March is a time of blooming flowers.
Following the spring light, Xiao E arrived at the Yuquan Campus of Zhejiang University.Did you know? In the Department of Electrical Engineering at Zhejiang University,there is such a tradition: every Monday at noon, professors from the electrical discipline gather for lunch to discuss recent key work in a relaxed atmosphere, also known as“Lunch Meeting”.
During this week’s “Lunch Meeting,” their core topic was the recently popular “Ubiquitous Power IoT.” After the meal, Xiao E chatted with the expert professors tosee what perspectives the academic community holds on this topic?
Core Viewpoint 01 :Building a Ubiquitous Power IoT is a necessity to serve national strategic needs
The State Grid Corporation proposed the Ubiquitous Power IoT, which I believe is not only a need for the grid company butalso a necessity to serve national strategy.
First, it is part of the national energy strategy. General Secretary Xi has mentioned the energy consumption revolution, and the State Grid is to cooperate in promoting this revolution in energy consumption, as electricity is a secondary energy source. How to use this secondary energy as a link to effectively promote the energy revolution requires business expansion.
Second, one of the key points of the Central Work Conference is to strengthen the construction of new infrastructure such as artificial intelligence, industrial internet, and IoT. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has also proposed a strategic document topromote the deep integration of the internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and manufacturing. In this context, it is quite normal for the State Grid to undertake this task.
Previously, grid companies mainly developed their business using technologies and concepts from the Second Industrial Revolution. Now, they need to introduce the information technology and artificial intelligence from the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions into their development. This will further transform grid companies into high-tech firms, which not only meets national strategic needs but also significantly contributes to advancing the technological and economic level of China.
Core Viewpoint 02 :Building a Ubiquitous Power IoT helps find new business growth points
Grid companies also need to find new business growth points. From the perspective of IoT, the emergence of new industries may resemble internet projects, like apps, where you provide services and I pay for them. Once the Ubiquitous Power IoT is successfully established, the future form of grid companies may resemble a combination of electricity Taobao and JD Logistics. It integrates the internet, logistics, and a large number of users, which may support many small and medium enterprises and individual entrepreneurship.
Of course, some services related to electricity may far exceed our current imagination. In the future, we might further financialize the material attributes of electricity. For example, the current electricity market is still within the scope of buying and selling electricity, but in the future, we may bundle some social transactions with electricity, similar to the concept of Bitcoin. Electricity is not only an energy source but also a medium that can be reflected in other systems, which I believe can generate more new forms that we currently cannot envision.
Core Viewpoint 03 :Challenges in building a Ubiquitous Power IoT lie in strategic research rather than just technical issues
Building a Ubiquitous Power IoT involves a shift in mindset, as it requires using internet thinking to address problems. Additionally, there is acompatibility issue between long-term and short-term strategies. As we know, communication technology develops rapidly; for instance, mobile phones are updated very quickly. Similarly, when deploying specific data collection and communication devices on a large scale, after launching new technologies or businesses, if the hardware capabilities are insufficient, do we need to reinstall or upgrade? Or should we directly purchase the most advanced equipment now? This is a coordination issue between long-term and short-term strategies. Moreover, this problem is not entirely the same as those previously encountered in the electricity sector, where the update cycles were not as short.
I do not believe that the State Grid Corporation faces insurmountable technical barriers in building the Ubiquitous Power IoT. Technical issues can be resolved through various collaborative or co-construction methods. The State Grid Corporation should focus more on strategic research, exploring new demands and new business opportunities, and aim to become a platform-type large enterprise by introducing more interdisciplinary personnel to conduct this research.
Core Viewpoint 01 :Building a Ubiquitous Power IoT aligns with China’s emerging technology leapfrog strategy
The State Grid Corporation has a term that impressed me deeply when introducing ultra-high voltage direct current, called technology leadership. The strong intelligent grid in the “three types and two networks” has achieved significant results over nearly a decade of construction and has played a leading role in the world. However, there are still questions about what new growth points the State Grid should seek next. I understand that the so-called Ubiquitous Power Internet is aimed at addressing this question.
China is actually leading in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, and 5G. It is challenging to catch up with traditional technologies like chips in a short time, but we can achieve breakthroughs in these new technology fields. Therefore, the national strategy strongly supports this area, and we can achieve leapfrogging in these fields. Thus, the State Grid seeking new growth points here aligns well with the national strategy.
Core Viewpoint 02 Fostering user habits is also a major challenge for the operation of the Ubiquitous Power IoT
The construction of the Ubiquitous Power IoT faces several challenges. One is information security. The national strategy is also considering information security comprehensively, whether in military or other aspects. In the construction of the Ubiquitous Power IoT, I believe network security should be prioritized. Secondly, there may be industry barriers. The Ubiquitous Power IoT encompasses many industries and their intersections, such as the energy internet. While we discuss the energy internet in the electricity sector, other industries are also proposing energy interconnections centered around them. However, I believe this aspect can be certified, meaning that from the perspective of the inherent characteristics of various media, electricity is still the most suitable, as it has a friendly interface for all parties and is the easiest to implement.
