In-depth interpretation of ubiquitous power Internet of Things

State Grid Corporation proposed a new strategic goal of "three types and two networks" in the 2019 Two Sessions report and on multiple occasions. It also stated that the important material basis for building a world-class energy internet enterprise is to operate the "two networks" well. The so-called "two networks" are: first, to build and operate a "strong smart grid" with ultra-high voltage as the backbone network and coordinated development of various levels of power grids; second, to fully apply modern information technologies and advanced communication technologies such as mobile internet and artificial intelligence to create a "ubiquitous power internet of things" that has comprehensive state perception, efficient information processing, and convenient and flexible applications.

The strong smart grid mainly refers to the supply side of energy, or the power supply side, emphasizing the coordinated development of multi-level power grids with ultra-high voltage as the backbone network. After more than a decade of development, the goal set by the State Grid to fully establish the strong smart grid by 2020 is expected to be achieved on schedule.

The ubiquitous power internet of things focuses on the user side or the demand side of energy, referring to the use of advanced information and communication technologies such as "big data, cloud computing, internet of things, mobile internet, and smart cities" to continuously reduce energy consumption and operation and maintenance costs, while better meeting users' diverse energy needs.

From a global perspective, China's new round of investment in power grids and related information technology will further lead the world. Including European and American power grids, in some hardware aspects, they are currently lagging behind China's power grid. The ubiquitous power internet of things has not been popularized in European and American countries.

In Europe, there are some concepts similar to the ubiquitous power internet of things, but they are currently only demonstration projects. These projects simply add a layer of ICT network, i.e., information and communication technology, on top of the power grid to achieve interaction between load and renewable energy, as well as other functions, without being widely implemented like in China.

However, how to understand the ubiquitous power internet of things and how to participate in its investment and construction remains unclear.

Today, I would like to share an article by Professor Chen Haoyong from South China University of Technology, an expert in the field of power (energy) internet of things. This article is organized and modified based on Chen Haoyong's speech at the Huatai Securities conference.  

The ubiquitous power internet of things is an important component of the energy internet. The energy internet comes from the concept of Energy Internet proposed by Rifkin, a well-known American economic trend expert, who presented the vision of the energy internet in his book "The Third Industrial Revolution". He believes that the energy internet has several major characteristics:

　　First, renewable energy is the main primary energy source;

　　Second, it supports the access of ultra-large-scale distributed generation systems and distributed energy storage systems;

　　Third, it achieves wide-area energy sharing based on internet technology;

　　Fourth, it supports the electrification of transportation systems.

　　This concept began to gain popularity in 2015. I was visiting the United States at that time, and many related forums were held in China. I have been thinking about what the energy internet really is.

01 The development trend of the power (energy) network is three interconnections.

Before the concept of the energy internet gained popularity, there was the concept of smart grid. Later, I wrote a short article (click to read: Energy Internet - The Sharing Economy Model in the Energy and Power Field). I proposed that the key to achieving the energy internet is to further establish physical interconnection, information interconnection, and commercial interconnection based on existing renewable energy generation and smart grid technologies.

The existing foundational technologies include renewable energy generation and smart grid technologies. I believe that the future development trend of the power (energy) network is to strengthen the three interconnections: first, to enhance physical interconnection, which means achieving interconnection and comprehensive utilization of various forms of energy (electricity, cooling, heating, gas, etc.) based on the existing power grid, which is what we call the integrated energy system; second, to enhance information interconnection, which means achieving smooth communication at any time, any place, with anyone, and anything based on more advanced information and communication technologies. The internet of things is part of information interconnection; third, to enhance commercial interconnection, which means establishing market mechanisms and a higher-level sharing economy model.

At the 2017 and 2018 China Smart Grid Academic Symposiums, I proposed these three interconnections and more specific implementation plans and cutting-edge issues, such as how to establish a multi-energy complementary system, the specific connotation of energy internet of things technology, and the progress of China's current power system reform. At that time, I referred to it as "ubiquitous power internet of things," which is actually only a different order of two words compared to what the State Grid Corporation now calls "ubiquitous power internet of things."

Transitioning from the concept of the energy internet to the specific plan of the ubiquitous power internet of things should be a relatively natural stage, that is, establishing the foundation for information interconnection of the energy internet.

02 The foundation of the ubiquitous power internet of things is the internet of things.

"Ubiquitous" means being everywhere. In fact, the power grid itself is a ubiquitous network, and its "ubiquity" is reflected in electric energy, as every household needs electricity, which is already spread throughout all corners of society. However, the "ubiquity" of the power grid is only reflected in electric energy and does not extend to data or information. The ubiquitous power physical network must also achieve the "ubiquity" of information and data. The development outline of the State Grid Corporation's ubiquitous power internet of things is a grand plan that involves the entire system.

