Stabilizing power grids with artificial intelligence
Taiwan wishes to expand relations with Germany
US politicians: scrutinize investments more closely
NIO acquires stake in mining operations
Stock markets ordered to remain stable ahead of CP Conference
Port of Hamburg: Cosco demands clarity
Heads: Andreas Risch – always on duty
Dear reader,
When the power goes out, business life comes (mostly) to a complete standstill. In China, companies have had many annoying experiences with power outages. Last year, some provinces rationed electricity for weeks at a time due to a lack of coal in power plants. This year, new problems emerged: The heat wave had paralyzed the power supply of hydroelectric plants. The situation escalated even further because China does not have a functioning electricity market and other provinces were unable to step in for the affected regions.
For shorter blackouts, however, a solution seems to be on the horizon. Chinese researchers want to use artificial intelligence to improve processes during blackouts, as Frank Sieren reports. The idea is to reduce short-term power outages from a few hours to a few seconds. A first pilot project is underway in Xinjiang, where the software is already expected to take over almost completely. The researchers speak of “self-healing functions” for the power grid. But as positive – and probably partly exaggerated – as that may sound, prolonged power shortages cannot be overcome even with AI: Because even the smartest AI is of little use when there is no power.
Today marks Porsche’s IPO. It is Germany’s biggest IPO since Telekom was first listed 25 years ago. In China, the brand is perceived very differently than in the West: There, Porsches are less perceived as sports cars and much more as luxury cars, as Christian Domke Seidel reports. Their cars are bought by women and young people far more often than in the West. Just like for big car manufacturers, China is one of the biggest single markets. More than a third of Porsche’s cars are sold in the People’s Republic. Trends from the People’s Republic could soon spill over onto the global market.
Your Nico Beckert
Feature
Porsche hopes for cult following
In China, Porsche is considered less a sports car than a luxury brand. The cars reach different target groups.
The Porsche brand has two faces. One is the European one. Here, the automaker is known for its sports cars, and is associated with a lot of horsepower and the 911 model. Then there is the Chinese angle. There, Porsche is an SUV producer beloved by the young Generation Z. That affects vehicle development. The world’s largest car market could decide the future of the Porsche brand.
Largest IPO in 25 years
Thursday, September 29, 2022, is likely to become a public holiday for Porsche. The initial listing of the shares will take place on this day (DE000PAG9113). The company is issuing a cheeky amount of 911 million shares. Half of these are non-voting preferred shares, a quarter of which will be sold. Porsche expects a valuation of around €75 billion – the shares have long been oversubscribed several times over. It will be Germany’s biggest IPO since Telekom a quarter of a century ago.
Whether it will pay off for investors in the long term remains to be seen. But the fact is that Porsche sold just over 300,000 cars last year. Sales have tripled within just ten years. For 2022, the company is aiming for a return on sales of around 17 percent.
But the brand owes its yield largely to China. The company sold more than 95,000 vehicles on the Chinese market, or almost a third of its total sales in 2021. And here, the clientele ticks completely differently than in Europe. “In China, the proportion of female customers is already 50 percent and the average age is below 40,” a company spokesperson told Table.Media. For individual model series – such as the Macan – the share of female buyers is as high as 60 percent.
Porsche in China: luxury brand instead of sports car
The brand’s motorsport and Steve McQueen image, on the other hand, is largely unknown in the People’s Republic. “In China, we have only been on the market for 20 years. Porsche is perceived there more like a modern luxury brand,” says the Porsche spokesperson. This is also reflected in the vehicles sold. In Germany, the Porsche 911 topped the sales charts. In the People’s Republic, it’s the Cayenne, Macan and Panamera. All of them four-door models.
Porsche is adapting to the younger generation. In 2025, half of all newly sold Porsches are to NEVs – fully electric or plug-in hybrids. In 2030, the share of all new vehicles with a fully electric powertrain is to exceed 80 percent. These are global targets, but there is no doubt that China, with its particularly far-reaching requirements for electromobility, is likely to be a driving force in advancing the German carmaker’s development.
