Urban energy internet emerges as the times require, photovoltaic power generation resources are optimized and shared

China Energy Storage Network: Simply put, the Urban Energy Internet is a platform for the interconnection, comprehensive utilization, and optimized sharing of various types of energy in the city, with electricity as the center. The construction of the Urban Energy Internet is based on smart grids, uses "Internet +" as a means, and uses electricity as the main carrier to create a green, low-carbon, safe and efficient modern energy ecosystem.

The picture shows the newly built photovoltaic village - Pengdun Village in Haining, Zhejiang, which has now begun to take shape. Photo by Wang Yichen

The picture shows the newly built photovoltaic village - Pengdun Village in Haining, Zhejiang, which has now begun to take shape. Photo by Wang Yichen

Recently, the National Energy Administration announced the first batch of 55 "Internet +" smart energy (energy internet) demonstration projects, including 12 urban energy internet comprehensive demonstration projects such as Beijing Yanqing Energy Internet Comprehensive Demonstration Zone and Chongming Energy Internet Comprehensive Demonstration Project, and required them to start construction before the end of August 2017 and be completed before the end of 2018. This means that a period of urban development with clean and efficient energy utilization is coming.

Cities are the main consumers of energy

Energy is an essential element for the normal operation of cities. 80% of the world's energy consumption is concentrated in cities.

Energy is an indispensable element for the normal operation of a city. Cities are also the main consumers of energy. 80% of the world's energy consumption is concentrated in cities. With the acceleration of economic development and urbanization, urban energy demand continues to grow, but urban energy resources are extremely limited. Except for some renewable energy, other energy sources are basically exported. At the same time, the large-scale use of fossil energy has brought serious pollution problems to cities.

"my country has become the world's largest energy consumer, but the proven reserves of energy resources are very limited. With the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization in various regions, the energy demand gap will further expand. In addition, the inverse distribution of my country's energy-rich regions and load centers has led to the inefficient matching of energy supply and demand, and the sustainable development situation is worrying. In addition, the haze problem has become a prominent sign of air pollution in my country in recent years." Chu Yanfang, deputy general manager of State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company, said that it is imperative to strive to improve the carrying capacity and operating efficiency of energy infrastructure across the country, accelerate the transformation of urban energy use habits, achieve clean energy substitution and comprehensive energy optimization, and build an urban energy Internet.

Building an urban energy internet is also necessary to ensure the economic and social development of our country. Taking Chengdu as an example, it is estimated that by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the total electricity consumption in Chengdu will reach 65.8 billion kWh, with an average annual growth of 6.20%. "Due to the limitation of resource endowment, Chengdu itself has limited resources, so it must take the urban energy internet as the foundation to drive the large-scale delivery of energy, realize the optimal allocation of energy in various districts (cities) and counties in Chengdu, and ensure the power supply demand in Chengdu." Chu Yanfang said.

Optimize sharing of various energy sources

Build a green, low-carbon, safe and efficient modern energy ecosystem with electricity as the main carrier

Simply put, the Urban Energy Internet is a platform for the interconnection, comprehensive utilization, and optimized sharing of various types of energy in the city, with electricity as the center. The construction of the Urban Energy Internet is based on smart grids, with "Internet +" as a means, and electricity as the main carrier.

A green, low-carbon, safe and efficient modern energy ecosystem.

Haining City is the location of the comprehensive pilot demonstration project of urban energy internet in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. In Dongpeng Community, Yuanhua Town, Haining, uniform photovoltaic panels are installed on the roofs of a large number of residential houses, which continuously convert solar energy into electricity.

Zhu Xin, a technician at the State Grid Zhejiang Haining Power Supply Company, said that residential photovoltaic power generation is limited by meteorological and technical conditions, and the power is not very stable. The energy storage station stores the excess power generated by residential photovoltaic power generation and uses it when needed, which can also improve the quality of power.

In addition to low-carbon energy, Haining also plans to promote the construction of urban energy Internet in many aspects such as efficient power grids, green transportation, low-carbon buildings, and energy big data sharing platforms.

In the Sichuan Tianfu New District Energy Internet Demonstration Project, "intelligent terminal synchronous measurement" has become a key technology to be tackled. "Improving energy efficiency is an important goal of building an energy Internet. Whether my country can achieve sustained economic growth with less energy consumption depends largely on whether the potential for energy efficiency improvement can be effectively tapped." A person in charge of the project said that the key to improving energy efficiency lies in users. How to help them formulate reasonable smart energy use plans and carry out targeted energy efficiency improvement transformation so that users can improve energy efficiency without affecting normal production and life has become an urgent problem to be solved.

Cross-sector collaboration to solve problems

Cross-sector cooperation to jointly solve policy, market, technology, funding and other issues related to urban energy internet

"Currently, my country's cities concentrate half of the population, three-quarters of resource consumption, four-fifths of GDP, and produce two-thirds of carbon emissions." Li Fengling, director of the Beijing Zhizhong Energy Internet Research Institute, believes that the situation requires us to promote the construction of urban energy Internet, and the development of information technology also provides the possibility to achieve this goal, but some key issues still need to be resolved.

The safety of the power grid is the primary challenge we face. As far as the current large power grid is concerned, its safety and reliability can basically meet the requirements of users. If a large number of urban rooftop photovoltaics are developed and directly connected to the large power grid, its safety and reliability will be greatly reduced, and the power quality of the system will also deteriorate, which will have a serious impact on users, especially precision users. In certain special cases, it will also pose a challenge to the stability of the system. Li Fengling said that with the backup support of the main power grid, the autonomy and self-healing of the microgrid should be achieved as much as possible to minimize the probability of affecting the safety of the system.

The promotion of urban energy internet is inseparable from a reasonable and effective business model. In Li Fengling's view, the biggest problem in the implementation of energy internet projects is market barriers. "The integration of distribution network operation and energy sales, as well as investment and operation, is the most effective and feasible model among all models. However, since it involves distribution networks and electricity sales based on distribution networks, it involves the existing interest structure. Even the incremental market will be regarded as expected benefits by power grid companies. If power grid companies do not cooperate, social capital will be unable to move forward. Therefore, the government's strong promotion of pilot demonstration projects is crucial." Li Fengling said.

In this regard, Chu Yanfang suggested that we should actively advocate cross-industry and cross-field cooperation in energy to jointly solve the policy, market, technology, funding and other issues involved in the urban energy Internet. From the perspective of sustainable development of urban energy, by building an urban energy Internet, we can drive the national economic transformation and energy transition, increase infrastructure construction, make the economic layout more balanced and coordinated, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results in an all-round way.