International blueprint for smart grid is expected to push Chinese standards globally

While changing the layout of China's energy, smart grids have also fostered a group of equipment manufacturers with independent intellectual property rights, and are expected to push China's standards globally.

Smart grid has become a "energy word".

In the "two sessions" this year, Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report stated that it is necessary to "strengthen management of energy use, develop smart grids and distributed energy, and implement effective management methods such as energy-saving power generation dispatching, contract energy management, and government energy-saving procurement." .

The government work report of the “two sessions” in 2011 also pointed out that it is necessary to “promote the clean use of traditional energy, strengthen the construction of smart grids, and vigorously develop clean energy”.

During the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, the “strong smart grid” with UHV as the basic feature may become the most sought-after investment object in China's power industry.

Smart City Tianjin Binhai New Area, "China-New Zealand Eco-city".

The “Smart Grid Comprehensive Demonstration Project” pushed by the State Grid Corporation of China (hereinafter referred to as the State Grid) was completed at the end of September 2011.

In the 4 square kilometer starting area, the home of power optical fiber has realized the “four-network convergence” with cable television, IP telephony, and the Internet; home control, power usage, power consumption information collection, and security alarms have all realized intelligence. Change.

A variety of electric cars quietly passed through the neighborhood; charging piles for electric cars have already been put into use in the Eco-City.

More than 20% of the electricity used in this community comes from the 4.5 MW wind turbine at the mouth of the Xiaohe Canal, and partly from the 1.1 MW photovoltaic power plant at the sewage treatment plant. The 9 million kWh “clean electricity” issued each year can meet the needs of more than 3,000 ordinary families.

On the roof of the Sino-Singapore eco-city business hall, a 30kW photovoltaic battery pack, a 6KW fan, and a 15KW×4h lithium-ion battery energy storage device form a “microgrid” system that is independent of the large power grid. If the major power grid fails, the China-Singapore Eco-City will automatically switch to the "island" mode of the microgrid, using wind, light and other new energy sources. Conducting all this orderly operation is the "hub" of smart grids - smart substations.

Since May 2009, after the first time the State Grid put forward the strategic goals and development ideas of the “Strong Smart Grid”, the concept-oriented Sino-Singapore Eco-City has become a concrete and slight drop in the Chinese smart grid big chessboard. piece.

The State Grid has now completed and put into operation an intelligent dispatch system with panoramic power grid monitoring, dynamic analysis, and real-time warning functions, and is building an intelligent distribution network in the core areas of 23 cities.

The relevant person of State Grid Research Institute of Electric Power told the “Financial National Weekly” reporter that the just-concluded State Grid Science and Technology Work Conference clearly stated that a group of smart grid integrated projects that span several areas of “transmission and distribution” should be established. Around a theme, such as energy-saving emission reduction, power grid reliability, low carbon and so on.

In 2012, the State Grid arranged a total of 17 projects on the smart grid.

The smart grid will become the theme of future power grid construction. It is expected that during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, China's power grid construction investment will reach 1.5 trillion yuan. In the next ten years, China's total smart grid investment is expected to be 1 trillion yuan. Digital substation construction and transformation will be fully rolled out.

The Chinese route "China's smart grid construction achievements, first through research, formed a 'strong smart grid' concept of development." Wang Yimin, director of the State Grid Ministry of Science and Technology said.

At the 2011 International Forum on Smart Grid, Liu Zhenya, general manager of State Grid, specifically elaborated two basic viewpoints on the concept of “Strong Smart Grid”: “Strong” and “Intelligent”, which are two indispensable features of modern power grids; “Strong Smart Grid is a complete intelligent power system.

“Using UHV as the backbone grid, coordinated development of power grids at all levels, and power grids with informatization, automation, and interactive features”. Zhang Zhengling, deputy director of the State Grid Development Department, expressed the meaning of “strong smart grid”. “It's like a person. First of all, there is a strong body, and then there is a clever brain.”

China's energy resources and consumer demand are unevenly distributed. For a long time, under the “local balance” power development model, the country’s coal transportation has relied too much on railways and highways, and coal prices and electricity prices have been on a cyclical rise. The pressure on environment in central and eastern China has been excessive.

On the other hand, the current pressure for energy conservation and emission reduction in China has increased and the rapid development of clean energy has been promoted.

Under these two backgrounds, the State Grid’s smart grid strategy starts by speeding up the construction of an UHV backbone network grid.

Zhang Zhengling concluded that the characteristics of UHV are: greater transmission capacity, longer transmission distance, lower loss, and large savings in transmission corridors.

During the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, the UHV AC line planned and constructed by the State Grid is “three vertical and three horizontal” and the DC is fifteen.

The starting point of “three vertical and three horizontal” is planned in the five comprehensive energy bases identified in the national “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” outline, including Xinjiang, Shanxi, Mengdong, and Ordos with abundant coal and wind power resources (14.61,0.00, 0.00%) area (Ningdong, northern Shaanxi, Mengxi) and southwestern region rich in hydropower resources.

