New technologies help improve the quality and efficiency of ubiquitous power Internet of Things

"Why was the ubiquitous power Internet of Things born? As an emerging infrastructure, it will help the energy industry develop digitally and intelligently. Ultimately, the ubiquitous power Internet of Things was born to give birth to more new economies, new forms and new momentum." On December 1, State Grid Energy Research Institute Co., Ltd. held the "Energy Transformation and Development Forum and State Grid Energy Research Institute 2019 Achievement Release Conference" in Beijing. Li Weiyang, deputy general manager of State Grid Energy Research Institute and dean of State Grid (Suzhou) Urban Energy Research Institute, said at the meeting.

As the year draws to a close, what achievements have been made in the ubiquitous power Internet of Things after nearly a year of development? What experiences have been gained? How will the next step be?

Application areas gradually expanded to people's livelihood

On October 14, State Grid Corporation of China released the "Ubiquitous Power Internet of Things White Paper 2019", revealing that in addition to providing electric vehicle services, the ubiquitous power Internet of Things will also focus on the construction of sub-ecosystems in areas such as distributed photovoltaic services, comprehensive energy efficiency services, energy e-commerce services, data commercialization services, online industrial chain finance, and electrical equipment services to build a new energy ecology of mutual benefit and win-win.

According to Zhao Bingzhen, deputy general manager of State Grid Electronic Commerce Co., Ltd., the new energy cloud platform has connected a total of 1.4149 million new energy users, with an installed capacity of 58.8025 million kilowatts and a cumulative transaction volume of 51.158 billion yuan, driving the coordinated development of more than 3,000 upstream and downstream companies in the industrial chain.

In addition to the energy sector, the application scope of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things is constantly expanding. The data on the power consumption of household appliances is clear and concise; the secret discharge of pollutants by enterprises can be accurately supervised; rainstorm disasters and icing on highways can be predicted and warned in advance... These are all application examples of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things.

Zhao Bingzhen said that the company has built a national photovoltaic poverty alleviation information monitoring center based on the new energy cloud platform, providing relevant services to the State Council Poverty Alleviation Office and realizing the full life cycle management of photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects. So far, the center has connected a total of 267,000 photovoltaic poverty alleviation power stations with an installed capacity of 12.754 million kilowatts, covering 26 provinces and regions and 89 counties, benefiting 37,000 poor villages and 2.32 million poor households.

Fan Xiaohui, technical manager of the Internet of Things Technology Research Institute of China Mobile Research Institute, said that the State Grid has accumulated a new production factor in the digital age - data, which can provide new services for the government, society and individuals. "In the field of people's livelihood, such as collecting residential electricity consumption data, we can know the living conditions of some empty-nest elderly people and elderly people living alone, and if there is an abnormality, we can remind them in time. In addition, we can expand the scope of data, use the power network infrastructure of the State Grid throughout the country, deploy more sensors, and thus solve a wider range of problems." Fan Xiaohui said.

Blockchain will play an important role

How will the ubiquitous power Internet of Things develop in the future? Experts attending the meeting agreed that it is necessary to make full use of new technologies and build a high-quality development pattern.

On October 25, the government listed blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation technology. So, what kind of sparks will the ubiquitous power Internet of Things and blockchain collide with? Zhao Bingzhen said that the State Grid has already had relevant practices in this regard. "On August 22, State Grid Blockchain Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. was officially unveiled. The company and the blockchain laboratory are two brands and one team. From R&D to commercial transformation, they operate in an integrated way, providing a foundation for 'Internet + Power'. At present, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Blockchain Key Laboratory has specially established a power application base, and the relevant cases of the State Grid have been selected as pilot projects by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology." Zhao Bingzhen introduced.

Zeng Ming, director of the Energy Internet Research Center of North China Electric Power University, believes that blockchain has technical characteristics such as decentralization, information sharing and traceability, and privacy protection. Combined with the characteristics of the perception layer, network layer, platform layer and application layer architecture of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, blockchain technology will play an important role in the construction of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things.

Zeng Ming introduced: "Taking the platform layer as an example, blockchain can effectively help solve the problems of data storage, update, query, analysis, etc. in the ubiquitous power Internet. Information islands and asymmetry can also be properly handled; in the application layer, such as distributed energy, integrated energy services, microgrids, etc., new trading platforms will be needed in the future. To achieve sharing, these platforms need the support of blockchain."

Zhao Bingzhen also suggested: "Promote the formulation of standards, plan ahead in the process of building the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, and strengthen the research and compilation of the energy and power blockchain standard system."

The addition of 5G will reduce construction costs

It is understood that my country has built the world's largest fiber-optic communication network, 4G has covered all cities and towns, and 5G has officially started commercial deployment. Among them, the industrial Internet is the most important scenario in 5G application scenarios. According to Li Yan, director of the Research and Consulting Center of the China Electronics Society, my country is expected to open more than 130,000 5G base stations to meet the access needs of 100 million industrial equipment.

Fan Xiaohui said that this year State Grid proposed the concept of ubiquitous power Internet of Things. Based on the opportunity of my country's vigorous development of 5G this year, China Mobile is conducting relevant technical discussions and research with State Grid. 5G can provide high-quality, low-cost network solutions for many business scenarios of ubiquitous power Internet of Things.

Chen Cai, director of the Information Technology Research Department of the Institute of Industrial Planning of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, agreed that the combination of 5G and the ubiquitous power Internet of Things will produce a greater "chemical reaction". Taking the main grid side of the 110 kV power grid as an example, the capacity of laying 100% of the private network is limited, and traditional technology cannot meet the business scenarios of video surveillance or drone inspections. If the existing equipment is upgraded, it will be difficult. "5G can meet the needs of video surveillance, drone inspections and even VR remote monitoring, and improve the remote operation and maintenance capabilities of the entire power grid through ultra-high-definition video backhaul. In terms of distribution network automation construction, if all optical fibers are used, the cost is high and the difficulty is great. If 5G technology is used for wireless coverage, the construction cost can be greatly reduced. According to calculations, compared with optical fibers, the use of 5G can reduce construction costs by 70%." Chen Cai said.