GE bringing state-of-the-art smart grid technologies to China

ATLANTA, USA: The City of Yangzhou and GE will be working together to help bring the benefits of smart grid technologies to China.

GE is building an extensive smart grid demonstration center in the Yangzhou New Economy and Development Zone that will verify how GE technologies deployed throughout the world can help China improve the reliability, efficiency and carbon footprint of its energy delivery. Yangzhou is located on the Yangtze River in China’s Jiangsu province.

“China has experienced unbelievable growth over the past decade, creating a massive need for energy to power businesses and consumer lifestyles—so the time is right for Yangzhou to become a smart city,” said Mark Norbom, president and CEO of GE’s China business.

“As Chinese engineers design new cities and upgrade existing infrastructure, we’re going to show them how GE technology can help build a world-class model of reliability and efficiency at just about every point in the transmission, distribution and consumption processes. Yangzhou’s initiative will be a showcase to demonstrate how China can get the power it needs and reduce energy’s environmental impact at the same time.”

The technology engagement will include a huge array of GE products that affect energy in homes, on power lines and in a utility’s network control center.

“We value GE’s end-to-end infrastructure vision and the fact that they are delivering technologies already proven for reliability and savings,” said Mr. Zhengyi Xie, the city mayor of Yangzhou. “We hope GE’s advanced smart grid technology will enhance the local infrastructure and the whole relevant industry as well.”

Home energy technologies in the demonstration include advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meters—with dynamic pricing and WiMAX communications interfaces—that serve as the hub of home energy savings. Savings tools operated through the meter include home energy management systems, programmable thermostats, smart appliances that perform activities based on energy availability and cost and demand-response systems that reduce home energy usage during times of peak energy demand.

Grid infrastructure and control technologies in the demonstration include automated outage identification and restoration software, field-force automation and deployment systems and grid-wide network management software.

The initiative may also include installation and demonstration of home-based charging stations for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles PHEVs). Teamed with dynamic pricing that encourages charging overnight, PHEVs can enable electric cars to become more commonplace—reducing China’s need for oil while greatly lowering the carbon footprint of each mile driven.