China's State Grid unveils smart grid plan  

The Business SPectator has an article on Chinese smart grid plans - China's State Grid unveils smart grid plan.

The State Grid Corporation of China, China's leading power grid operator, has unveiled ambitious plans to establish a system of technology standards and develop key equipment for its "strong smart grid".

The company, eyeing an "informationised, automatic and interactive" grid that uses ultra high voltage (UHV) power lines as backbones, will revamp existing technology standards and equipment capacity and making new ones that would facilitate a smart grid covering power generation, transmission, transformation, distribution, consumption and others. ...

At the power transmission front as an example, the grid hopes to finishing building a pilot converter station for flexible direct current electricity flows this year, one of the key equipment that are essential in building its first phase of smart grid.

It also aims to develop a power coordination and controlling system that is able to accommodate large-scale renewable energy input such as wind and solar power.

At the power consumption end, State Grid Corp has spread its research and development from smart meters and plugs to smart home appliance as well as electric vehicle charging and discharging systems, with all expected to be ready for use by 2012.

The company has planned to build 75 electric vehicle charging stations this year and seven were now ready for use.

Overall smart grid investment in 2009 would account for less than 10 per cent of the company's total investment, Wang Yimin, director general of the Department of Smart Grid under the company said, adding that the State Grid's total expenditure was some 250 billion yuan ($A42.13 billion) in 2010. ...

The State Grid has set a three-stage plan for its "strong smart grid", which includes planning and piloting in 2009 and 2010, full-fledged construction from 2011 to 2015 and upgrading from 2016 to 2020.