The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), the largest utility in the world, is deploying a programmable and agile optical network using Nokia’s IP.

The deployment should allow SGCC to expand network coverage to more power stations and business offices, while increasing capacity and flexibility. The deployment covers new deployments in Hebei, Hunan provinces and Chongqing municipality, as well as expansions in ten other provinces, including Jibei, Jiangsu and Sichuan.

SGCC supplies electrical power to more than 1.1 billion people across 26 provinces, covering 88% of Chinese national territory. To cater to the increased mission-critical traffic requirements, and to future proof the network, SGCC is upgrading the communications infrastructure to monitor and control the largest utility grid in the world, producing and transferring massive amounts of data across long distances.

The deployment uses Finland-based Nokia’s WaveFabric optical offering to deliver an agile and future-proof network that is reliable for critical and non-critical services, including operator assistance and support for businesses and multi-media services. It also provides the provincial backbone with bandwidth to connect high-voltage power stations and substations along the electrical power transmission line.

Compared with traditional communications using wire cables, optical networks provide a more reliable, faster and higher bandwidth network for data transmission. Reliable and resilient networks will allow for real-time decision-making and enhance operational productivity, which is key in an industry where outage management is a top priority and concern.

The optical network can be upgraded to higher capacity and reliability, and is ready for smooth TDM (time-division multiplexing) and packet evolution to protect network investment.

With the Nokia 1830 PSS photonic service switch for WDM (wavelength-division multiplexing) and OTN (optical transport network), the SGCC regional backbone can be optimised for high capacity, multi-service support, and resilience, and ready for OTN extensions in the future.

Improved and efficient control of operations via an application management tool enables access control, real-time performance monitoring, intuitive alarm display, more customised reporting, efficiency improvement and a local language user interface.

“This expanded partnership with SGCC is a milestone for Nokia’s optical portfolio,” said Markus Borchert, president of Nokia in China. “Data-driven insights are key to SGCC’s overall digital transformation as it looks to deliver safe, reliable electricity for more than one billion people. We are proud to be playing a major role in developing this highly reliable transport network that will evolve how critical and non-critical grid communications are delivered.”