Bits Drive Watts: Cloud, AI, and 5G Empower A Fully Connected Smart Grid

COVID-19 has swept across the world in 2020. It has brought unprecedented challenges to global economic and social development, as well as to our daily lives. Unfortunately, such massive upheavals limit confidence in the global economy and disrupt industries.

Meanwhile, China has taken the lead in the recovery process. The efforts of all industries demonstrate China’s achievements in pandemic control and faith in its recovery. The digital economy has unleashed huge potential and momentum for change.

Based on Chinese pandemic control practices, Accenture, a world-renowned consulting firm, believes that digital technologies have played an important role in containing the spread, informing the public, ensuring quality of life, and re-igniting productivity. With this in mind, digital technologies will continue to contribute significantly to pandemic control and public administration in the long run.

The crisis has accelerated the enterprises’ digital transformation journey, including that of electric power companies. Electricity is the cornerstone of modern, comfortable living. Though, as a vital industry and a lifeline of the national economy, the electric power industry is facing challenging tasks in the economic recovery of the post-pandemic era.

David Sun, Vice President of Huawei Enterprise BG and President of the Global Energy Business Unit, said in his speech at the 7th Huawei Global Power Summit Online, on July 8, “The electric power industry is facing multiple challenges, such as how to ensure business continuity and power grid security, detect security issues in real-time, and respond quickly during external emergencies such as the current pandemic.” He continued: “Additionally, global warming and frequent extreme weather conditions bring greater operational risks to grid services. Further global concerns faced when trying to build a clean, green, secure, and efficient energy system include reducing carbon emissions using clean energy, enabling new energy consumption, and building energy networks to support the rapid growth of electric vehicles.”

As a leading global ICT infrastructure and smart device provider, Huawei serves more than 170 countries and regions, covering one-third of the world’s total population. Further, more than 190 electric power companies worldwide have chosen Huawei.

The Summit gathered global customers, partners, industry elites, and thought leaders. With the theme of Bits Drive Watts, Building a Fully Connected Smart Grid, speakers explored how to reshape the electric power industry. The online event demonstrated the use of innovative ICT such as AI, cloud, edge computing, and 5G in various electric power scenarios. It explained how to apply emerging technologies in the industry.

Sun also highlighted, “We are now at a key stage of overcoming the pandemic and restarting the economy. There will be many challenges and unknown risks in the future; however, we are willing to share the digital transformation experience of Chinese electric power and other industries with more customers to boost power companies’ development. Huawei will join global customers and industry partners to weather the storm. We hope Huawei can help more electric power companies implement digital transformation to cope with industry challenges and seize future opportunities.”

This article was first published in China Electric Power News