Energy is the foundation and blood of economic and social development. Energy development is facing an important transformation, that is, a new round of energy revolution. The central link of the energy revolution is electricity, and the key to the transformation of electricity is to build a new type of distribution network.
I. The major trend of the new energy revolution
With the rapid development and widespread application of next-generation energy technologies and next-generation information technologies, a new round of energy revolution has emerged. Looking back at history, every advancement in the modern civilization of the human society has been accompanied by the energy revolution. The energy revolution has triggered the industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution was because of coal, the invention of the steam engine, and the revolution of the machine; the second industrial revolution was due to electricity, which led to the electrical revolution, and human society entered industrial civilization; the new energy revolution was To achieve cleanliness in energy production and gradually replace fossil energy with clean energy, vigorously promote the clean and efficient use of coal, focus on the development of non-coal energy, and form multi-wheel drive energy sources for coal, oil, gas, nuclear, new energy and renewable energy. The supply system continues to expand the application of electrification in the energy consumption sector, and promotes the human society to enter into an era of intelligent civilization driven by the Internet and driven by human wisdom.
The new round of energy revolution involves a wide range of aspects such as economic society, supply of consumption, technology development, and institutional mechanisms. However, in the final analysis, there are two major trends: First, the "pipeline" chain (or "physical" chain). ) Separate from the "content" chain. The second is the shift from a traditional single energy supply to a comprehensive energy service that uses clean energy as the main source of complementary energy.
The essence of the separation between the "pipeline" chain and the "content" chain is the adjustment of the production relations in the energy system mechanism. The technological revolution is the means of realization, and the institutional mechanism revolution is guarantee. The original energy development and supply model is vertically integrated. The energy supply itself is bound to the energy pipeline. Large-scale energy companies and centralized large-scale energy companies control energy and their use. It is a monopoly-type energy source. Development, transmission and distribution model, the energy company's profit model is to earn monopoly profits. The fundamental way to achieve separation between pipelines and content is to implement energy market reforms, which are the core of the energy system mechanism revolution and provide a strong “driving force†for the energy revolution. The most typical feature of the separation of pipeline and content is that the monopoly position of energy is limited to “doing pipelinesâ€, the profit model is changed to charging pipeline (passage) fees, energy consumption analysis, load optimization, transaction bidding, and comprehensive energy services, etc. Business development has become the content of comprehensive energy services, and it has been continuously enriched and expanded.
The essence of energy integrated services is the reshaping of the energy industry structure triggered by the new technology revolution, green development, and the rise of new energy sources, and thus the continuous innovation of new business models, business models, and service methods are being promoted. The original energy service is arranged from the supply side to the user side in a chronological order, that is, “long-chainâ€. The direction of the energy revolution is to shift from the production supply side to the user-centered, and to form a variety of energy sources on the user side. The circular pattern of diversified and interactive development is shaped like a "magnifying glass with handle". In the "magnifying glass", new industries and new formats will continue to emerge. Energy comprehensive services are energy service innovation models that are adapted to meet the needs of diverse changes in modern energy supply systems and consumption patterns, by arranging multiple energy supply methods on the energy supply side and multiple demand responses on the energy supply side. With the rapid development of next-generation technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, renewable energy technologies and the process of energy reform are accelerating, energy comprehensive services have become a way to increase energy efficiency, reduce energy costs, and promote competition. The important development direction of cooperation. All countries in the world are formulating their own comprehensive energy development strategies based on their own needs.
Second, the key to a new round of energy revolution is the reform and innovation of the power system.
All primary energy can be converted into electricity, and various terminal energy sources can be replaced by electricity. The revolutionary innovation centered on electricity has become the key to a new round of energy revolution. The core of the future energy system must be the power system. In the new round of energy revolution, which country's power system took the lead in transition, that country will seize the opportunity in the new round of energy revolution.
At present, China's new round of electric reform is based on the two major trends in the energy revolution to change and innovate. First, through the establishment of a power trading market, the "pipeline" (physical) chain of power transmission and the "content" (transaction) chain of power flow are separated, and the development side and the power sale side are put in place, forming a market pattern of buying more and selling more. The price is formed by the market and it plays a decisive role in the allocation of resources in the market. The second is to achieve a major transformation of the power system, combining horizontal multi-energy complementarity with vertical “source-net-load-storage-use†optimization, distributed and centralized, to form a horizontal “electricity, heat, cold, gas, water "The interconnection and cooperation of various energy sources and coordinated supply, and the coordinated development and integration of multiple sources of energy for source-network-load-storage-use" in the vertical direction, and the establishment of a new type of ecological integrated energy with high integration of energy and information The system promotes the large-scale utilization of new energy and innovates the business models and service formats of energy power operations.
