PRESS RELEASE: Recently, Langfang Thermal Power, which is part of the CHN Energy Investment Group, announced its commercial use of a 5G high-precision positioning network.
This network, which was developed in collaboration with China Unicom Hebei, Huawei, and the China Unicom Smart City Research Institute, enhances Langfang Thermal Power’s ability to identify, prevent, and manage environmental risks. It plays a critical role in ensuring power plant safety and sets a new standard for the deployment of 5G smart power plants.
Ensuring production safety has always been challenging in the electric power industry. A 2023 report from the National Energy Administration highlighted a total of 308 safety incidents at China’s electric power production enterprises, including 8 major incidents. Langfang Thermal Power currently runs two 350-MW supercritical coal-fired thermal power units and plans to add two more such units during phase 2 of its current expansion project. As the largest source of heat supply for the city of Langfang, it plays a vital role in the city’s economic development. A safety incident in such a critical enterprise could lead to huge economic losses and disruptions in heat supply, which would severely impact local residents. Therefore, improving the safety management of the people, vehicles, objects, and environments on their campus has become a top priority for Langfang Thermal Power as they work to establish a digital information system for safe production.
In alignment with the national 5G development strategy, China Unicom Hebei has been collaborating with Huawei and other industry partners to explore 5G high-precision positioning, and together they have made significant technical breakthroughs. The 5G high-precision positioning network at Langfang Thermal Power is a prime example of both a strategic step in the enterprise’s digital and intelligent transformation, and of the successful management of people, vehicles, objects, and environments within the campus so as to guarantee safe production.
This 5G private network built by China Unicom Hebei for Langfang Thermal Power can be used for multiple purposes, including 5G data transmission and meter-level high-precision positioning. The UPFs on the 5G core network are deployed locally on campus to ensure low latency, high reliability, and flexible access. Moreover, the 5G positioning, 5G intelligent risk inspection, and 5G high-risk operation monitoring applications enabled by this network enhance operational efficiency and personnel safety management for the enterprise.
The big-data visualized positioning platform used at Langfang Thermal Power
Although Langfang Thermal Power has a very large campus with many different complex scenarios to consider, the 5G high-precision positioning system has made it possible for the company to set up real-time alarms against trespassing in hazardous areas and monitor the real-time movements of all personnel on campus to ensure their safety. This system is the first to use the 5G indoor positioning technology to track personnel locations in ultra-complex scenarios with a precision of 1–3 m@90%. It stood out at the “Bloom Cup” competition which was held by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in 2023 and won a national-level Excellence Award.
Looking ahead, China Unicom Hebei will continue to advance 5G high-precision positioning applications in collaboration with ecosystem partners, aiming to bolster the digital transformation of the electric power industry and contribute to the development of a digital China with strong cyber technology.