The Evolution of the 'Brain': From Automation to Intelligent Decision-Making
Although past electrical systems also had automation, they mainly executed according to preset rules. Today's systems, however, have developed a 'brain' that can think.
Power Large Models Become the Core of Decision-Making: Power-specific large models such as the State Grid's 'Guangming Large Model' and China Southern Power Grid's 'Da Watt' are becoming the intelligent core of the system. For example, Hangzhou's AI power dispatcher can complete the city's entire power load analysis within 3 seconds, improving dispatch efficiency by more than three times.
Accurate Prediction and Intelligent Diagnosis: Prediction technology based on deep learning allows the system to 'foresee the future.' The DLCF system of Guangdong Power Grid Company keeps the load forecast error within 2.1% for the next 96 hours. The newly deployed 'Distribution Area Line Loss Intelligent Agent' by Yangzhou Power Supply Company in Jiangsu can accurately identify 15 types of visible anomalies and 10 types of hidden losses, resulting in a post-management compliance rate of 99.84% for distribution area line losses.
Extension of 'Senses': From Blind Spots to Panoramic Perception
Intelligent electrical systems, through ubiquitous 'senses,' conduct meticulous perception of the entire system.
Significantly enhanced situational awareness: The system developed by the China Electric Power Research Institute, using graph deep learning technology, can increase the accuracy of dynamic topology tracking to over 98%, and the accuracy of distributed source-load forecasting also exceeds 88%. This means the system can more accurately 'see' its own operational status.
'Autonomous' equipment inspection: Dangerous inspection tasks that previously required manual climbing can now be handled by embodied intelligent robots. The State Grid's 'Tianshu' robotic dog, transmission line embodied inspection robots, and others are becoming 'new employees' on the front line of power operations. The efficiency of intelligent drone inspections has increased fivefold, significantly reducing human risk.
"Extension of 'Hands': From Precise Execution to Human-Machine Collaboration
Intelligence not only resides in the 'brain' and 'senses' but also extends to the execution level, enabling more precise and faster operations.
Autonomous Execution of Complex Operations: The 'Big Watt' AI embodied operation robot from China Southern Power Grid can already autonomously perform switching operations on switchgear—a key task in ensuring the safe and stable operation of the power grid.
Millisecond-Level Intelligent Control: In scenarios with extremely high reliability requirements, such as data centers, intelligent automatic control systems based on IEC 61850 GOOSE communication enable fast and reliable switching between power supplies, avoiding delays and risks caused by hard wiring. In the petrochemical industry, ABB's High-Speed Transfer System (HSTS) can complete power switching within 30 milliseconds, ensuring production continuity.
Reshaping the underlying logic: From hard connections to software-defined
Supporting all the above intelligent performance is the fundamental change in the underlying logic of electrical systems.
Software-hardware decoupling: Represented by Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure open automation platform, the concept of 'software-defined' is entering the electrical and industrial automation fields. It decouples software from hardware, allowing system functions to be upgraded and expanded through software updates, just like updating a mobile app, significantly improving system flexibility and deployment efficiency (deployment time can be reduced by more than 20%-50%).
Digital twin: By creating a digital 'twin' of physical equipment, real-time monitoring of equipment health and fault warning can be achieved. The GIS equipment digital twin system developed by Pinggao Electric can provide fault warnings 48 hours in advance, improving maintenance efficiency by 40%.