What was the operating earnings generated by the Motive Power business in the 2021-Q3 quarter 
 ready. There seems to be pent-up demand which should accelerate near-term growth. Our largest segment, Energy Systems, has struggled in recent quarters from slow broadband orders. The MSOs had focused on increasing node capacity for their work-from-home demand. Those MSOs have now resumed strong orders for our products, which increased their networks power capacity. Even more encouraging, MSO participation in recent wireless spectrum auctions and their enunciation of their intention to carry their 5G and 4G traffic on their own networks validates the broadband growth assumptions of our Alpha acquisition strategy. Telecom 5G growth is also accelerating in the Americas, confirming their commitment to invest in their networks to increase capacity and reliability. Our 5G small cell powering project collaboration with Corning is progressing even better than we had hoped.
In this quarter, we believe the network investment in 5G has, for the first time, surpassed the existing 4G network spend. It is also encouraging to see data center markets improving. In addition to our traditional businesses, renewable energy markets continue to expand with incredible opportunities for storage applications. The new administration has clearly focused on this emerging market. We plan to respond by updating our product offering using the same modular approach from our other lines of business. We will share more specifics with you on how we will participate in renewable energy storage and EV charging in coming calls. When you consider forklifts, we are currently the leader in charging electric vehicles globally, and this technology is easily transferred. Lastly, we are beginning to see the positive impact of the global alignment of the Energy Systems organization as we leverage regional expertise and key account development. Please turn to slide four. Our motive power business showed considerable improvement in the period compared to the second quarter, delivering higher sequential revenue and operating earnings.
Our order rates have surpassed the pre-COVID levels of a year ago despite sporadic pandemic-related restrictions, particularly in EMEA. The Hagen, Germany restructuring is ahead of schedule and forecasted to beat its budget. Although those restructuring benefits have not yet impacted our earnings, they will grow in magnitude throughout calendar year 2021, reaching nearly a $20 million annual run rate by the end of fiscal year 2022. Another exciting development is the launch of our NexSys iON lithium motive power batteries. Several OEMs continue to accelerate their adoption of this chemistry, and our sales team is focusing efforts for NexSys iON products on the portions of the market with the most demanding duty cycles. Please turn to slide five. The third segment of our business, Specialty, maintained its positive momentum with another strong quarter, which was slowed only by the ongoing impact of COVID on our capacity ramp, thereby delaying our ability to meet surging demand. Our transportation backlog continued to grow as we added a significant number of customers to the ODYSSEY channels. We currently are working with nearly every major player in the aftermarket distribution channel, along with many key truck OEMs and fleet operators. TPPL gained further traction in the quarter.
The high-speed line is up and running, and we are adding a second shift to our Springfield plant and bringing on additional oxide and pasting capacity. We're also encouraged by several new awards in our aerospace and defense business. Before wrapping up, I'd like to take a minute to talk about some exciting advancements we've made on the technology front. We mentioned our lithium launch for motive power. Our customers have begun to order our new NexSys iON products, and initial customer feedback is very positive. We have also achieved our first OEM approval and continue to work with other material handling manufacturers. The demand for fully integrated products has significantly increased for our Energy Systems group. To ensure necessary product development k
 ready. There seems to be pent-up demand which should accelerate near-term growth. Our largest segment, Energy Systems, has struggled in recent quarters from slow broadband orders. The MSOs had focused on increasing node capacity for their work-from-home demand. Those MSOs have now resumed strong orders for our products, which increased their networks power capacity. Even more encouraging, MSO participation in recent wireless spectrum auctions and their enunciation of their intention to carry their 5G and 4G traffic on their own networks validates the broadband growth assumptions of our Alpha acquisition strategy. Telecom 5G growth is also accelerating in the Americas, confirming their commitment to invest in their networks to increase capacity and reliability. Our 5G small cell powering project collaboration with Corning is progressing even better than we had hoped.
In this quarter, we believe the network investment in 5G has, for the first time, surpassed the existing 4G network spend. It is also encouraging to see data center markets improving. In addition to our traditional businesses, renewable energy markets continue to expand with incredible opportunities for storage applications. The new administration has clearly focused on this emerging market. We plan to respond by updating our product offering using the same modular approach from our other lines of business. We will share more specifics with you on how we will participate in renewable energy storage and EV charging in coming calls. When you consider forklifts, we are currently the leader in charging electric vehicles globally, and this technology is easily transferred. Lastly, we are beginning to see the positive impact of the global alignment of the Energy Systems organization as we leverage regional expertise and key account development. Please turn to slide four. Our motive power business showed considerable improvement in the period compared to the second quarter, delivering higher sequential revenue and operating earnings.
 Our order rates have surpassed the pre-COVID levels of a year ago despite sporadic pandemic-related restrictions, particularly in EMEA. The Hagen, Germany restructuring is ahead of schedule and forecasted to beat its budget. Although those restructuring benefits have not yet impacted our earnings, they will grow in magnitude throughout calendar year 2021, reaching nearly a $20 million annual run rate by the end of fiscal year 2022. Another exciting development is the launch of our NexSys iON lithium motive power batteries. Several OEMs continue to accelerate their adoption of this chemistry, and our sales team is focusing efforts for NexSys iON products on the portions of the market with the most demanding duty cycles. Please turn to slide five. The third segment of our business, Specialty, maintained its positive momentum with another strong quarter, which was slowed only by the ongoing impact of COVID on our capacity ramp, thereby delaying our ability to meet surging demand. Our transportation backlog continued to grow as we added a significant number of customers to the ODYSSEY channels. We currently are working with nearly every major player in the aftermarket distribution channel, along with many key truck OEMs and fleet operators. TPPL gained further traction in the quarter.
The high-speed line is up and running, and we are adding a second shift to our Springfield plant and bringing on additional oxide and pasting capacity. We're also encouraged by several new awards in our aerospace and defense business. Before wrapping up, I'd like to take a minute to talk about some exciting advancements we've made on the technology front. We mentioned our lithium launch for motive power. Our customers have begun to order our new NexSys iON products, and initial customer feedback is very positive. We have also achieved our first OEM approval and continue to work with other material handling manufacturers. The demand for fully integrated products has significantly increased for our Energy Systems group. To ensure necessary product development k