For instance, Porsche quotes Thomas Pretsch, Senior Manager of the Connectivity discipline at Porsche Engineering, in a press release as saying: “It is conceivable that in the future, new technology will first be developed in China before being rolled out globally.” In 2022, the number of employees at the Chinese development center is expected to grow from 130 to 160. They will primarily work on digitizing the controls: the integration of streaming and entertainment apps into the vehicle, detections of Chinese traffic signs, adaptation of assistance systems to Chinese driving styles, training AI for automated driving and transmission of vehicle-related data to the public administration.
Billions for the future of the brand
Porsche hopes the IPO will create a new perception and customer loyalty, especially in China. For one, Porsche will probably be seen as an entity completely detached from VW. The parent company has had a tough time in China for quite some time now. Partly because the brand is lagging behind in digitalization, AI, and connectivity. For some time now, success and failure in the People’s Republic have decided key staffing decisions in the Group. Its independence as a luxury brand could bring Porsche the calm it needs for long-term success.
Porsche is expected to raise around €9.4 billion with its IPO. Money the group urgently needs for its EV strategy, especially in China. After all, the in-house software development Cariad turned out to be a multi-billion euro disaster. The Covid pandemic has also shown how fragile many supply chains are. The only solution is to make investments along the value chain. The Chinese electric brand BYD, for instance, manufactures its own batteries, operates a semiconductor subsidiary, and holds lithium mining rights.
The stability of electricity grids will be a challenge for German utilities this winter. The operation of gas-fired power plants, which are capable of coping with power peaks, is at risk because of the Russian crisis. Renewables, however, do not reliably supply energy. A potential blackout has become a hot topic in Germany.
China, on the other hand, has plenty of experience with securing the power supply. During the turbulent phase of economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s, power outages happened frequently. Both demand and supply grew so quickly that they sometimes did not match. In the meantime, however, the grids are about as stable as they are in Europe – thanks in part to greatly improved management of electricity distribution.
President Xi Jinping has even brought up the idea of global power grids that could dampen regional problems. If energy becomes scarce in one part of the world, regions with an energy surplus could step in. In the age of renewables, this idea seems more and more attractive.
Smart grid management
Widespread, prolonged blackouts are often caused by the enormous complexity of grids. The number of power plants, substations, power lines, and connected utilities creates unforeseen interactions. Once problems occur, the entire system sometimes collapses.
In late July, China’s state-owned utilities unveiled a new power distribution system that will use AI to minimize power outages. This was reported by the South China Morning Post based on a report published in the journal Science and Technology Daily. The key here is that computers are more likely to grasp the complexity and suggest the right measures to stabilize the grids.
The new software is reportedly designed to shorten power outages that would otherwise last between six and ten hours to just a few seconds. The system was initially tested in the Qitailu municipality in the province of Xinjiang, which is populated by around 200 people. From here, it will soon be expanded to other communities, the report said. Human intervention is supposed to become unnecessary to solve problems. The scientists involved speak of a “self-healing function.”
AI needs a lot of data to learn
For instance, a conventional grid control computer generates a wide range of error codes in the event of a power outage. The team that manually controls the network must respond appropriately, for example, by creating a rerouting plan. So far, this has been done according to individual experience. Software, on the other hand, can identify hidden patterns from a large number of previous power outages to provide a solution. The AI is also said to be able to identify the source of malfunctions in the physical circuits in a matter of seconds.
However, to improve accuracy, AI requires a huge amount of data to learn from, according to the South China Morning Post report. “In a residential community, the grid connects to a large number of end users,” the newspaper quotes an engineer as saying. The new programs will help master this complexity.
The power grid of the trail municipality now has more sensors than any other in China. Each sensor includes its own processor that can decide on power supply routes without human involvement. The small problem is solved in a decentralized manner before a major chain reaction occurs.
When an equipment failure occurs in the region’s low-voltage grid, the computer will “instantly start the self-healing function, including automatic fault location, fault isolation and power restoration,” the researchers said.
