“Low carbonization and digitalization are becoming key trends in the future development of the power industry. Semtech will continue to promote the development of the LoRa ecosystem, from clean replacement ON the power supply side, to improving the electrification rate of end-use energy equipment, enabling digital transformation, and comprehensively helping the power industry achieve the “dual carbon” goal. A single gateway firmware upgrade is required to enable new features.
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From clarifying the reform direction of the power grid system to vigorously developing a clean and renewable energy power system represented by wind energy and photovoltaics, my country’s power industry is developing towards building a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system. The ninth meeting of the Central Finance and Economics Committee put forward “to build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, control the total amount of fossil energy, focus on improving utilization efficiency, implement renewable energy alternative actions, deepen the reform of the power system, and build a new energy as the main body. The new power system” and other goals also further pointed out the direction for the transformation of the industry.
However, due to the relatively late transformation of my country’s power industry and the huge demand for social production, it still faces great challenges in the process of building a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system. For example, in the power generation link, traditional coal power still occupies the main position of the energy structure, and it is necessary to improve energy efficiency and greatly increase the proportion of renewable energy; on the grid side, it is necessary to build a stable and efficient power transmission and distribution system and energy storage system; In terms of electricity consumption, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of microgrids, smart charging piles and other facilities to realize smart electricity management.
Digitalization and IoT technologies are accelerating the intelligent transformation of traditional power plants, improving the two-way power balance adjustment on the power supply side and the power consumption side, and achieving more efficient energy use. LoRa® The technology has the characteristics of strong penetration, low power consumption, long distance, and easy deployment, as well as the application advantages of “self-organization, safety, and controllability”. In 2021, the application in the domestic power grid market has achieved double-speed growth. With the development of the power Internet of Things, LoRa will also bring more innovative ideas to the digital transformation of my country’s power industry, and will help achieve the goals of “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutrality”.
Internet of Things in Electricity: Technology Transformation, Grid Integration
Power Internet of Things involves energy technology and Internet of Things technology. By combining distributed installations of solar power, hydropower, thermal power and other power generation facilities, and incorporating energy storage equipment and power consumption equipment at the same time, integrated regulation is carried out, thereby reducing wind and light abandonment, etc. phenomenon, improve the stability and reliability of the power grid. LoRa technology can be widely applied to the power Internet of Things, supporting the five power links of “generating, transmission, transformation, distribution, and use”, and there are currently cases of landing.
Power generation side: support the construction of smart power plants and clean alternatives to renewable energy
The upgrade and transformation of the power generation end is mainly reflected in the digital transformation of traditional power plants and the development of renewable energy to replace coal power. Among them, the key to the transformation of traditional power plants to smart power plants is to upgrade each power generation link through digital means to improve energy conversion efficiency. Taking the generator set as an example, through the LoRa-based generator set condition monitoring system, the power plant can not only monitor the operating status of the generator set in an all-round way, but also perform preventive maintenance, thereby optimizing the operation of the generator set, improving the operating efficiency of the generator set, and reducing coal consumption.
In terms of renewable energy replacement, the layout of smart wind power plants and smart photovoltaic power plants in China can be described as “a thousand miles in a day”. The deployment of wind power and photovoltaic power plants needs to ensure efficient and stable power generation in a wide area and a large number of equipment types. LoRa technology features long distance, low power consumption, and easy deployment. It can support wind power plants and photovoltaic power plants to realize wireless networking control and data collection at low cost, and help operation and maintenance enterprises improve system efficiency. In terms of monitoring the operating status of fans and photovoltaic equipment, LoRa supports the collection and transmission of various sensor data such as temperature, vibration, displacement, wind speed, and photovoltaic panel grayscale, improving equipment availability.
Power Transmission and Transformation Internet of Things: Anti-interference, Supporting Harsh Environments
Transmission lines of 220 kV and above have large transmission capacity and strong electromagnetic interference. Thanks to the strong anti-interference ability of LoRa technology, State Grid Corporation of China chose to incorporate it into the networking scheme for monitoring the environment and equipment status of substations and rack-mounted lines of 220 kV and above; High-frequency sensors are connected by 2.4G LoRa gateway, and some sensors with relatively large amount of data are connected by Sub 1G LoRa gateway.
In terms of substation, in case of extreme weather conditions, substation facilities may experience voltage overload or short circuit due to flooding, lightning strikes, etc. LoRa technology can support the connection of temperature sensors and humidity sensors to substation equipment, effectively realize risk early warning, notify staff of equipment abnormalities at the first time, and ensure timely maintenance of equipment and normal and stable operation of power resources.
Smart power distribution: global deployment of microgrids and charging piles
Relevant data show that the loss of distribution transformers in my country accounts for 40% to 50% of the loss of power transmission and distribution, and the loss of power transmission and distribution accounts for about 6.6% of the national power generation. To make up for these losses, power companies have to choose to consume more fuel to generate additional electricity, creating a “compensatory carbon emissions” problem. With the digitalization of my country’s power grid layout, the demand for smarter and more efficient power distribution solutions is also increasing.
To realize smart power distribution, it is first necessary to adopt modern information technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data analysis and artificial intelligence to implement intelligent supervision of electrical equipment such as high and low Voltage distribution cabinets and distribution boxes. The network architecture of the power energy management system can interconnect the substation, the cloud and the client, and transmit data through 3G, 4G or Ethernet gateways, of which LoRa is mainly used to support the collection of system monitoring data.
Thanks to the low power consumption and strong penetration of LoRa technology, based on LoRa or LoRaWAN® The multi-function meters, thermometers and electrical fire monitoring devices can be installed in distribution boxes and distribution rooms to provide data support for power distribution management for power companies, and also help the metering industry to simplify processes and reduce operating costs. .
In addition, the power industry is also strengthening the construction of microgrids and charging piles. Since the microgrid needs to monitor the power generation data, power consumption data and energy storage data at all levels during the construction process, by connecting LoRa-based sensors to the microgrid, long-distance and precise supervision of energy systems distributed in various places can be achieved. In terms of charging pile deployment, in the application scenarios of poor signal reception and inconvenient public network networking, LoRa can be used for intelligent charging piles of ad hoc networks, supporting functions such as regional data collection, power consumption monitoring, and orderly charging control. .
Low carbonization and digitalization are becoming key trends in the future development of the power industry. Semtech will continue to promote the development of the LoRa ecosystem, from clean replacement on the power supply side, to improving the electrification rate of end-use energy equipment, enabling digital transformation, and comprehensively helping the power industry achieve the “dual carbon” goal. A single gateway firmware upgrade is required to enable new features.