IEEE ITOEC(ISSN:2693-289X)

The impact of 5G communication technology on

electrical power systems
Yu’e Li1,2 ,Xuerang Guo1,2
1. Electric Power Research Institute of State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., Urumqi, China
2. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Whole Process Simulation for Power System, Urumqi, China
[email protected], [email protected]
Corresponding Author: Yu’e Li Email:[email protected]
2022 IEEE 6th Information Technology and Mechatronics Engineering Conference (ITOEC) | 978-1-6654-3185-9/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ITOEC53115.2022.9734363

Abstract—5G communication technology is a composite iconic capability indicators and core key technologies.
network technology with innovations in radio frequency, The 5G concept architecture is shown in Figure 1.
network and transmission. It can meet specific performance
indicators in different scenarios. Therefore, the application
of 5G technology will also promote the rapid development of
all walks of life. As an industry closely related to
communication, the arrival of 5G will bring changes to the
current power system operation and provide solutions for
its existing pain points. The needs of all links and various
terminal scenarios in the electrical power system will also
promote the popularization and development of 5G
communication technology.

Keywords—5G communication technology; performance

index; electrical power system; technology application

I. INTRODUCTION
The development of information technology and the
growth of network demand promote the application and
development of 5G communication technology, making it Fig. 1. 5G concept architecture
an important technology in the field of contemporary
electronic communication. The biggest feature of 5G It can be seen from Figure 1 that the iconic capability
communication technology is fast download speed and index of 5G is "Gbps user experience rate" and the core
wide connection range, which can meet the information key technologies include large-scale antenna arrays, ultra-
transmission volume and transmission rate that people dense networking, full spectrum access, new multiple
need daily[1]. At the same time, 5G is widely used in access and new network architectures to meet the
power system and runs through the whole process of differentiated needs of various scenarios[3].
"power generation, transmission, transformation and
distribution" of power grid. The application of 5G has Large-scale antenna array: Compared with 4G, 5G has
greatly enhanced the communication capabilities of the a larger number of antennas, which leads to larger gains,
power grid and improved the operating efficiency of the improves the strength of received signals, suppresses
power grid, providing an important guarantee for the interference between users, improves communication
smart operation of the power grid. In terms of the current quality and reduced terminal complexity;
development status of the power industry, 5G Ultra-dense network: It mainly improves the overall
communication technology will have a relatively good system capacity and enhances network coverage by
application prospect at this stage[2]. increasing bandwidth or using Massive MIMO, high-order
modulation and other methods to improve the spectrum
II. 5G COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS efficiency per unit area.
5G is an evolution of the existing wireless Full spectrum access: Adopt a low frequency below
communication technology. Compared with 4G, 5G puts 6GHz and a high frequency above 6GHz hybrid network,
more emphasis on user experience rate and can realize the fully tap the advantages of low frequency and high
role of full connectivity. Looking back at the development frequency, and effectively use various mobile
process of mobile communication, each generation of communication spectrums to increase the transmission
mobile communication systems can be defined by its rate and achieve seamless, high-speed, and large-capacity
coverage;

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 New type of multiple access: Through the Enhance Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low
superimposed transmission of multi-user information on latency Communications (uRLLC), and Massive Machine
the same resource, the receiving side uses advanced Type Communications (mMTC) can be adapted to various
receiving algorithms to separate multi-user information, typical services of the smart grid. Among them, the eMBB
represented by SCMA (Sparse Code Multiple Access) , scenario is mainly adapted to the video large frequency
PDMA (Pattern Division Multiple Access) and MUSA band demand application of the smart grid; The uRLLC
(multi-user shared access), etc.; scenario is mainly adapted to high-reliability demand
services such as intelligent distributed distribution
III. ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEMS automation and power load demand side response; And
the mMTC scenario is mainly adapted to the wide
The electric power system is an electric energy connection demand services such as distributed energy
production and consumption system composed of power regulation and advanced metering.The three major
plants, power transmission and transformation lines, application scenarios of 5G are shown in Figure 3.
power supply and distribution stations, and electricity
consumption. It completes the production of electric
energy, voltage conversion, and the transmission and use
of electric energy.The electric power system is shown in
Figure 2.

Fig. 2. electric power system

In order to achieve these functions, the electric power

system needs to have corresponding information and
control systems at all links and at different levels to ensure Fig. 3. Three application scenarios of 5G
the timely transmission of signals from all equipment in
the power grid and to determine whether the equipment is Later, IMT-2020 (5G) the main application scenarios
normal. of 5g are divided into four main technical scenarios:
For the electric power system, the stable operation of continuous wide-area coverage, hot spot high capacity,
the system is the most basic premise. At this stage, low power consumption and large connections, and low
wireless transmission is more prone to failure than wired latency and high reliability, which are basically consistent
transmission, resulting in the failure of signal transmission with the three application scenarios of ITU. Continuous
quality. Without complete improvement and verification wide-area coverage scenario is the most basic coverage
of 5G transmission stability, 5G is currently difficult to mode of mobile communication, providing users with
replace the existing optical fiber. Although 5G is difficult seamless high-speed service experience; Hot spot high
to replace optical fiber in the short term, in the case of capacity scenarios are oriented to local hot spots, which
very complex landform, the difficulty and cost of optical need to meet the user’s extremely high data transmission
fiber access will be much higher than 5G, which makes rate and extremely high data in the area traffic
5G have greater commercial value and provides the requirements; The low-power and large-connection
possibility of laying power equipment in bad environment. scenarios are mainly for mass low-power IoT applications,
At the same time, 5G's ultra-fast response can improve the requiring 5G networks to have greater device connection
reliability of the existing power grid, and turn some capabilities and connection density; And the low-latency
previously unachievable management functions into and high-reliability scenarios are mainly for verticals such
reality, broadening the boundaries of the power industry. as Internet of vehicles and industrial control the industry’s
high-reliability business needs to achieve millisecond end-
to-end latency and close to 100% reliability[4]. The main
IV. THE IMPACT OF 5G COMMUNICATION 5G scenarios and key performance challenges are shown
TECHNOLOGY ON THE ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM as Table 1.
A. 5G application scenarios in electric power systems
The three main application scenarios of 5G identified
by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) :

