虚拟电厂(xūnǐ diànchǎng): Virtual power plant

The first set of "Source-Grid-Load Smart Grid", built to distribute clean energy on a large scale, has been put into operation in Jiangsu province. This virtual power plant, the largest in China, uses intelligent technology to coordinate the plants' power generation as well as the users' power consumption, in order to achieve a dynamic equilibrium.

According to experts, by using the "Internet Plus Grid" technology, the smart grid system can help connect a huge number of scattered power supply channels and equipment to the system.

And all those equipment can be controlled separately, in order to deal with emergencies such as a natural disaster, excessive demand for power, a sudden collapse of the power grid or to simply save energy.

The system will also allow the supply of power to specific areas, even a building, to be controlled in such a way that, for example, only lights can be used, not air conditioners, which is a smart way of saving energy.

The system is also environmentally friendly. About 1,370 enterprises are already using this system, which will be promoted nationwide soon.

A nationwide smart grid system could be ready by 2020 with a capacity of more than 100 million kilowatts－equal to 100 million-kilowatts-class coal-fired units－which can reduce sulfur dioxide emission by 97,000 metric tons and carbon dioxide emission by 35 million tons.