How IoT transforms power distribution management

A new set of integrated technologies has been introduced by Huawei to manage the increasing complexities of utility distribution networks.

New energy resources in the form of renewables, new loads such as electric vehicles, new energy storage technologies and the new integrated service models to accompany these are characterising the evolving power networks of today.

However, with the rapid growth of these developments, new challenges are emerging both for power supply and distribution network management, particularly at the medium and low voltage levels where many new connections are being made.

With the intermittency of wind and solar PV and a transition from centralised to decentralised systems, grids worldwide are unprepared to accept and balance all generation. They lack the capacity, flexibility, as well as visibility of operators.

Infrastructure development such as energy storage is lagging, with the need for options ranging from millisecond response to seasonal timescales, as are new business and technology models such as vehicle-to-grid integration and microgrids.

Generation curtailment and increasing congestion and inertia deficits are among the challenges with grids that are inflexible and were not designed or built for these resources.

In some regions, low levels of reliability have resulted from ageing infrastructure and limited investment ability.

An edge-cloud IoT solution for power distribution network management

The response to these many challenges has been to bring more intelligence to the grid to optimise and better manage the power flows. The focus has shifted to the edge of the grid to manage the increasing volumes of data more efficiently and deliver real-time functionality without the need for control centre intervention.

To respond to these challenges, State Grid Shaanxi developed in collaboration with Huawei and over 20 utility partners, is the power distribution IoT solution with functions including data awareness, edge processing, and smart applications.

Intended to form the digital foundation for the intelligent networks of the future and meet the application requirements of different power distribution scenarios, the solution is built with a ‘cloud-pipe-edge-pipe-device’ architecture.

Features include:

At the ‘device’ level, there are a large number of devices, and the number is increasing year by year, including smart meters on the user side, branch leakage protectors on the branch side, master meters and incoming/outgoing breakers on the transformer district. With the widespread promotion of green energy and the large-scale popularization of new energy vehicles, the number of distributed photovoltaic and charging piles is increasing rapidly.

On the next layer – ‘pipe’, the high-speed power line carrier (HPLC) and high-speed radio frequency (HRF)are introduced to enable intelligent connectivity for multiple ‘devices’ and in turn enable measurable, adjustable, and controllable LV power distribution networks. Without re-establishing networks, power companies can use the existing power lines to collect data, like current and voltage data, at high frequencies. The efficient identification of transformer district topology relationships supports power companies to accurately localize faults, while the feature of proactively reporting power-off/recovery events improves power supply reliability.

On the ‘edge’, smart distribution transformer terminals (SD-TTs) with built-in high-performance core components are deployed to intellectualise the edge and other grid devices.

With edge computing, self-governance for transformer districts is enabled. With data aggregating from connected grid and end-user devices such as transformers, breakers, protectors, distributed generation, and meters, the SD-TTs effectively form a system platform with apps that can be installed on demand and delivered as a service.

Also, software-defined terminals are used to analyze line loss within minutes. Household PV modules can be connected to power grids safely and efficiently, while EVs can be charged in order.

Then moving to the ‘pipe’, which is an essential component in ensuring the online availability of the SD-TTs and their connection to the cloud orchestration platform. Both private and public wireless network options are suitable, with the solution offering multiple communications options, including fibre optics and public wireless based on a simplified architecture and easy O&M.

The private network option provides a safe and reliable dedicated LTE network, with low latency and large capacity to allow for future terminal expansion. Public options include 3G, 4G and 5G providing high levels of reliability and IoT convergence.

In practice, Huawei recommends that in core urban districts requiring high power supply, quality, and reliability, either of wired or wireless options are suitable. However, in suburban or older urban districts where optical fibre installation is challenged and the distribution terminals are widely distributed, a wireless network approach is recommended.

The final layer is the ‘cloud’, with the cloud orchestration development platform deployed. Through visualized and drag-and-drop programming empowered by MessageFlow app development technology, the development threshold is significantly lowered, greatly shortening the app development cycle from months to days. It guarantees that application development capabilities are handed over to power companies, and expert experience is accumulated as component assets.

Besides, the apps can be deployed across terminals from multiple vendors. With their feature of fast remote upgrades and a high success rate, power companies are allowed to respond quickly to changing distribution network requirements. “In the distribution IoT scenario, technical and business personnel from network owners, industrial companies, and ecosystems are deeply involved, working closely together to reach the business goals so that the owners can use both the industry and cross-border capabilities,” comments David Sun, Vice President of Huawei, and CEO of Huawei Electric Power Digitalization BU.

Meanwhile, based on the multi-source data convergence capability of Huawei’s Graph Engine Service and Data Warehouse Service, partners can build a dynamic distribution network map. The map integrates static information like the geography, topology, and asset information of lines and devices, and dynamic information including transformer district electrical, environmental, and state parameters. This makes transformer district information transparent and supports on-site operations, improving O&M efficiency.

Power outage awareness and response

Up to now, the average time for restoration of power supply following detection of an outage is over 4 hours, due to the labour-intensive and time-consuming task of troubleshooting onsite. Now, with the IoT solution, the utility company could detect and locate the incident within minutes and potentially achieve restoration within 25 minutes.

From passive management to active management

In the past, managers of transformer districts needed to wait for the notifications of fault generations and then travel to the sites for repair. Now, managers can set different warning thresholds for different transformer districts to detect onsite operating conditions in advance and handle potential risks promptly, reducing faults and improving power supply reliability.

Protecting power grid assets

Based on the physical topology of the transformer district, the SDTTs collect and calculate the current and voltage data of the transformer district meter and branch meters in real-time. An anti-power theft app-based online losses by branch and segment has been developed to monitor the transformer district in real-time and to accurately determine the power theft point within the district and thereby protect the power grid assets.

Successful practices in Shaanxi

To date, the power distribution IoT solution has been successfully deployed in many provinces in China, including Shaanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. In Shaanxi, based on MessageFlow’s app development technology, smart distribution transformer terminals are fully integrated with the power generation, distribution, and marketing sides. This changes the status quo of transformer district O&M without real-time data support and enables data penetration at three levels: power plants, transformer districts and users. The panoramic view of transformer districts meets the service requirements for power system operation, power consumption information collection, customer service and lean management.

The distribution network status monitoring platform, which is the solution in practice, has access to over 100,000 distribution transformer districts covering 1,357 power stations and 5,401 10kV lines in 11 municipalities in Shaanxi Province, enabling power station directors and managers to receive abnormal information on transformer districts in their stations promptly. It improves the digital management level of distribution substation equipment and the safe operation of the distribution network, thus improving users’ satisfaction with electricity consumption.

It promotes the development of the electricity market, supplementing the intelligent IoT system of the local power company, and providing a demonstration of the development of IoT apps to boost the digitalization of the electric power grid.

Leveraging its strengths in the digital transformation of the electricity sector, Huawei is furthering the application of power distribution IoT, improving lean management and helping build an intelligent power distribution network help build an intelligent power distribution network with innovative solutions developed together with its partners and customers.

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