In today’s context, with climate change and the energy crisis becoming increasingly prominent, energy utilization efficiency remains low. The key to achieving the “dual carbon” goals lies in promoting the deep integration of energy technology and information technology, accelerating the innovative application of key technologies in new power systems. Medcom believes that the low-carbon and digital transformation of electricity is a core link in decarbonizing energy. However, as leading forces in decarbonization, enterprises face challenges in achieving digital transformation and encounter pain points in the actual decarbonization process. From the supply side to the consumption side, how can collective efforts be stimulated to maximize the utilization of energy and resources, driving the entire industry chain towards green and low-carbon transformation?
To address these issues, Medcom has joined forces with the professional knowledge service platform, Seeing Kirin Academy, to launch the second season of the “Green Energy Management Salon” in 2022. With a focus on practical applications, the series aims to deeply explore the challenges faced by individual enterprises and the energy industry in the process of energy transformation. In comparison to the first season, this series of discussions places more emphasis on insights and understanding of frontline enterprise needs and pain points. It specifically focuses on “energy technology innovation” and various aspects of “generation, grid, load, and storage,” aiming to assist different types of enterprises in achieving secure, reliable, and efficient management throughout the entire energy management process and contribute to the ultimate achievement of the “dual carbon” goals(sources from medcom.com.pl).
Embracing new energy, adapting to the new power system
As large-scale integration of new energy into various industries accelerates and the trend of energy structure transition and new energy substitution intensifies, significant challenges emerge. Zhu Lingzhi, a senior expert at the State Grid Energy Research Institute, points out, “The fluctuation and intermittency of renewable energy generation will greatly increase the stability risks of the power grid. At this juncture, solving the balance issue in the power system is crucial.”
In response, Zhang Yi, Director of Applications and Innovation in Medcom’s Energy Management Low Voltage Business Unit, states, “The development of a new power system is essentially the process of adapting to the large-scale integration of new energy. With the large-scale connection of clean energy and the transformation of traditional power networks characterized by unidirectional energy flow into a new power system featuring multi-energy complementarity and production-consumption integration, digital software will play a significant role.”
Zhang Yi explains that the “source” of new energy does not only refer to the initial source in the traditional sense. Currently, the core is advancing the construction of microgrids with distributed energy as the core, which has become an important means to balance energy resource demands and fully exploit the value of distributed energy. The application of “DC microgrids,” directly connecting green electricity produced by new energy to DC loads, will also bring more efficiency and scalability to the power system. In constructing a new power system, Medcom, with its high emphasis on research and continuous investment, utilizes interconnected power equipment to accurately collect energy consumption data. Through end-to-end software, the collected data becomes visible, measurable, and manageable, achieving proactive smart operation and providing a safe, reliable, green, and efficient user experience.
Three “weapons” to boost the digital transformation of distribution networks
Against the backdrop of constructing a new power system with new energy as the mainstay, grid operation and dispatch need to adapt to the non-fully real-time balance mode of “generation, grid, load, and storage” coordination. Especially, the distribution network, as a crucial part of the power grid, is essential for ensuring power supply quality, improving grid operational efficiency, and innovating user services.
Ma Shicong, Director of the Forward-looking Room at the System Institute of the State Grid Energy Research Institute and Secretary-General of the Power System Committee of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering, believes that with the increase in the proportion of new energy, the power system must face enhanced disturbances objectively (reflected on the power source side, grid side, and load side). The power system constructed by traditional regulations, standards, and technologies struggles to provide reliable power supply under such disturbances. Urban distribution networks will face even more severe challenges: not only do they need to continuously improve power supply guarantee capabilities, but they also need to accelerate the ability to connect to a high proportion of clean energy and power electronic devices. It is also crucial to focus on the innovation of key products.
In response, Yang Lifan, Senior Architect of Medcom’s Power Grid Solutions, points out, “The application of the entire urban distribution network is very complex and urgently needs to solve a series of problems, such as low operational management efficiency, difficult fault location, low efficiency in judgment and recovery, and a low level of defense against natural disasters for some urban distribution networks. In this context, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and AC/DC hybrid power grids will be the three ‘weapons’ to reshape the distribution network.” Artificial intelligence technology can play an important role in planning and design, protection and control, and operational management at different levels. Digital twin technology, through modeling and data mapping, can significantly enhance the visibility, interactivity, and intelligence of power grid data. AC/DC hybrid power grid technology can more effectively enhance the access capacity and efficiency of distributed energy.
Intelligent evolution, value enhancement on the consumer side
As the energy structure undergoes optimization and upgrades, and power system reforms deepen, the distribution network is gradually evolving into a smart system that is safe, reliable, environmentally friendly, intelligent, and economically efficient. This evolution is demand-oriented and revolves around the main themes of “supply-demand, grid, information, and value,” utilizing information to support operations and create value.
