Science and technology to further boost power supply

The State Grid Corp of China, a centrally-administered State-owned enterprise and also the world's largest utility company, is taking safeguarding the nation's energy security and economic lifeline as its two-pronged tasks by relying more on science and technology.

In the prefecture-level city of Xuzhou in East China's Jiangsu province, short-term low temperatures due to a sharp snowfall on Jan 16 forced the State Grid's local unit to battle the cold spell and fully ensure power supply to meet the growing electricity demand.

By relying on high-tech, employees from the State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Co used an intelligent monitoring module in its power distribution network to optimize power distribution, ensuring that clients have no worries about heating and electricity consumption.

According to Bai Jinhua, who is in charge of the power supply service command center at State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Co, this system allows them to intelligently conduct power load analysis on enterprises with centralized heating as well as living communities with independent heating systems in the city, dynamically optimizing the power supply.

"With the aid of big data and cloud computing, our distribution network can now realize advanced fault detection, automatic isolation of power outages and fast power recovery, with a characteristic of 'self-healing'," she said, noting that this better explains her company's concept of "no power outage is the best service".

According to Wei Qiangqian, Bai's colleague, during the cold winter, the safety of the power grid is their first priority in helping clients get sufficient warmth.

He said to ensure the safe operation of heating appliances, air conditioners and electric oil heaters in residents' homes, the local State Grid unit vigorously promoted a service method of "urban property management plus neighborhood mutual assistance". For this, its district power managers would post information on community WeChat groups or pay visits to people's homes to publicize safe electricity knowledge for winter times and help avoid hidden dangers in using household electrical equipment.

Meanwhile, for families where only elderly people live at home, the local State Grid unit also arranged staff to offer "one household, one consumption service" tailored to them, conducting on-site checks on switches and sockets to safeguard normal use, Wei said.

He added that the power supply staffers explained to them in detail that "heating equipment cannot share the same socket", in a bid to prevent electrical fire accidents.

lijiaying@chinadaily.com.cn