, the AI ensures maximum backup power is available when a real emergency strikes. It moves beyond a simple fail-safe to an active defense system, enhancing the network's ability to withstand prolonged outages. This enhanced resilience is a crucial step in bulletproofing the digital infrastructure that underpins modern economies and public safety.

Financially, the model is compelling. Industry analysis suggests that deploying VPPs across a significant portion of a telecom operator's sites can reduce network electricity costs by 5-10%. However, the primary financial uplift, potentially accounting for up to 80% of the total gain, comes from new revenue streams generated by participating in energy markets. Combined, these benefits can offset a network's total electricity costs by 50% to 80%, a game-changing figure in an industry grappling with the high energy consumption of 5G networks.

A Pan-European Ambition

The technology behind the partnership is not entirely new. Gridle was born from the internal needs of its parent company, Finnish telecom giant Elisa, which developed the system to optimize its own extensive fleet of batteries across Finland and Estonia. The platform is already used by other major players, including DNA Towers Finland (part of Telenor Group), proving its efficacy in the demanding Nordic energy markets.

The Spanish deployment, however, marks a significant milestone as Gridle's southernmost expansion. It demonstrates the model's applicability beyond Northern Europe and into the dynamic Spanish energy market, which is characterized by high solar penetration and fluctuating prices—a perfect environment for energy storage arbitrage. Vantage Towers, which already sources 100% of its grid electricity from renewables, sees this as a natural extension of its sustainability strategy.

The competitive landscape for this technology is heating up, with major network equipment providers like Nokia and Huawei also developing their own telecom VPP solutions. This race to innovate underscores the growing recognition that the millions of backup batteries deployed globally represent a massive, untapped resource for creating smarter, more resilient, and more sustainable energy and communication networks.

As the initial deployment in Spain gathers data and demonstrates its value, it will serve as a powerful case study for the rest of Europe. The partnership between Vantage Towers and Gridle is more than just a technology pilot; it is a glimpse into the future of critical infrastructure—a future where the systems that connect us are also helping to power our world more intelligently.