The 33rd China International Exhibition on Electric Power Equipment and Technology
Shanghai International Energy Storage Technology Application Expo / Hydrogen Energy Expo
Power IoT (Power Internet of Things, or 电力物联网 in Chinese) refers to the deployment of IoT sensing, communication, and analytics technologies across the entire power grid — from generation through transmission and distribution to end-user consumption — to create a fully connected, data-rich, and intelligently managed electricity system. State Grid Corporation of China launched its Ubiquitous Power IoT (泛在电力物联网) strategy in 2019, targeting the connection of all power grid assets, equipment, and customers through IoT technology. Power IoT encompasses: smart sensors on transmission lines, transformers, and cables for real-time condition monitoring; smart meters and in-home displays for customer engagement and demand response; IoT-enabled distribution automation devices for remote switching and fault location; drone and robot inspection systems reporting to centralised asset management platforms; and edge-cloud architectures that process and analyse the massive data streams generated by connected grid assets.
5 Key Questions About Power IoT
State Grid Corporation of China announced its Ubiquitous Power IoT (泛在电力物联网) strategy in 2019, aiming to build a comprehensive IoT platform connecting all grid assets, employees, customers, and business processes. The strategy targets four connections: connecting all physical grid assets with sensors and communication; connecting all employees with mobile work management tools; connecting all customers with smart meters and energy service platforms; and connecting all business processes with digital workflows. The strategy is part of State Grid's broader digital transformation programme, which also includes the Energy Internet (能源互联网) concept of integrating electricity, gas, heat, and transportation energy networks.
Power IoT uses a heterogeneous mix of communication technologies selected for the specific requirements of each application: fibre optic for high-bandwidth, low-latency substation communication; power line communication (PLC) for last-mile AMI; 4G/5G cellular for mobile inspection robots and drones; NB-IoT for low-power, low-data-rate sensors on distribution equipment; LoRaWAN for wide-area sensor networks in rural distribution; and dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) for vehicle-to-grid applications. 5G is increasingly important for Power IoT applications requiring high bandwidth and ultra-low latency, such as differential protection over wireless links and real-time video from inspection robots.
Power IoT improves distribution network management by providing real-time visibility of network conditions that were previously invisible to utilities. IoT sensors on distribution transformers monitor loading, temperature, and oil condition, enabling early detection of overloading and incipient failures. Smart fault indicators on distribution feeders detect and report fault location, reducing fault location time from hours to minutes. IoT-enabled reclosers and sectionalising switches enable automated fault isolation and supply restoration. Real-time load data from smart meters enables dynamic network reconfiguration to balance loading and reduce losses.
Power IoT generates massive volumes of data — a fully connected distribution network with millions of smart meters, thousands of sensors, and hundreds of automation devices can generate terabytes of data per day. Managing this data requires scalable cloud storage and processing infrastructure, efficient data compression and transmission protocols, data quality management to handle sensor failures and communication errors, data governance frameworks defining ownership, access rights, and retention policies, and analytics platforms capable of extracting actionable insights from high-volume, high-velocity data streams. Edge computing reduces the volume of data transmitted to the cloud by pre-processing and filtering data locally.
Smart meter data collected at 15-minute or 30-minute intervals can reveal detailed information about household activities — occupancy patterns, appliance usage, and lifestyle — raising privacy concerns. China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and the Data Security Law impose requirements on the collection, storage, processing, and sharing of personal data, including smart meter data. Utilities must implement data minimisation (collecting only necessary data), purpose limitation (using data only for stated purposes), access controls, and data breach notification procedures. Privacy-preserving analytics techniques such as differential privacy and federated learning enable useful analysis of smart meter data without exposing individual customer data.
Key Takeaways
Power IoT is the connective tissue of the smart grid, linking physical assets, customers, and business processes through pervasive sensing and communication. China's world-leading Power IoT deployment — driven by State Grid's Ubiquitous Power IoT strategy — is creating massive demand for sensors, communication modules, edge computing platforms, and analytics software. EP Shanghai is the premier showcase for Power IoT technologies serving China's grid digitalisation programme.
Firefox
Chrome
Safari
QQ
Edge