Power outages are also a climate problem
Power outages are becoming a serious problem not only in Germany and China, but globally. Heat waves and storms caused by climate change, as well as hacker attacks, could exacerbate the problem in the future. Power outages in China and other countries also affect our economy: when factories close because the power goes out, supply chains collapse. This year, power shortages in China also brought many factories to a standstill.
Over the next four years, Beijing plans to invest nearly $900 billion in the nation’s energy grids, according to state news agency Xinhua.
AI is already being used, especially in newly built wind farms and solar plants. However, applications are usually limited to high-capacity data networks that connect major cities or main distribution centers with high transmission rates. AI applications are also limited to industrial applications so far.
Xi dreams of a Silk Road for electricity
Back in September 2015, China’s President Xi Jinping already spoke before the United Nations General Assembly in favor of a global power grid. With it, China could simultaneously shape international standards, as it did with EV batteries.
China’s state-owned power grid operator SGCC is setting the pace for China’s global electricity ambitions. The plan for its Global Energy Interconnection Initiative is to advance regional interconnection by 2025, the expansion of renewable energies by 2030, and finally intercontinental grid interconnection by 2050. The foundation for the grid is ultra-high voltage (UHV) technology. It involves transmitting 800,000 volts via direct current cables or up to 1.1 million volts via alternating current systems.
China’s ultra-high voltage technology allows transmitting electricity over extremely long distances. The transmission distance can reach more than 5,000 kilometers. The power loss at these distances is only 1.6 percent. The main purpose of the network is to exchange electricity from renewable energies, the planners explain.
China buys grids – and reaps mistrust
According to a Financial Times report published the year before the pandemic, the Chinese global power expansion is already in full swing. Since 2013, State Grid and other Chinese companies have poured some $123 billion into power grids around the world. Corresponding deals have been signed in countries including Chile, Brazil, Russia, Portugal, Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and the Philippines, the newspaper reports, citing a study by Washington-based consulting firm RWR Advisory.
The Chinese state-owned power grid operator SGCC is one of the largest corporations in the world. State Grid also wants to become actively involved in Germany. There had been plans to acquire a stake in the power grid operator 50Hertz. The German government criticized the plan, and the stake ultimately went to the Belgian company Elia. If and how China will be forced to adjust its plans after the end of the global Covid pandemic is therefore still open.
Artificial intelligence
Climate
Power
Renewable energies
Science
Technology
News
Taiwan wants to expand relations before German delegation arrives
Ahead of a visit by members of the German parliament to Taipei, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has emphasized its interest in expanding relations with Germany. At a ceremony to mark the founding of a parliamentary association for friendship with Germany, Vice Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang said on Wednesday that Taiwan and Germany shared common values like freedom and democracy, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. A delegation of six members of the “Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends” in the Bundestag is expected to arrive in Taiwan on Sunday. Until Thursday, they hope to get a picture of the security situation, economic development and political situation in the democratic island republic.
At the ceremony, Germany’s representative in Taipei, Joerg Polster, highlighted that trade between Germany and Taiwan exceeded $20 billion last year. In addition to economic exchange, he said, it was also important to strengthen cooperation between governments and parliaments. Germany supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to the “Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends,” the Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag also plans to send a delegation to Taiwan (China.Table reported). ari
Germany
US politicians call for greater investment screening
Several senior US politicians have called on President Joe Biden to issue a decree ordering greater scrutiny of US companies’ investments in China. Biden should issue the legislation “to safeguard national security and supply chain resiliency on outbound investments to foreign adversaries,” said the letter, signed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, among others. The US Congress is currently considering new legislation that would grant the US government extensive new powers to block billions of dollars of US foreign investment in China.
