By Peter Egwuatu

Huawei a global information communication technology solutions provider, has emphasized that electric power companies in Africa and other part of the world must be able to deliver various value-added services to respond to the diverse needs of their customers.

The company, in a statement, noted that in 2002, the U.S.-based Electric Power Research Institute proposed a research project titled IntelliGrid to focus on the integration of electricity and communications systems and eighteen months later, the project was officially named IntelliGrid Architecture and the world first smart grid architecture was established.

It added that over the last decade, smart grid pioneers have highlighted the importance of innovative smart grid architecture and the electric power industry has experienced dramatic changes in the transmission, distribution, marketing, and consumption of electricity. Only twelve years after the concept was first introduced to the world, the smart grid is now shaping the technical and management transformation of the global electric power industry with endorsement from utility companies of almost every country in the world.

According to Huawei “In the last couple of years, the power industry has witnessed developments in the smart grid concept, with a shift in focus from advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to four major aspects: Home area network (HAN) (possibly the next hot spot for innovation and investment); Network-side applications (such as reactive power control and automation); Future-oriented functions of utilities (such as distributed electricity generation, solar photovoltaic power generation, and electric vehicles); and integration of Demand Response (DR) with AMI, which is now a trend as DR is expected to foster significant changes in consumer behavior.”

Meanwhile, the use of smart temperature controllers, smart switches, and smart electrical appliances, according to the company will attract the attention of related product manufacturers.

“This means that electric power companies must be able to deliver various value-added services to respond to the diverse needs of their customers.

This shift shows that the industry is evolving towards a better connected smart grid with powerful functions such as the ability to identify electricity infrastructure equipment, employees, and micro-environments through various sensing devices” the company noted.

Meanwhile, at the 11th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting held recently, the State Grid Corporation of China(SGCC)’s Chairman, Liu Zhenya, called for global efforts to build the Internet of Energy (IoE). The goal of IoE is to fully connect smart grids to provide electricity everywhere, everysecond, and effectively utilize every watt. IoE helps to ensur safe, clean, efficient, and sustainable power supply by coordinating the generation, configuration, and utilization of electric power.