Before introducing this, let me first explain the narrow concept of the internet of things (IoT). Its core concept is actually to achieve the sinking of basic data connections. Before this, many data connection "last mile" issues had not been resolved, and the narrow internet of things addresses this problem. For example, Mobike and OFO are actually concepts of the internet of things. It is a small data that achieves low cost, low power consumption, low rate, low frequency, and wide coverage scenarios. Massive small data intelligent connections can achieve ubiquitous perception.

Currently, there are two main types of technologies in the internet of things: one is non-licensed spectrum technology, represented by the LoRa technology promoted by ZTE, which has its own base stations and terminals and does not require the operator's network; the second is licensed spectrum technology, which is cellular IoT, such as the NB-IOT technology promoted by Huawei. Licensed spectrum is managed and requires authorization, with less interference, and is actually evolved from past 2G and 3G, while non-licensed spectrum technology is unregulated and easily interfered with, theoretically leading to a situation where 5G dominates.

The power internet of things includes the perception layer, network layer, platform layer, and application layer. The perception layer consists of various sensors, and electric meters also belong to the perception layer. For the data from the perception layer to reach the network layer, there are actually two steps. The most critical step is from the perception layer terminal module to the internet of things base station, which is solved through the narrow internet of things. The terminal requires low power consumption because it hopes not to change batteries frequently, but at the same time, it needs to transmit data over a relatively long distance, which presents a contradiction that needs to be resolved through some advanced technologies. After the base station collects the data, it is sent back to the platform system. Therefore, the network layer actually includes two parts: one is from the terminal module to the base station, which is the core technology of the narrow internet of things; the second is from the module to the backend information system, which belongs to conventional network technology, all of which are components of the internet of things.

03 What is the original intention of the State Grid in developing the ubiquitous power internet of things?

2015 was the first year of a new round of electricity reform, when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council jointly issued Document No. 9 (March 15, 2015). The core idea of the new electricity reform is to "manage the middle and release both ends," which essentially allows the supply and demand sides to meet directly, transforming the power grid into a channel, a highway.

Because Document No. 9 from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China requires to "manage the middle and release both ends," it essentially turns the power grid into a channel, enabling autonomous choices for both supply and demand sides. There is a risk of "pipeline-ization" in the power grid, and the State Grid needs to leverage the company's power grid infrastructure and unique data resource advantages to vigorously cultivate advanced businesses, forming core competitiveness at a new and higher level. Internally, the State Grid aims to achieve a single source of data, a unified map of the power grid, and a streamlined business process. Externally, it seeks to widely connect upstream and downstream resources to create an ecosystem of the energy internet.

The ubiquitous power IoT will collect massive amounts of data. Due to the integration of renewable energy, the market-oriented reform of electricity, and the background of the energy internet or "Internet + Smart Energy," a large amount of data is generated. This data is actually of immense value, but it is currently not being utilized, and it is indeed ubiquitous, as it involves every household.

I believe that the power grid company is to truly utilize this data, which is the original intention of the State Grid in developing the ubiquitous power IoT. The connection of basic data is difficult to penetrate, as it is relatively hard to obtain small data. Additionally, individual small data has low value density, but when aggregated into massive data, it holds significant value.

There are several categories of data, involving data from residential households, various buildings, agricultural and industrial enterprises, and public infrastructure. For example, small data from residential households includes various household appliances, user electrical boxes, various types of switches, internal household wiring, and some meters. Small data from factory workshops includes electric machinery and tools, electric equipment, as well as some electrical testing and smart pipelines. Additionally, there is small data from buildings, such as various types of central air conditioning, fire protection facilities, and elevators; urban infrastructure also has some small data, such as buses, subways, gas, communication, and traffic lights.

Regarding the power system itself, there are also some small data in the generation, transmission, and distribution stages, such as environmental data like temperature and humidity, salinity, and equipment status data (like equipment temperature, etc.). There are also data from auxiliary facilities, such as environmental data from cable tunnels, safety prevention data, and electrical building status data. Additionally, there are micro-meteorological data from electrical facilities, such as wind speed, temperature changes, and precipitation.

The power system is the largest engineering system in the world, composed of numerous devices, each of which can be managed with a physical ID from production to decommissioning throughout its entire life cycle. Only through IoT technology can full life cycle supply chain management be achieved, which is one of the values of IoT.