Another challenge is that since we need to find a new growth point or a new business model, user habits or customers within the business model are also crucial. How do we organize them? How do we cultivate traditional users and encourage them to participate, rather than simply remaining as mere consumers of electricity? In the future, users may become participants in the system. I believe we need to cultivate this, as without public response, it will be ineffective.
Many experts also shared their views with Xiao E:
The Ubiquitous Power IoT has expanded a new system beyond the primary and secondary power systems, with a broader range of measurement signals. Previously, we mainly measured electrical quantities, but now we are measuring non-electrical quantities, such as the thickness of ice on lines, temperature, humidity, etc., of electrical equipment. The measurement of non-electrical quantities is quite challenging, and the future number of connected terminals will be enormous, making the development and application of low-power sensors crucial. The application areas involved in the Ubiquitous Power IoT are significantly different from existing fields and require a completely new management system to support them.
I have an understanding of the Ubiquitous Power IoT: the networks within the grid are tightly coupled in operation but should not be tightly coupled in control. The Ubiquitous Power IoT is an upgraded form of the smart grid, with more applications on the distribution network side and the user side. In future business models, users will be more involved. The grid should adopt a more open and proactive stance to embrace new energy and new businesses, welcoming various business forms to participate in the electricity market, and using its strong technological and management capabilities to regulate these new business forms and lead energy development.
Equipment is the foundation of the power system. The core data of the grid is akin to the heart’s data; data processing is undoubtedly a critical task now and in the future. From the perspective of equipment and data, determining what type of sensors to use to make data collection more reliable and accurate will be an important issue to face in the future. Additionally, I understand that in the current energy development context, the State Grid’s proposal to build a Ubiquitous Power IoT is a proactive move to embrace and respond in advance, avoiding falling into a passive position.
The strong intelligent grid and the Ubiquitous Power IoT were proposed under different periods, backgrounds, and technological developments. The Ubiquitous Power IoT targets a broader scope, which also promotes interdisciplinary and cross-professional research. However, during the construction process, it is essential to properly handle the contradiction between information security and information sharing.
Power equipment needs to rely on data for connectivity. Building a Ubiquitous Power IoT will help open such data channels. Based on improved data quality and market-oriented services, grid companies can provide more proactive and diverse value-added services. For example, they can set up more electricity packages to enhance customer satisfaction while also helping to flatten peak demand.
Building a Ubiquitous Power IoT aligns with the current trends in energy consumption development, delving deeper into the user end. Strengthening the coupling of electricity with other energy sources, improving the comprehensive utilization rate of energy, and reducing the overall energy costs for society are essential. From building urban energy interconnections to rural energy interconnections, comprehensive energy services are the major direction, and distributed energy sources will become increasingly diverse. All of these require grid companies to change their operational models to better embrace the future.
Additionally, Xiao E also had a discussion with experts from the Computer Science Department.
Core Viewpoint 01 :The Ubiquitous Power IoT will provide unified standards for IoT technology in power-related industries
The strong intelligent grid has made significant technological innovations on the supply side, ensuring the coordinated development and operation of the ultra-high voltage backbone network and various levels of the grid, while the Ubiquitous Power IoT emphasizes technological innovation on the user side, utilizing IoT and artificial intelligence technologies to better manage and optimize customer demand. The timing of the State Grid Corporation proposing the construction of the Ubiquitous Power IoT is very appropriate, as the development of mobile internet, IoT, and artificial intelligence technologies has made the construction of this network feasible and can fully leverage the unique advantages of the grid to achieve interconnectivity across all links of the power system and seize the high ground of the digital economy.
Moreover, I believe the State Grid is a very suitable entity to propose such a strategy. In fact, IoT technology is applied across various industries. If there is no authoritative organization to lead and propose standards, the industry development would be chaotic. The flourishing of IoT technology is a good thing, but without standards, interconnectivity and plug-and-play capabilities would be impossible, which is detrimental to the long-term healthy development of the industry. Therefore, I believe that the State Grid, as a large state-owned enterprise with significant influence and scale, should take the lead in top-level design, unify industry standards, and penetrate into power-related application fields, which would greatly benefit the healthy development of the industry and the positive evolution of IoT application technologies, providing a standard for everyone to follow.
Core Viewpoint 02 Involvement from all parties accelerates the construction of the Ubiquitous Power IoT ecosystem
The power IoT is not a completely new concept; it has already been present in various industries. For example, we started developing communication modules for urban lighting and energy consumption analysis back in 2008, which are typical applications of IoT. Every industry has typical applications of IoT technology. These technologies have also developed step by step, so this is not entirely new.
However, the fact that it is not entirely new does not mean it lacks significance. As I mentioned, proposing such a concept and raising the fragmented and non-standardized market across various industries to a higher level with unified standards will have great significance. Since this is not a completely new field, many enterprises in every industry have over a decade of experience and accumulation in this area, which can provide valuable insights for the State Grid or Zhejiang Electric Power. Establishing a standard and elevating it to a higher level will allow all parties to participate, thus accelerating the construction of the Ubiquitous Power IoT ecosystem.
Contributed by: Comprehensive Service Center (Hong Jun, Chen Lisha)
Edited by: Deng Tong
Proofread by: Xiang Dan
