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OSIsoft to Collaborate on Smart Grid Project in China

June 06, 2016 by Jeff Shepard

The China Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI) and OSIsoft have entered into an agreement to collaborate on a smart grid project that will leverage OSIsoft's PI System as a data infrastructure for real-time data monitoring, analytics and reporting. The project, called the China Smart Grid Substation Operations and Communication Project, will serve as the basis for China to develop relevant new standards for future Smart Grid operations and communication architectures and deployment. The announcement was made at the U.S.-China Climate-Smart / Low-Carbon Cities Summit taking place in Beijing.

“Smart grid information and communication technologies will be essential to meet the world’s growing demand for energy,” said Chaoyang Zhu, Deputy Director of Information and Communication Department, CEPRI. “Working with OSIsoft is an important step toward our goal of demonstrating the best practices of creating an Internet of Energy.”

The project is funded in part through grant funding from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), which connects U.S. businesses with development opportunities overseas.

Deployed at over 19,000 sites worldwide, OSIsoft’s PI System is one of the world’s most widely used software technologies for the Industrial Internet of Things. The PI System captures operational data from assets such as transmission lines, grid sensors, power plants and building management systems and transforms it into rich information streams that can be used by individuals or integrated into other software platforms to conduct preventative maintenance, optimize power consumption, reduce costs, or engage in Big Data and business analytics.

More than 1,000 leading utilities, 95 percent of the largest oil and gas companies and 65 percent of the Fortune 500 industrial companies rely on the PI System as a data infrastructure. Worldwide, over 1.5 billion sensors are connected to the PI System.

OSIsoft has also been collaborating with China Southern Grid Electric Power Research Institute (CSG EPRI or SEPRI) on a smart grid initiative. The project seeks to demonstrate how advanced analytics and improved data management and visualization through the PI System can be integrated into existing systems to improve the reliability and efficiency of the distribution and consumer side of electric power grid. CSG has been an OSIsoft customer since 2006; the smart grid collaboration began in 2013. CSG manages the grid for five southern provinces. Together, the State Grid Corporate of China and CSG are responsible for all of China’s electric power grid.

“We are very excited to be working with the China Electric Power Research Institute, which has been a pioneer in developing and implementing smart grid technologies,” said Ann Moore, Director-Regional Development at OSIsoft. “Information and communication data management lay at the heart of smart grids. We believe the achievements we can accomplish here will ultimately have a positive impact for electric power utility business and smart grid development around the world.”