In-depth: Two major challenges need to be solved to achieve mature 5G applications in the power industry

Using bits to drive watts is one of the dreams of 5G to change society. Whether 5G can be successfully applied in the power sector is related to whether 5G can achieve its mission of changing society. With the joint efforts of 5G industry experts and power industry experts, the application of 5G combined with the power sector is constantly enriching and maturing, overcoming challenges in technology, standards, and business models, and the dream of using bits to drive watts is becoming a reality.

[[392768]]

The power grid has made initial progress in developing 5G services

The application scope of 5G in the power sector is very wide, running through the entire process of "generation, transmission, transformation, distribution and use" of the power grid, such as distribution network differential protection, distribution network automation, three remote controls, distribution network PMU, advanced metering, emergency communications, robot inspections, drone line inspections, smart construction sites, video surveillance, etc. The application of 5G in these scenarios has greatly enhanced the communication capabilities of the power grid and improved the operational efficiency of the power grid, providing important guarantees for the intelligent operation of the power grid.

5G power virtual private network provides reliable wireless access

Grid companies and operators jointly build 5G power virtual private networks, which can provide reliable wireless communication access for various power grid services. Based on the concept of "public network dedicated, open capabilities, and decentralized domains", through the 5G unified capability exposure platform of telecom operators, the corresponding 5G industry virtual private network services and management capabilities can be opened to the power grid, mainly including 5G power slices, power-specific network elements (such as UPF/MEC, etc.), power communication terminals, and the visible, manageable, and controllable capabilities of business SLAs, as well as fault demarcation and rapid fault recovery capabilities.

In Zhejiang, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Company and operators jointly built a 5G power virtual private network, covering wireless public networks (wireless, bearer, core network, operation and management platform) and power private networks (power-specific core network elements, power internal network, 5G power integrated management platform, master and substation business systems, etc.). State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Company completed the deployment of power 5G SA core network user plane equipment with three operators in the communication room on the provincial company side, including power-specific UPF equipment and MEC servers, realizing the user plane sinking of the core layer of the 5G SA network, and core network elements such as AMF and SMF use the operator's 5GC public resources.

In Henan, State Grid Henan Electric Power Company has also carried out research and application of 5G virtual private network, 5G+UHV, 5G+distribution network and other construction models based on the integration of power grid business application needs, and has widely carried out pilot scenario construction in Zhengzhou, Hebi, Xuchang and other regions. In the direction of 5G power virtual private network, Henan Electric Power actively explored the construction model of 5G park private network. In April 2019, at the Guandu substation in Zhengzhou, State Grid Henan Electric Power Company built the first 500 kV substation power-specific base station in China. State Grid Henan Electric Power Company and operators have achieved full 5G network coverage of three UHV stations in the province, and further built a UHV 5G park private network by deploying power-specific MEC.

5G power slicing has been demonstrated

Slicing has become an important tool for 5G to enable industry applications. In Shandong, the province has begun to build a 5G power slicing network and construct a large production control area slice in the province, preparing to carry out local power plant access, distributed power supply access (to assist load forecasting) and electric vehicle access (to assist flexible dispatch of sources, networks and loads). State Grid Qingdao Power Supply Company has also expanded the distribution network differential protection pilot in the Jiaozhou SCO Demonstration Zone, expanded the application of scene automation, and carried out 5G communication experiments such as local power plants and distributed power sources.

The joint construction and sharing of 5G base stations and substations has achieved initial results

The co-construction and sharing of 5G base stations and substations has achieved initial results. In the Qing-Yu DC UHV South Henan Converter Station infrastructure project, the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company achieved the simultaneous planning and construction of 5G infrastructure and substations, which not only reduced the high cost of tower companies and operators to rebuild the stations in the later stage, but also enabled 5G to take the lead in the application of UHV smart construction sites, providing an effective means for safe operation control.

Drone inspections to achieve real-time feedback

In recent years, in order to reduce the intensity of power transmission line inspection work, the State Grid has begun to promote drone line inspection operations on a large scale. Based on the precise navigation of the Beidou ground-enhanced base station, real-time centimeter-level accuracy can be achieved. Through track planning, drones can fly automatically during the entire inspection process. The State Grid Qingdao Power Supply Company has achieved the first domestic development of a 5G SA network data high-speed transmission module that can be carried by drones, realizing real-time return of drone videos and images on the 5G slicing network, and shortening the overall time of data dump operations by 98%, ensuring the security of inspection data transmission.

Intelligent operation and maintenance improves grid operation efficiency

5G has played an important role in improving the efficiency of power grid automation and realizing intelligent operation and maintenance. For example, in terms of 5G+ precise load control, State Grid Qingdao Power Supply Company has realized a precise load control system that focuses on solving problems such as rapid frequency drop in the early stage of power grid failure, over-limit of main road current, over-use of inter-provincial interconnection line power, and insufficient power grid rotating reserve.

During the implementation of the precise load control system project, the cost and construction difficulties caused by the access of a large number of load control terminals to the control network were encountered. XJ Group connected the dispersed load control terminals to the 5G network through the power communication terminal, and completed the precise load control verification based on 5G in the laboratory and pilot projects. The measured delay indicators met expectations and were better than the wireless private network test indicators, and the conditions for implementation were met.

Facing the future intelligent operation and maintenance, in 2021, State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Company plans to carry out in-depth verification of power 5G applications in Nanjing Jiangbei New District, focusing on intelligent operation and maintenance of power transmission and transformation, power grid dispatching and control, etc., such as verifying the wide-area protection backup channel based on the hybrid private network point-to-point business application model; verifying the substation inspection robot based on the hybrid private network local business application model; verifying the networked drone based on the virtual private network wide-area business application model; and exploring the business model of co-construction and sharing of edge data centers.

Power grids need to overcome two major challenges to develop 5G services

While achieving certain phased results, we should also be aware that the 5G technology research carried out by the power grid runs through the entire process of "generation, transmission, transformation, distribution and use" of the power grid. It not only involves technical issues, but also involves the establishment of a standard system, network security requirements, management models and business models. This is not only related to the power grid, but also involves external units such as telecom operators, equipment manufacturers, and standard organizations. It is a complex systematic project. At present, it seems that there are two major mountains to overcome.

First, the security of 5G slicing to carry power services has yet to be authoritatively demonstrated. According to the security protection requirements of the power monitoring system, the services in the production control business area need to achieve the security protection strength of physical isolation. Although 5G slicing technology has been optimized and improved compared to 4G in terms of security isolation, whether the end-to-end security isolation capability can meet the power security protection requirements is currently only in the theoretical analysis stage and has not yet been evaluated and certified by a third-party authoritative organization.

Second, cross-industry 5G innovative business cooperation models have yet to be explored, and the tariff standards are far beyond expectations. Currently, 5G slicing technology is mainly in the stage of technical solutions and application verification, and operators and power companies still have major differences in the billing model and charging standards for dedicated slices. The network rental fee of 5G power virtual private network is about 5 times the 4G tariff, and the cost has increased significantly, far exceeding expectations.

In summary, the current 5G application in the power industry is still in the stage of technical pilot and commercial exploration. From the perspective of power grid application, it is imperative to formulate personalized standards for power industry applications and break the bottleneck of deepening the application of 5G in the power industry. The industrial chain should also take positive actions and actively contribute to the exploration of new business models and the verification of the compatibility of 5G technology and power applications.