Smart energy makes life better

Smart energy creates new business models

At the 3rd World Intelligence Conference held in Tianjin recently, a number of cutting-edge smart technologies and products were unveiled, including many smart innovations in the electric power sector. The three theme exhibition areas of State Grid Corporation of China, namely "Smart Energy Makes Cities More Efficient", "Smart Energy Makes Cities More Livable", and "Smart Energy Creates Emerging Businesses", showcased seven projects, including live-working robots, smart measurement systems, and net-zero energy buildings, reflecting the smart innovations in the fields of strong smart grids and ubiquitous power Internet of Things.

A total of 245 companies, including 27 research institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Supercomputing Center, 38 Fortune 500 companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, CRRC, and General Electric, and 60 domestic Fortune 500 companies such as iFlytek and Inspur Group, participated in the exhibition. The exhibition showcased a number of the world's most cutting-edge technologies and products, including smart city solutions, driverless driving, smart wearables, artificial intelligence, quantum communications, and smart homes, presenting the results of domestic and foreign smart technology applications and industrial development in an all-round and multi-level manner.

Huawei's booth presented nearly 20 application scenarios for different industries, including smart manufacturing, smart electricity, and smart public transportation. Huawei's IOC City Operation Center, known as the "brain of smart cities", systematically integrates data from government affairs, the Internet, the Internet of Things, and major operators, and uses ubiquitous Internet of Things technology to connect urban infrastructure with the network to conduct grid management of cities.

Inspur Group exhibited smart city video networking + 5G and other edge computing application scenarios, which can realize 10 AI scenarios such as face recognition and behavior detection through the deep integration of network and 5G computing, and provide support for urban security management, smart energy services, etc. At present, relevant technologies are gradually being implemented in the construction of the smart energy town of Sino-Singapore Eco-City.

On the realistic three-dimensional electronic sand table in the "Smart Energy Creates Emerging Businesses" theme exhibition area of ​​State Grid Corporation of China, the interwoven energy and information flows connect wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, energy storage equipment, ground source heat pumps and external power grids. Through the integrated energy smart management and control platform integrating ubiquitous power Internet of Things technology, the state perception and comprehensive allocation of various renewable energy sources such as wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, etc. have become a reality, providing energy solutions for smart city construction.

The sand table shows a comprehensive energy demonstration project built in Tianjin's only national-level industrial-city integration demonstration zone. It uses the roof of the Beichen Business Center building, the parking lot and the adjacent lakeshore in the demonstration zone to build five systems including solar photovoltaic power generation, wind power generation, wind-solar-storage microgrid, ground-source heat pump, and electric vehicle charging piles, as well as a comprehensive energy smart management and control platform, which can continuously provide the building with hot and cold supply and domestic hot water. This "ground-source heat pump + wind-solar-storage" comprehensive energy service mode has enabled the annual renewable energy generation to reach 275,000 kWh, accounting for 36% of the building's energy utilization, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 408 tons per year.

State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Company has taken the lead in the construction of ubiquitous power Internet of Things, promoting the integrated energy service model for large complexes and industrial parks in Tianjin. It has successfully built a number of integrated energy demonstration projects centered on electricity, integrating electricity substitution and energy-saving technologies, and large-scale application of various clean energy in the Industry-City Integration Demonstration Zone in Beichen District, Tianjin, and the Northern Park of the State Grid Customer Service Center in Dongli District.

Based on the park-level integrated energy services, this year State Grid Tianjin Power will also build two typical smart energy towns, one ecologically livable and the other industrially and urban-intensive, in Huifengxi of Sino-Singapore Eco-City and Dazhangzhuang of Beichen District. After completion, the comprehensive energy utilization efficiency in the demonstration area will reach the international leading level.

Smart energy makes cities more efficient and livable

The two major theme exhibition areas, "Smart Energy Makes Cities More Efficient" and "Smart Energy Makes Cities More Livable", which are closely related to urban life, showcase the extensive application of modern information and communication technologies such as mobile Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence in the construction practice of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things of State Grid Corporation of China.

In the exhibition area, a group of green robotic arms are flexibly demonstrating operations, attracting people's attention. This is the artificial intelligence distribution network live operation robot "Chuangxiang No. 2" developed by the team led by "reform pioneer" and "model of the times" Zhang Liming. This "black technology" can replace manual work to efficiently complete live line disconnection and connection operations, and will be fully applied in the smart energy town.

As a "stethoscope" for comprehensive perception of the status of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, the new generation of smart meters pioneered in China by State Grid Tianjin Electric Power can intelligently identify the type of electrical appliances based on current and voltage data, find out the "big power consumers" in the home, and guide users to achieve an average energy saving of more than 10%.

"We will build new equipment with wireless and wired charging and discharging functions to achieve two-way intelligent interaction between electric vehicles and the power grid." The on-site staff explained. The booth is displaying wireless high-power charging and discharging technology for electric vehicles. The number of electric vehicles in my country will reach 5 million by 2020, and they will become a potential mobile "energy reservoir" for the power grid in the future. During the wireless charging process, this new equipment can intelligently sense the status of the power grid and electric vehicles. For example, when the load is close to the maximum value, it will automatically reduce the charging power. When there is a distribution network failure and the load in the substation drops to zero, the system will control the electric vehicle to send power in the reverse direction.

The multifunctional smart street lamp, which integrates 15 equipments including Wi-Fi, smart camera, public security video surveillance, and weather monitoring, has been used in the pilot project of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. This smart street lamp can monitor six national standard air quality data in real time through ubiquitous Internet of Things systems such as intelligent perception. In terms of security, it can realize face and vehicle recognition through 360-degree high-definition camera, and can also release public service and emergency warning information in real time. The functions of smart street lamps will continue to expand, and they will be built into a smart city management complex with 33 functions to realize intelligent monitoring of urban streets.

In the near future, citizens will be able to charge their mobile phones conveniently while sitting on a chair while waiting at a bus stop. Photovoltaic chairs, which also feature the concept of intelligence, use photovoltaic power generation and fast charging technologies to provide fast charging services for users' mobile devices, enriching users' energy experience scenarios.

In the exhibition hall, the "warm in winter and cool in summer" net-zero energy buildings have also become a hot spot in the field of green energy public buildings in the future. Compared with traditional buildings, net-zero energy buildings use rooftop photovoltaics and thin-film photovoltaic power generation as energy sources, apply new insulation materials and high-efficiency fresh air technology, and achieve 100% self-production of energy required for buildings. State Grid Tianjin Electric Power has also innovatively applied home energy routers to manage and store building energy, realizing plug-and-play and coordinated operation of rooftop photovoltaics and energy storage devices, creating a comfortable, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly green building living experience.

It is expected that by 2020, advanced, intelligent and green facilities such as wireless charging for electric vehicles, smart street lights, photovoltaic seats and net zero energy buildings will be fully applied in Tianjin Smart Energy Town. By then, the city will be smarter and citizens' lives will be more convenient.