Changzhou: Building an energy internet with coordinated development, integration and complementarity of source, grid, load and storage

Changzhou supports leading enterprises in building world-leading smart energy and energy Internet platform solutions, promotes the cloud migration of corporate energy, deeply integrates the Internet with energy production, transmission, storage, consumption and energy markets, and builds an energy Internet with coordinated development, integration and complementarity of source-grid-load-storage, giving rise to vertical platforms such as Trina Solar and Star Charging.

Driving an energy revolution in the way energy is produced and consumed

In the "National Energy Internet Development White Paper 2018", the connotation of energy internet was clearly defined for the first time. Energy internet is a new ecosystem that takes the power system as the core and link, and uses Internet thinking and technology to transform the energy industry through the coordination of multiple energy sources, supply and consumption, and centralized and distributed systems, to achieve the optimal configuration of material flow, energy flow, information flow, business flow, capital flow, and value flow, and to promote higher quality, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable operation and development of the energy system.

Zhao Wei, Executive Director of Tsinghua University Energy Internet Innovation Institute and Secretary General of National Energy Internet Industry and Technology Innovation Alliance, said that from a deeper perspective, the energy revolution stems from the contradiction between energy productivity and energy production relations. At present, the sustainable development of energy and environment in human society faces huge challenges. The terminal energy consumption structure of major developed countries in the world is dominated by fossil energy, and the proportion of traditional energy power generation is high. It is urgent to solve the problem of sustainable use of energy. On the one hand, my country has a large number of advanced technologies for the development of renewable energy - photovoltaic, electric energy storage, electric vehicles and other technologies are developing rapidly, and the organizational form of traditional energy is no longer suitable for the current level of scientific and technological development; on the other hand, my country's per capita energy resources are less than half of the world average, and the energy supply situation is very severe. It is necessary to make fundamental changes in energy production and consumption methods to promote the revolution in energy production and consumption. This is the powerful internal motivation for building a global energy internet and a regional energy internet.

From demonstration and guidance to the trinity, the energy Internet has entered a new stage

The number of registered energy internet companies in my country has grown from less than 500 in 2014 to more than 4,000 in May this year, which has attracted great attention from the industry. Yan Xing, deputy technical director of the Regional Integrated Energy Planning Technology Joint Research Center of the Energy Internet Innovation Institute of Tsinghua University, introduced that the current demonstration projects of the energy internet show that state-owned enterprises and private enterprises are evenly matched. The demonstration projects that have been applied for and approved reflect the pattern of public participation in the development of the energy internet. The multi-energy complementary demonstration projects as the infrastructure of the energy internet and the new energy microgrid demonstration projects of the local energy internet are also under construction in full swing.

As the "leader" of the photovoltaic industry, the cumulative shipment of components has exceeded 30GW, ranking first in the world, leading Chinese photovoltaic companies to start participating in the formulation of international standards; and then to become a "pioneer" in the global energy Internet of Things, laying out photovoltaic smart energy and energy Internet of Things. Gao Jifan, Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar, said that Trina Solar's goal is to become a "leader in the global energy Internet of Things" and promote the transformation from the full-chain industrial model of "manufacturing, generation, storage, distribution, and sales" to "generation, storage, distribution, use, and cloud" innovation and results output. "We must forget the many firsts in the past and move to a broader field."

The core of Trina Energy Internet is to integrate smart terminals, energy management and control, and cloud platforms to achieve the trinity, use big data technology to increase the depth of energy interconnection, promote scenario applications such as "energy + big data", "energy + blockchain", and "energy + distributed transactions", and open up the energy, equipment, channels, and consumption network. At present, the company cooperates with leading companies such as Huawei and Alibaba to carry out technical research and development and industrial layout of new energy Internet of Things, taking energy digitalization as the entry point, and helping users improve energy management and optimize efficiency as the goal, relying on Internet of Things sensor technology and Internet big data technology, and using Trina's independently developed energy PAAS platform and SAAS applications to achieve digitalization and intelligence in energy vertical fields such as generation, storage, distribution, use, and cloud.

Multi-energy integration helps energy Internet enter the fast lane

Using new generation information technology to increase the depth of energy and information interconnection and build a coordinated, integrated and complementary energy Internet requires multi-energy integration. "The National Energy Internet Industry and Technology Innovation Alliance was established, the Global Energy Internet Development Strategy White Paper was released, and multiple industry standards were formulated first." Zhao Wei admitted that there is still a need to accelerate changes in multi-energy integration, policy formulation, management model, talent training, business model, etc., establish energy information and digital systems in industries such as high-end manufacturing and modern service industries, promote comprehensive energy services and energy Internet of Things applications, and empower enterprise management upgrades and energy conservation and emission reduction.

Traditional project application methods and processes can no longer meet the rapid progress of energy Internet construction. In terms of policies and management models, a mechanism for full-process tracking rather than one-time consideration should be established, and supervision should be transformed into "supervision + service". Promote the cloudification of corporate energy and form an open and shared energy Internet ecological environment. The development ideas of the power grid should change from the traditional management model to the awareness of providing users with high-quality services and new business services, so as to better reflect the "user-oriented" approach. On the energy supply side, the construction of power plants and energy stations needs to be considered from the comprehensive perspective of the energy system in order to better achieve multi-energy synergy, complementarity and win-win results. For the general public, it is necessary to strengthen the popularization of green, low-carbon, environmental protection, conservation, and innovation concepts.

Energy Internet strives to coordinate multiple energy sources. As for energy itself, it also needs to integrate electricity, gas, heat, cold, etc. At present, it is urgent to consider energy planning and municipal planning comprehensively, rely on the integrated development of the "three networks" of energy network, information network and transportation network, and build smart cities based on smart energy.