With the rapid development of the power grid, the continuous advancement of technology, and the continuous expansion of equipment application, the need for substation equipment management is on the rise. To address the challenges faced by substations, such as insufficient operation and maintenance personnel, long distances, high operational demands and extensive inspections, it is critical to create an integrated intelligent operation and maintenance system by seamlessly integrating operation and maintenance technology with digital and intelligent solutions. This innovative solution encompasses key features panoramic status perception, automated operation and maintenance, intelligent decision making and analysis, lean operation management and control, and a professional application platform. On December 21, 2023, China's first integrated intelligent substation operation and maintenance system was successfully put into operation at 330kV Lingquan Substation.
This project adopts NR’s cutting-edge integrated intelligent operation and maintenance platform as well as a comprehensive range of operation and maintenance products, including quadruped patrol robots, drones, HD patrol camera terminals, primary equipment on-grid monitoring systems, and operation management and control systems. Based on practical experience in operation and maintenance, a number of innovation functions, including comprehensive patrol, intelligent linkage, protective patrol, active defense, and virtual electronic fence have been developed and applied for the first time at 330kV Lingquan Substation. Users at Weinan Power Supply Company provided positive feedback on the system: "NR demonstrates a profound understanding of the power grid. They highlight their valuable contribution in data application and analysis, and facilitate informed decision-making in operation and maintenance activities."
The integrated intelligent operation and maintenance platform based on SophiCloud achieves seamless integration of the information from all main and auxiliary equipment installed at Substation, which covers operation, maintenance and intelligent patrol of primary and secondary equipment. While ensuring unified permissions, data, models, and interfaces for all application systems, the platform also supports independence and separate deployment of individual applications, allowing operators to conduct inspections of substation equipment, analyze its structure, and access global information.
Thanks to NR's proprietary quadruped robot and drone system combined with HD camera terminals, the intelligent patrol function enables 100% coverage of all patrol points within the entire substation, achieving comprehensive air-ground patrol inspection. By leveraging quadruped robots with flexible traversing, off-road and obstacle-crossing capabilities, as well as drones with high-altitude maneuverability and HD cameras with fast and convenient coverage, the system successfully addresses the challenge of conducting comprehensive and refined patrol inspections of substations at high, medium, and low altitudes.
Incorporated with a comprehensive set of on-grid monitoring system for primary equipment, the system features an intelligent operation and maintenance function, which enables deep perception of the operating status and environmental conditions of primary equipment. It monitors the operating status of main and auxiliary equipment, and offers comprehensive protection for normal operation of substation equipment. With new protection inspection functions, including innovative protection trip linkage and setting value comparisons, the system ensures accurate identification of correct protection trip linkage position. In addition, the integration of virtual electronic fences to isolate operating areas enables effective safety management and control of workers. It combines primary and auxiliary equipment, on-grid monitoring, and comprehensive analysis of inspection result information to achieve equipment portraits and perception of equipment status trends, and promptly identify and predict equipment hazards.
The successful implementation of the project signifies NR's expansion of its products in the new field of intelligent operation and maintenance. NR will continue to play a leading role in the industry's digital transformation and the advancement of new power systems, and contribute to the comprehensive improvement of the quality and efficiency of substation patrol inspections, ensuring safe and stable operation of the power grid.
