/PRZWT/On the streets of Shenzhen, a fried chicken set ordered via mobile phone "fell from the sky", and when opened, it was still giving off a fragrant steam. On the banks of the Huangpu River, tourists are taking light "flying taxis" to overlook the magnificent river view from the air. In the suburbs of the Yanshan Mountains, a patrol team composed of drones shuttles among the high mountains and deep valleys, providing detailed image data for the protection of the ancient city wall...
Behind these vivid scenes lies the accelerated rise of the low-altitude economy. The popularization and large-scale application of new types of transportation such as unmanned aerial vehicles and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) are bringing about a profound reconstruction of the form of urban three-dimensional transportation networks.
As an emerging industry that takes the vast airspace as its stage, the low-altitude economy does not "dance out of thin air". Instead, it needs to rely on a three-dimensional operation guarantee system from "air to ground" to provide support for the constantly expanding diverse scenarios. Among them, the energy base serving the infrastructure of the low-altitude economy is one of the indispensable key roles.
White Paper on "Empowering Low-altitude Economic Development: Building a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Energy Foundation for Air Transport
Recently, Schneider Electric, a global leader in energy technology, has meticulously compiled "Empowering the Development of Low-altitude Economy" based on its professional insights in energy management and the actual demands of the low-altitude economy industry. The White Paper "Building a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Energy Foundation for Air Mobility" (hereinafter referred to as the "White Paper") deeply interprets the key challenges of the power supply and distribution system for low-altitude take-off and landing infrastructure, as well as practical countermeasures that can be implemented.
Hierarchical guarantee, allocation based on demand, and building a solid foundation for energy stability
The primary power supply challenge faced by low-altitude take-off and landing infrastructure is how to ensure its safety and stability. For such "air-ground hubs" that require continuous and reliable operation, whether it is the insufficient stability of the power grid or the operational interruption caused by passive response to faults, it will directly affect the normal takeoff and landing, charging and dispatching of aircraft, and damage their long-term commercial value.
This challenge stems from multiple factors. For instance, the geographical locations, power supply loads, service frequencies and functions of different low-altitude take-off and landing stations vary greatly, making it difficult to directly reuse the existing power supply and distribution schemes. For instance, some power stations are located in remote areas. The unstable power grid makes them highly prone to power outages during extreme weather conditions such as heavy rain and typhoons. Moreover, the traditional power distribution system is difficult to monitor the power consumption status of multiple loads in real time and cannot quickly locate and eliminate faults, which keeps the operating costs high.
To address these challenges, it is imperative to build a power distribution guarantee system that is suitable for the large-scale development of the low-altitude economy. The White Paper adheres to the concept of "hierarchical guarantee and on-demand allocation", and proposes a three-level hierarchical system for low-altitude take-off and landing fields.
Meanwhile, the design of low-altitude infrastructure power distribution scenarios is centered around the charging demands of unmanned aircraft. The core logic is to achieve precise matching between transformer capacity and actual demand through power capacity assessment and operational scale prediction, and effectively balance the compatibility of fixed charging, mobile charging, and built-in charging. To avoid the resource mismatch of "high risk of core load power-off and excessive input of ordinary load".
In addition, in response to the risks faced by low-altitude infrastructure such as lightning strikes, electrical fires, and power supply disruptions for fire-fighting equipment, apart from deploying necessary monitoring and control systems, safety monitoring data should also be integrated into a unified platform to achieve effective linkage between alarm push and various disaster recovery subsystems, thereby shortening the response time.
Digital empowerment, flexible anti-interference, and enhanced grid adaptation capabilities
As an air transportation hub for scenarios such as logistics, passenger transportation, and relay services, ensuring the flexible operation of low-altitude take-off and landing stations is equally crucial. The most typical challenge lies in whether the power distribution infrastructure can withstand the "load wave" generated by the instantaneous fast charging of a large number of drones.
Similar to the impact of electric vehicle charging piles on the power grid, the instantaneous rapid charging demands generated by the high-frequency and concentrated take-offs and landings of drones can easily overload distribution lines and transformers. As a new type of infrastructure, take-off and landing stations lack mature solutions in microgrid planning and design, equipment deployment, and connection with the existing power supply system. In the short term, it is difficult to effectively regulate with the help of microgrid energy storage systems.