Third, the power system reform innovation focuses on the construction of a new type of distribution network
The focus of the energy revolution is on the user side. From the perspective of the power system, it starts with the distribution network. A distribution network is a power network that receives electrical energy from the transmission grid or regional power plants, and distributes them to users in-situ or step-by-step through distribution facilities. Distribution networks are the most closely related part of the power system to users. In the context of the new energy revolution, the functional positioning of the distribution network will undergo profound changes. In addition to traditional functions such as power transmission and distribution, it will also be the carrier for optimal resource allocation and an important part of the modern integrated transportation system and network economy. Specifically embodied in four aspects:
First, the distribution network is the carrier of market-based transactions. The core content of China's new round of power system is "to control the middle and let go of both ends." Controlling the middle refers to strengthening supervision of the power transmission and distribution network with natural monopoly properties. The price is set by the government to ensure that the power grid is fair and open and the market is fair. Transaction; release two refers to the implementation of market opening access on the power generation side and power sales side, the introduction of competition, the focus is to release the new distribution network and the sale of electricity links, the market mechanism to power consumption into the closed-loop power industry chain. The power user side can not only have a distribution (micro) power grid including distributed energy, energy storage, and control systems, but also can adjust power shortages and peak-to-valley differences between different users. The positioning and profit model of the original grid companies have undergone major changes. From the past, investment, construction, and operation of the power grid as their core businesses have transformed into businesses responsible for the transmission and distribution links. The profit model has also changed from charging for on-grid tariffs to selling tariffs to the approval of the government. The transmission and distribution tariffs have been charged as net fees, like "logistics companies" or "small couriers." The distribution network becomes a platform where the demand side cooperates with the supply side to more effectively realize the supply-demand balance and interaction between the supply and demand sides, and provides solutions and value-added services for different user entities such as distributed energy, industrial and commercial energy conservation, residential energy conservation and energy use services. Various market-oriented trading needs.
Second, distribution network is the key link of smart grid. Whether in North America or Europe, the real focus of smart grids is distribution networks. Solving the problem of insufficient supply reliability and improving power quality requires a further intelligent distribution network; access to various energy sources, electric vehicles, and charging stations requires the full use of modern electronic technologies, communications technologies, computers, and network technologies to make distribution The network has the ability of self-healing, higher security, supports interaction with users, and changes from the traditional supplier-led, one-way power supply, operation mode that basically relies on manual management, to user participation, the trend of two-way flow, and high intelligence.
Third, distribution networks are the energy infrastructure in the era of low-carbon economy. Many distributed power sources are directly connected to distribution networks. Distributed power sources and microgrids for end users are all on the distribution network side. Savings and environmental protection requirements such as land saving, energy saving, and material saving are throughout the distribution network planning. The entire process of design, construction, and operation requires the continuous use of new technologies and new equipment to increase the efficiency of energy use, effectively control environmental pollution, and promote energy-saving and emission reduction of greenhouse gases.
Fourth, the distribution network is a comprehensive energy service platform. The distribution network business can establish a link between energy production, transmission and consumption in an integrated energy system. Integrated energy development in the distribution network can achieve integrated optimization of multi-energy complementary systems in a large range. The distribution network is planned, constructed and operated based on the new integrated energy system framework. It can realize the coordinated development and utilization of natural gas and wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, and biomass energy, and optimize the layout of electricity, gas, heat, cooling, and water supply. Pipeline and other infrastructure provide users with a variety of energy-rich services.
At present, many pilot and demonstration projects in China's new round of electric power reform are conducted around distribution networks, which fully demonstrates the importance of distribution networks in the new energy revolution. For example, the incremental distribution network reform is the biggest highlight of this round of power system reform, and it is also the biggest bonus that the reform has released to the whole society. The first batch of national pilot projects for incremental power distribution reform have 106 projects. The list of the second batch of 89 pilot projects has just been released. The third batch of pilot projects was immediately applied to achieve full coverage of cities above prefecture level in the country. The first batch of 23 multi-energy complementary integration optimization demonstration projects were launched in the country, and multi-energy complementary and coordinated supply were achieved through natural gas thermoelectric cooling, triple supply, distributed renewable energy, and energy smart (micro) networks; A state-level new energy microgrid demonstration project has given the investment management entity of the new energy microgrid demonstration project the power distribution network operation right, and launched the first batch of 55 national “Internet+†smart energy (energy internet) demonstration projects. It can be seen that these pilots are all closely related to the distribution network.
Electricity is both a means of production and consumption data, and it is unique and irreplaceable in all fields of economy and society, as well as in production and consumption. It makes the power grid become the basis and support for the "Internet of things", that is, the Internet of Things, and becomes the link between the industrial Internet and the communications industry. The only "entry" linking the Internet and consumer Internet. The integration and mutual promotion of the power grid and the new generation of Internet and information technology, artificial intelligence, big data, and financial media will bring about major changes in all aspects of the economy and society, and major changes will occur in the people’s production methods and lifestyles. It can be predicted that in the future, many new industries and new industries will surely arise from the two major transformations of the energy revolution and the information revolution, as well as deep and deep integration.
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