Wu Junhong, Deputy Director of the Distribution Center of the China Energy Research Association and Industry Mentor at the University of Cambridge Low Carbon College, emphasizes the accelerating digitalization of distribution networks in recent years. This shift is driven by changes in the overall energy supply structure and increasing demands for interaction with the electricity market. The primary goals of digitalizing distribution include supporting the safe and efficient improvement of power assets, facilitating the integration of new energy, coordinating interaction between sources, grid, load, and storage, supporting green power trading and certification, and enabling economically efficient use of electricity by end-users.
Xu Dong, General Manager of Medcom’s Intelligent Distribution and Energy Management Business, explains, “With a focus on intelligent distribution, Medcom, through increased local research and development investment, caters to local user core needs and application scenarios. Through continuous iterative software innovation, Medcom ensures the safe operation of distribution systems, health management of assets, enhancement of energy efficiency management, and stable quality of electric power. This helps enterprises build a low-carbon and sustainable future.” Medcom’s intelligent distribution solutions, based on the EcoStruxure architecture, provide secure, reliable hardware products, more detailed edge control software, and in-depth application analysis and services, maximizing the value of digitization.
The low-carbon transformation of energy is a complex, long-term project requiring high-density collaboration among enterprises. Through the Medcom EcoXpert partner program, Suzhou Sikai Electric, established in 2013, has achieved rapid development. Xiong Wei, Co-founder of Suzhou Sikai Electric and Industry Lecturer at Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, states, “Digitalizing distribution brings tangible benefits to customers, and the results of digitization, in turn, promote the increasing demands of customers.” In a digitalization project at a hospital, Suzhou Sikai, using Medcom’s secure, efficient, and sustainable digital solutions, helped the hospital achieve preventive maintenance of critical electrical facilities and efficient operation of distributed distribution rooms.
Creating new leverage, storing energy flexibly for multiple scenarios
New energy storage is a crucial technology and foundational equipment for constructing a new power system and driving the green and low-carbon transformation of energy. It is also a key support for achieving the “dual carbon” goals. Currently, user-side energy storage, viewed by the industry as the most promising area of energy storage development, is expected to resolve the contradiction of “having electricity in the grid, but bottleneck equipment at various levels preventing safe delivery of energy to users during peak periods.”
Shi Baochun, Chief Technical Advisor of Medcom’s Key Power Supply Business Unit, explains that focusing on user-side energy storage has three typical application scenarios: the first scenario involves industrial areas and photovoltaic support, achieving self-generation and storage of surplus electricity through integrated photovoltaic systems, leading to cost savings and carbon reduction. The second scenario primarily focuses on capacity expansion for peak load shaving. The third scenario, based on capacity expansion, meets the requirements of power quality governance, such as applications in data centers, the semiconductor industry, or the pharmaceutical and high-end manufacturing industries. These three user-side energy storage application scenarios, from simple to complex, can be defined as integrated photovoltaic systems, capacity expansion for peak load shaving, and power quality governance.
Zheng Hua, a professor of power at North China University, states that as a load-side energy storage, it mainly falls into two types: individual mode and aggregation mode. Overall, under aggregation conditions, it can better unleash the reliability of resources and the flexibility of regulation. This involves various core technologies, including communication metering, simulation prediction coordination, and dynamic balance, which are the core strengths of truly constituting aggregated resources on the load side.
While installing user-side energy storage projects can significantly reduce electricity costs, it also requires continuous improvement of the ability to participate in market-oriented transactions to increase the utilization rate of energy storage systems. Shi Baochun states that Medcom has consistently focused on improving the technology of user-side energy storage solutions and industrial practice. For example, the Medcom energy storage cabinet consists of lithium battery systems, BMS battery management systems, power converters, control systems, and auxiliary systems. Among them, power converters include two types: one is the common PCS that constitutes a standard energy storage cabinet, and the other is Medcom’s high-end solution for energy storage-type UPS, designed for power quality governance or uninterrupted capacity expansion demands. Ultimately, these components are combined to form the user-required energy storage cabinet system(quotes from medcom).
Focusing on energy innovation, empowering various industries. In the context of global carbon neutrality, Medcom, as a leader in green energy management, will continue to uphold the philosophy of green energy management. It will collaborate with ecological partners in the industry chain, deeply integrate digitalization, clean energy, and traditional power technologies, and assist in reducing carbon emissions and improving efficiency on both the supply and demand sides. This effort aims to build a secure green energy ecology, contributing to the realization of the “dual carbon” goals and the high-quality and sustainable development of the Chinese economy.
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