Zhang Zhengling stated that in 2012, the State Grid planned to start the construction of “four cross and three straights”, and “four crosses” would be the northern half of the “Eastern Vertical”, “West Vertical”, “Nan Heng” and East China UHV ring networks; "The Hami-Zhengzhou", "Hami North-Chongqing", and "Xiluodu-Zhejiang" have already got the development and reform commission roads.

“Using the UHV channel, we will send coal and electricity, as well as wind power and photovoltaics, wind, light and fire.” According to Zhang Zhengling and others, according to the plan, after the “three vertical and three horizontal” UHV power grid is completed, by 2020, 70 million KW wind power in Northwest, North China, and Northeast China can be sent to the areas of energy shortage in Central China, East China, and South China.

Industry Chain Opportunities Under the backdrop of the rise of smart grids as a national strategy, the prospects of smart grid related industries are gradually clear.

“In the field of smart grid key equipment, we have promoted the research and development of smart key equipment.” Wang Yimin believes that this is a major achievement in China's smart grid construction.

From the world’s first UHV transmission line Changzhi-Jingmen’s UHV AC line, the State Grid has taken the lead in the world to master the UHV high-capacity transmission system integration technology, and for the first time successfully developed UHV series, high-capacity UHV switches. New ultra-high voltage AC equipment, such as two-column UHV transformers, has an integrated localization rate of more than 90%.

The State Grid has obtained 1,529 patents in terms of technology research and equipment development for large-capacity power transmission equipment and energy storage batteries. Liu Zhenya said, "The State Grid has fully mastered the UHV AC and DC transmission core technologies."

"There is no doubt that China today is the world's largest demanding country for smart grids," said Cao Jianlin, deputy director of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Related industries will soon become the world's largest industry in this area.

"The entire UHV test demonstration project and the UHV expansion project, all equipment are all domestic enterprises, we have completely independent intellectual property rights." Zhang Zhengling said.

“Some of the companies have already gone out of the country and exported a lot of equipment.” According to related people of the China CEC, China’s rapid progress in smart grids and the completion of the UHV have increased the recognition of Chinese technology by its foreign counterparts. It is helpful to go out. "India's power grids have been transformed and all of them have purchased a lot of equipment from Chinese manufacturers."

The titans of the international giants also began to deepen their field of smart grid equipment manufacturing in China.

ABB (China), a leader in power and automation technology, set up a joint venture with Guodian Nanzi (9.70,0.00,0.00%) (600268.SH) to enter the smart grid field in 2011; Takefuji, the Japanese Embassy in China, At the International Forum on Smart Grid 2011, it was publicly stated that Japan has a smart grid development organization in Jiangxi Province to carry out projects and hopes to cooperate with Japanese companies in various ways in the future.

Standard rush to run "It is very important to develop globally-accepted standards, maximize interoperability and reduce equipment costs." The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Chairman Dai Gaodeng said at the 2011 Smart Grid International Forum.

US Ambassador to China Gary Locke believes that the fragmented development of smart grids will result in the loss of economies of scale. This will make some key product markets smaller and cost more expensive; and some countries can use their own technical standards to build non-tariff trade. Barriers not only impede trade but also threaten innovation. The establishment of a common code to harmonize smart grid standards around the world has become a global consensus. However, what standard is used to unify the world is a problem.

The first smart grid standard in the EU will be introduced at the end of 2012, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is also working to establish an open standard.

The IEEE is designating more than 100 global smart grid standards, some of which are structural, some can meet interoperability, some are suitable for renewable energy integration, and are dedicated to the automotive industry; the 2030 smart grid interaction The Guidelines for Operation have been approved and published by the IEEE Standards Committee.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has also established a smart grid strategy group to develop and maintain a series of smart grid standards.

A contest on standards has become heated.

On September 30, 2010, the National Energy Administration, the National Standardization Management Committee, and relevant units established a promotion group for the overall work of the national smart grid standardization.

"The national smart grid standard construction work rules (discussion draft)" clearly stated that this move is intended to accelerate the construction of smart grid standards system, ensure the formulation and implementation of smart grid standards, and promote China's substantial participation in smart grid international standardization activities.

The promotion group has been doing two aspects of work: on the one hand, adopting the standard, importing and adapting international standards that are suitable for China, and translating it into a Chinese standard; and, where appropriate, making proposals to the IEC and applying for Chinese standards as international standards.

“There have been more than 10 proposals for international standards.” An important aspect of China’s smart grid construction achievements is the proposal to improve a technical standard system, and under the guidance of this standard system, a large number of applications have been developed for smart grid projects. Standards, said Wang Yimin, director of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the State Grid.

According to related experts from the State Grid Institute of Electrical Engineering, the current smart grid core standards are still in the hands of Western countries. The relevant standards for power distribution intelligence and electricity use are all developed by Western countries.

Zhang Yibin believes that Western countries, especially English-speaking countries, have a long history in the field of standards. “They have advantages in starting with the standard.” “We hope that in the international standard game, the state should participate in the competition and cannot rely solely on power grid companies.”

In the 2011 International Forum on Smart Grid, Wang Yimin, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the State Grid Corporation of China, used a proverb in his English presentation on the development of China's smart grid, which was better than words.