In response to this, the White Paper has put forward a series of targeted solutions, including upgrading infrastructure, applying distributed energy, and enhancing the resilience of the power grid, in order to significantly mitigate the negative impacts on the power grid.
The core of upgrading infrastructure lies in taking transformers and lines as the main objects of the upgrade. In addition to selecting transformers with high impact resistance and low loss characteristics to delay the equipment upgrade and transformation cycle. In addition, before the upgrade, Schneider Electric's Energy Advisor Platform (EMA) can be used to simulate the voltage and current changes under different upgrade schemes, providing precise data support for "on-demand upgrades". To avoid potential voltage deterioration after the upgrade, it is also possible to add auxiliary measures such as intelligent voltage regulators (DVRS) to ensure that the grid voltage remains within a safe range.
The core of applying distributed energy lies in using short-range and high-power energy storage facilities to effectively smooth out the load peaks caused by aircraft charging, and further optimize economic efficiency in combination with photovoltaic applications. To achieve greater cost savings, it is advisable to flexibly configure based on the roof area of the station and the local electricity price characteristics, and explore the potential benefits of photovoltaic and energy storage synergy.
The core of enhancing the resilience of the power grid lies in the continuous power supply capacity in response to sudden power outages, which can be achieved through a combination of self-provided power sources and energy storage, providing a "dual guarantee". In this regard, Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure microgrid controller can achieve the coordinated control of "self-provided power supply + energy storage" When there is a sudden power outage in the power grid, this controller can not only switch to microgrid mode within milliseconds to prioritize immediate charging demands and replenish energy in a timely manner, but also predict the risk of power outage by combining real-time monitoring and historical data, helping property owners achieve flexible operation with reasonable investment.
Green compliance and low-carbon operation forge the wings of sustainable development
Today, as the "dual carbon" goals continue to advance, the environmental friendliness and operational compliance of low-altitude economic infrastructure have become core issues for the sustainable development of the industry. To promote the coordinated development of the low-altitude economy and the ecological environment, it is necessary to focus on reducing the carbon footprint throughout the entire life cycle and be committed to improving energy utilization efficiency and safety compliance levels.
In this regard, the "White Paper" explores a series of feasible approaches to promoting the green and sustainable development of the low-altitude economy from different dimensions, such as the application of green products, digital operation and maintenance, and the quantification of energy and sustainability indicators.
The application of green products can enhance the sustainability of the power supply and distribution system of low-altitude take-off and landing facilities. Schneider Electric is actively using air to replace sulfur hexafluoride (a highly greenhouse gas that was once widely used as insulation), providing a more environmentally friendly option for equipment selection in low-altitude stations.
In terms of digital operation and maintenance, Schneider Electric's power Integrated Operation Management Platform (EEO) can not only integrate environmental and equipment operation data, dynamically adjust equipment parameters to avoid the impact of extreme environments on equipment efficiency, but also combine intelligent sensing technology to achieve predictive and remote equipment maintenance, avoiding additional carbon emissions caused by faults and unplanned shutdowns. Not only that, this digital operation platform can also help achieve digitalization of power distribution. Through functions such as data analysis, energy consumption statistics, and fault detection, it can effectively optimize energy management. In addition, relying on innovative charging network optimization technology, the interaction between charging cabinets and energy storage systems can be fully utilized to achieve "peak shaving and valley filling", and even make take-off and landing stations become "producers and consumers" that feed back electricity to the power grid, thereby further improving energy utilization efficiency and reducing overall carbon emissions.
Meanwhile, the sustainable development indicators of low-altitude economic infrastructure also need to focus on the environmental impact throughout the entire life cycle from construction to operation. By considering quantitative indicators such as energy consumption rate, greenhouse gas emissions, water resource utilization rate, waste, land and biodiversity, as well as noise impact, it is ensured that the data can be collected, compared and optimized.
A stable power supply and distribution system is the key foundation supporting the large-scale operation of the low-altitude economy. We expect that with the continuous expansion of market demand and business models, low-altitude economic infrastructure can achieve a coordinated growth of economic and environmental benefits while developing on a large scale, through the construction and implementation of a hierarchical guarantee system, the application of flexible operation technologies, and the promotion of green and sustainable measures.
