Huawei’s IDS Sets New Standards in Energy Management

Integrator Media had an exclusive interview with Jason Li, President of Marketing & Solutions Sales, Huawei Electric Power Digitalization Business Unit. Here in this interview the Integrator discusses how Huawei’s Cloud-Edge Synergy and High-Speed Power Line Communications are Revolutionizing the Power Industry and what sets it apart from traditional power distribution solutions.

What is Huawei’s innovative Intelligent Distribution Solution (IDS) presented at the 26th World Energy Congress?

Huawei presented the innovative Intelligent Distribution Solution (IDS) at the 26th World Energy Congress in Rotterdam. IDS is built on a unique “cloud-pipe-edge-pipe-device” framework, which includes an on-premise private cloud as the digital foundation, both wired and wireless solutions for the backhaul network, an all-in-one edge computing unit (ECU) for lean management, and next-generation high-speed power line carrier communication (HPLC) on the low-voltage side. This comprehensive approach enables real-time measurable observations that empower utility providers to optimize their operations, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction by identifying and repairing faults before power outages occur.

What sets Huawei’s IDS apart from traditional power distribution solutions, especially considering its cloud-based approach?

Traditional power distribution solutions mostly rely on isolated systems, preventing data sharing. Huawei’s cloud-pipe-edge-pipe-device architecture is one generation ahead of this approach. Additionally, Huawei focuses solely on building industry-leading digital foundations to facilitate the construction of intelligent power distribution networks.

The HPLC and all-scenario backhaul network solution builds highly reliable target networks, resulting in a 99.5%-meter reading success rate and a 100% point-to-point meter reading success rate.

Concentrators, distribution transformer monitoring devices, gateway meters, and distributed PV/charging pile gateways are integrated into ECUs, reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO). Meanwhile, platform-based hardware and app-based software architectures and products fulfill the future’s evolution requirements for the next 10-20 years.

Moreover, IDS facilitates cloud-edge synergy, enabling power enterprises to shift from single-point digitalization to architecture-supported, evolvable, open, and systematic intelligence, with quick service rollout and significant O&M efficiency improvement.

Can you elaborate on the functionality of the innovative “cloud-pipe-edge-pipe-device” framework?

IDS is an overall solution based on the cloud-pipe-edge-pipe-device architecture. On the cloud side, an on-premise private cloud is recommended as the digital foundation, unlike in a traditional virtualization model. The private cloud enables five enablement capabilities, including R&D enablement, application enablement, data enablement, AI enablement, and integration enablement, as well as four synergies: application synergy, data synergy, AI synergy, and O&M synergy.

For the backhaul network, fiber is the key strategic asset, a technology that will keep evolving for the next 30 years, and is reachable, familiar, and manageable. It also supports multi-service development, such as home broadband. Additionally, a wireless private network is also a good choice if the spectrum is ready. However, we recommend a private network rather than a public network here, considering the requirements for data security, high reliability, high quality, and low latency.

At the edge, the edge computing unit (ECU) is the lean management carrier, functioning as a smartphone, which replaces multiple terminals such as the Transformer Terminal Unit (TTU), Data Transfer Unit (DCU), and gateway. It is the ‘brain’ of the district and a vital component of the Intelligent Distribution Solution (IDS).

For last-mile connection, High-Speed Power Line Communications (HPLC) is the key to low-voltage transparency, supporting data collection in minutes, massive interactive connections, and topology identification, and delivering a 99% collection success rate. With the Intelligent Distribution Solution (IDS), we can achieve power outage alarms within 1 minute, fault locating within 3 minutes, and line loss analysis within 15 minutes.

How Huawei’s Intelligent Distribution Solution has demonstrated its effectiveness in practical applications?

Here, I’d like to give you an example of State Grid Shaanxi, where we developed an intelligent distribution solution with our partners. We helped State Grid Shaanxi build a digital foundation featuring “cloud-pipe-edge-pipe-device” synergy, enabling the company to evolve from single-point digitalization of power distribution rooms to architecture-supported, evolvable, open, and systematic intelligence.

Four key technologies are deployed in the digital foundation:

• • First, the ECU integrates multiple gateways in the transformer district and functions as the smart brain of the edge. It’s like deploying a smartphone in the district. The cloud-edge synergy technology supports the unified upgrade of 100,000 devices in the districts within 40 minutes. Different policies can be defined at each transformer district for flexible district autonomy. This way, transformer district managers can become mini-CEOs with stimulated creativity.
• • Second, we deploy optical fiber and wireless networks for backhaul. In urban areas with essential loads, 100% optical fibers are used, and GPON supports real-time access to multiple services. In other areas, wireless networks are used to quickly access various terminals and distributed new energy at low costs.
• • The third is the HPLC dual-mode technology, which solves the problem of last-mile communication. The latest version of HPLC can deliver 99.9% communication reliability, supporting minute-level data collection and second-level control for low-voltage transparency.
• • Fourth is the cloud-based unified enterprise digital platform, which acts as the smart OS of enterprises. By building the enterprise-level unified data foundation, unified AI model factory, and unified IoT platform, enterprises can accumulate know-how assets and make digital capabilities easy to use.

Based on the digital foundation and the open ecosystem, State Grid Shaanxi has implemented topology identification of the transformer, meter box, and household meters at the low-voltage side. In blind tests, the accuracy reaches 100%, the daily frozen data collection success rate reaches 99.98%, abnormal events are reported within 1 second, and power outages are notified within 3 minutes.

This is only the beginning. By enabling mini-CEOs to master digital capabilities, customers can deploy various digital technologies in different scenarios.