What can the ubiquitous power IoT do?

For example, when electric vehicles are connected, it may require going to different departments for different matters. In the future, once IoT is realized, one only needs to apply once, and all processes will be streamlined. The State Grid has proposed a two-phase goal for the ubiquitous power IoT: the first phase is from 2019 to 2021, a strategic breakthrough period, during which the ubiquitous power IoT will be initially established; then, through three years of enhancement, it aims to complete the ubiquitous power IoT by 2024. The construction content includes six aspects: internal business, external business, data sharing, basic support, technical breakthroughs, and security protection, with 11 key directions.

Internal business aims to enhance the level of Customer Service, improve corporate performance, and enhance the safety and economic level of the power grid, achieving the absorption of clean energy. The external business includes, first, building a smart energy comprehensive service platform; second, cultivating and developing new businesses; and third, constructing an energy ecosystem. Additionally, data sharing and basic support will be realized, technical breakthroughs will be pursued (including chip research and development), and network security will be enhanced. Therefore, the ubiquitous power IoT represents a large industrial chain, which should bring many opportunities across various investment areas.

　　What can be done based on this data?

　　For example, new businesses can be developed through the IoT platform. Once this data is collected, it can be stored in a public cloud platform, on this basis, intelligent distribution, smart electricity usage, smart parks can be established, and other comprehensive energy services can be developed, allowing for good interaction with users.

The IoT architecture consists of a front-end intelligent perception layer terminal to the IoT module, and from the module to the base station, which is the core technology of IoT wireless communication. After the base station processes the mobile data, it can be uploaded to the cloud server platform, which can be done through traditional operators' 3G, 4G networks, or through dedicated wired/wireless networks of electricity. On this platform, various business applications can be established, forming a complete process from the perception layer to the network layer, to the platform layer, and finally to the application layer.

The IoT has developed step by step, and the current ubiquitous power IoT is still in the initial layout stage. Therefore, the initial focus should still be on the development of the perception layer and network layer, as these two layers need to be established first before the platform layer can be built, and gradually move to the application layer. The State Grid Company is initially in the investment phase, and it has sufficient funds to develop the perception layer and network layer, so I believe the initial investment may be in this area.

The State Grid Company has proposed 11 key tasks in the construction of IoT, including internal and external business, innovating business models, and improving Customer Service experience. Achieving holographic perception, ubiquitous connection, open sharing, and integrated innovation requires connecting unconnected devices and customers, integrating disconnected businesses, and sharing previously unshared data to form an ecosystem of cross-professional data sharing, while also excavating the value of data that has not been well utilized in the past.

How to participate in the ubiquitous power IoT?

The ubiquitous power IoT belongs to infrastructure. I believe that initially, the State Grid will invest its own money, and later on, some value-added services can be developed based on this foundation.

Why provide real-time data in all time and space? With this data, a service can be established centered around the data. For example, contract energy management is an energy-saving service, and the management system currently used should be a relatively clumsy black box. Based on the electricity (energy) demand data, energy-saving services can be optimized further, and third parties may gain more profit. The ubiquitous power IoT can be seen as a foundational platform, on which some innovative value-added services can be developed, such as comprehensive energy services, internet finance, big data operations, big data credit, photovoltaic cloud networks, online supply chain finance, virtual power plants, new energy services based on blockchain, smart manufacturing, and even chip development.

In the early construction of the ubiquitous power IoT, there may be many opportunities for manufacturing enterprises engaged in IoT device research and development, such as modules and terminals. Initially, the State Grid will cover the costs for these IoT devices, which should be beneficial for these enterprises.

In addition to the current distribution terminals, including electricity information collection, smart meters, etc., what additional devices and facilities are needed in the future to realize the ubiquitous power IoT?

In addition to electric meters, there are various sensors. From the perspective of power equipment, this includes temperature measurement and environmental monitoring of electrical facilities; from the user side, this includes smart meters, smart appliances, smart charging piles, even leakage monitoring, energy efficiency management, smart buildings, and smart fire protection. The realization of IoT functions requires various different sensors developed and produced by different manufacturers.

From the perspective of the order of benefits to the industry, the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has an inherent logical sequence. Without the perception layer and the network layer, it is impossible to do anything else. Therefore, in the early stages of IoT development, the perception layer and the network layer are crucial. Once the architecture of these two layers is basically complete, the platform will definitely be key. The platform layer primarily manages the network of the IoT itself and provides external interfaces, including operating systems, which also belong to the infrastructure. Ultimately, to generate value, it still needs to reach the application layer, so there is a certain logical order, developing step by step.