A 5G-based smart power grid project in Qingdao of Shandong province was recently completed.
With more than 30 5G base stations, in areas including Guzhenkou district, Jinjialing neighborhood and the Aofan Center in Qingdao, it is currently the largest-scale 5G smart power grid in China.
The stations are expected to effectively improve power supply quality as well as grid operation and maintenance efficiency, which will lead to a higher level of co-construction and sharing.
Win-win situation of power and 5G industries
The 35kV Gujia transformer substation in Guzhenkou of Qingdao, the latest peak-clipping 5G base station, went into operation on July 10, which provided 5G devices in affected areas with cheap and stable power supply.
The newly operational substation, as well as other recently built 5G base stations, is a result of cooperation between State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company, a subsidiary of State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid), China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom)'s branch in Qingdao and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
The 5G stations need more energy but can only cover one third of the area covered by 4G stations. In other words, more 5G stations are needed for the same size of area, and more electricity is needed as a result.
Therefore, reduction of power consumption of 5G base stations is a main focus of 5G smart power grid construction.
A peak-clipping power source stores energy during low electricity consumption periods and uses it to support 5G stations in peak periods.
It is estimated that each base station with peak-clipping power source consumes about 20 percent less electricity, which means such 5G stations, operated with smart peak-clipping systems, can save 13,800 yuan ($1,974.78) each annually.
Telecommunication operators China Telecom, China Mobile Limited (China Mobile) and China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd. (China Unicom) have intentions of building 14,000 5G base stations in Qingdao.
With promotion of peak-clipping measures, great economic and social benefits can be gained.
5G technology supports power line maintenance
State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company has long been devoted to innovations in 5G telecommunication technology applications.
Take the two new 10kV power distribution cabinets on Sansha road in Qingdao for example. They are equipped with 5G distribution cable differential protection (DP) which can automatically eliminate faults of the lines within dozens of milliseconds.
In the old days when there was fault on a power line users within and even beyond the area would soon be impacted because a whole line would lose power. With the advanced maintenance system, power supply service is greatly improved.
What's more, the company launched cooperation with China Telecom, Huawei and Shandong University and developed a DP facility suitable for 5G distribution power lines, 5G slide servers and edge computing equipment.
After testing in laboratory and field experiments and on real grid, the one-way latency of the DP device is lowered to 8 milliseconds and the protection can last for 50 milliseconds, which were major breakthroughs in the field.
As a new generation telecommunication technology, 5G offers outstanding performance in broadband and has low delay and wide connection, which meets demands of routine video inspections, distribution automation and automatic meter reading systems.
Moreover, it can provide a safe separation net for highly confidential data.
All in all, 5G will be a main driving force of energy internet construction.
A view of the smart control information communication center of State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company improves power supply service with 5G technology. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