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 TABLE I. THE MAIN 5G SCENARIOS AND KEY PERFORMANCE lines or equipment of the distribution network, and
CHALLENGES
improves the reliability of power supply. In the
Scenes The key challenge distribution automation business, communication is the
Continuous wide area 100 Mbps user experience weakest link, which severely restricts the degree of
coverage rate intelligence of power equipment, and also affects the
User experience rate: 1 Gbps development of smart grids in terms of time schedule.
Adding 5G technology to distribution automation can
Peak rate: Dozens of Gbps
Hot spot large capacity quickly return measurement data when abnormal
Flow density: Dozens of situations occur, accurately locate faults, minimize the
Tbps/km2 time and scope of faults, and increase the processing time
Low power Connection density:106/km2 of distribution network faults from minutes to
consumption and large Ultra-low power consumption milliseconds, and improve the power supply quality of the
connections and ultra-low cost power system[6].
Empty port delay: 1ms
(3) The main feature of cloud technology is efficient
Low latency and high End-to-end latency: ms order
data transmission and intelligent sharing. It stores
reliability of magnitude information data in various fields of social development,
Reliability: Close to 100% greatly improves the security factor of information data
B. Application of 5G communication in power system and prevents information loss and tampering. At the same
time, on the basis of network, cloud technology will take
Power supply and information communication are the advantage of 5G mobile communication technology,
two essential infrastructures for modern human including higher data flow and faster transmission rate,
production and life, 5G technology is an important which provides strong support for the diversification of
technical means to build a new electrical power system. cloud technology. In the power communication system,
Entering the era of 5G new infrastructure, the integration 5G communication technology can be analyzed according
of 5G and power grid these two super infrastructure will to the different needs of different users, and through cloud
lead to new changes. At the same time, 5G technology to provide users with distinctive
communication technology will play an important role in communication service content, which greatly meets the
ensuring the security and stability of the power grid. The basic needs of users.
typical applications of 5G communication technology in
electric power systems are: (4) Accurate load control technology means that in
case of power grid failure and emergency, according to
(1) 5G UAV automatic line inspection technology is the magnitude of the DC loss power, the mass load can be
one of the most advanced technologies in the process of controlled by precise control of distributed mass power
power transmission line inspection. It mainly refers to the users to ensure the stability of the large grid, while
operating system that uses 5g UAV to complete the achieving accurate and friendly control of the load, and
inspection task of overhead transmission line with visible rapid recovery the supply and demand balance of the large
light, infrared and other detection equipment. In the power grid supports the optimization of the large-scale
process of power patrol inspection, the UAV control and energy allocation, avoids the occurrence of large-scale
shoot through the ground control station to complete the power outages, and minimizes power grid losses. The
real-time return and rapid splicing of images, so as to shorter the time delay of the entire group action of the
obtain on-site information in complex terrain and harsh precision load control system is, the faster the restoration
environment. However, due to the shortcomings of 4G of the grid fault will be. Therefore, the communication
network data transmission such as lagging and poor real- delay is as low as possible. The precise load control
time effects, which affect work efficiency and judgment system based on the 5G communication network is
of on-site conditions, 5G UAV power line patrol composed of business terminals, demand response
technology came into being. The large broadband terminals, communication networks and master station
technology of 5G communication can transmit the systems. The control objects can be accurate to the
collected data to the terminal smoothly in real time, and interruptible load within the production enterprise, and
monitor the status of the transmission line in real time fully meet the emergency response requirements in the
through the display platform, so that the operation and case of power grid emergencies.
maintenance personnel can repair and eliminate the
defects according to the monitoring results, so as to (5) The electricity consumption information collection
improve the efficiency and safety of power patrol service can realize functions such as automatic collection
inspection[5]. of electricity consumption information, measurement
abnormality monitoring, power quality monitoring,
(2) Intelligent distributed distribution automation is a electricity consumption analysis and management, and
key application scenario of 5G in the power industry. provide data support for smart electricity consumption.
Distribution automation realizes the intelligent judgment, The structure of the electricity information collection
analysis, location, isolation and restoration of power system is shown in Figure 4.
supply in the faulty area by detecting the status of the

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 V. CONCLUSIONS
Although 5G is less likely to replace the current
existing basic power equipment communication mode, the
advantages of 5G are self-evident in the mobile terminal
equipment communication of the electrical power system.
The technical characteristics of 5G provide differentiated
network service capabilities for different businesses of the
power grid, and at the same time bring new opportunities
for the construction of smart grids. Accelerating the
application of 5G in the power industry is of great
significance to the implementation of the national 5G and
technology Internet strategy, serving the construction of a
new power system with new energy as the main body, and
helping to build an international leading energy Internet
enterprise with Chinese characteristics.

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