To this end, US Vice President Kamala Harris now campaigned for closer cooperation with Taiwan: “Taiwan is a vibrant democracy that contributes to the global good — from technology to health, and beyond, and the United States will continue to deepen our unofficial ties,” Harris said in a speech on a US warship in Japan on Wednesday. Harris criticized China, saying Beijing “has challenged freedom of the seas” and “has flexed its military and economic might to coerce and intimidate its neighbors.” On Wednesday, the US government also planned to announce a major investment in the Indo-Pacific region. rtr/ari
Geopolitik
Investments
Trade
NIO acquires stake in lithium mines
The Chinese EV manufacturer Nio is investing about €7.8 million in the Australian mining company Greenwing Resources. Nio is the first Chinese car company to take a stake in a mining company, reports the business portal Caixin. Greenwing operates lithium mines in Argentina and Madagascar.
Recently, a growing number of car manufacturers are participating in mining projects. In August, Volkswagen announced its intention to acquire stakes in Canadian mining companies. In China, the price of lithium increased by 80 percent this year. High demand from the EV industry is seen as a major reason. In the first eight months, more than 3.8 million EVs were sold in China. nib
Bergbau
Industrie
Lithium
Shares remain stable before CP Conference
China apparently wants to prevent a stock market slide ahead of the Communist Party Congress, scheduled to begin on October 16. Securities regulators recently instructed several fund managers and brokers not to engage in massive stock sales in the run-up to the CP Congress to avoid large market swings, according to a Reuters report. The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges had issued verbal instructions as part of unofficial guidelines, it said. “They asked (us) to avoid abnormal trading activities, including massive sell-offs and buy-ins. Basically, it’s a move to stabilize the market,” the agency quoted an unnamed source as saying Tuesday. The matter reportedly is “politically sensitive.”
China’s main stock index, the CSI 300, has lost about 6 percent so far this month and more than 20 percent this year. In late July, the Shanghai Stock Exchange had already pledged to maintain market stability and “firmly” prevent any large and rapid fluctuations in the capital markets ahead of the CP Congress. The exchanges declined to comment on the events to Reuters. rtr/ck
20th party congress
Chinese Communist Party
Finance
Shares
Port of Hamburg: Cosco sets deadline for entry
The Chinese shipping company Cosco has set a deadline for the German government to approve its planned participation in a Port of Hamburg terminal. According to the German broadcaster NDR, the federal government is to issue the outstanding approvals by the end of the year. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) is also in favor of the stake. However, the Federal Ministry of Economics recently expressed reservations about the deal (China.Table reported). Economy Minister Robert Habeck said as recently as mid-September, “I’m leaning in the direction that we don’t allow it.” Habeck said he wanted to be more critical of Chinese investments in Germany in the future. A decision is expected for October. nib
Cosco
Germany
Hamburg port
Logistics
Trade
Heads
Andreas Risch – home in two different worlds
Andreas Risch is the Managing Director of the mechanical engineering company Fette Compacting in China and Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Nanjing.
Andreas Risch explains the reason why he moved to China as follows: “In Germany, you are very much concerned with risks and internal processes. In China, you are primarily concerned with meeting customer requirements.” Since 2016, Risch has been the managing director of the China division of Fette Compacting, the global market leader for solutions and machines for tablet production, primarily for the pharmaceutical industry. Risch, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, runs an independent production site in Nanjing that also serves markets outside China with tablet presses.
“We are fully represented in China with second-level support, we have application experts, we have a large laboratory, we have pharmacists to serve the entire market,” Risch said. He believes this puts the company in a good position in light of the ongoing discussion about decoupling. “We have two production plants in Germany and China, and they naturally complement each other now.” It is also advantageous for his company, he says, that the China site was already established back in 2004. This meant that the corresponding structures could be set up earlier than other competitors.
Close cooperation with clients is the norm
2004 was also the year Risch visited China for the first time, but back then not yet in the service of Fette Compacting, but as Technical Director for a globally positioned division of the GEA Group. He later managed the expansion of the site from Germany. Sometime later, he met his wife in Beijing. They married in 2009. However, Germany initially remained the center of his life until GEA Group offered him a job in Shanghai in 2010.
He has been working at Fette Compacting since 2016. “We still have real entrepreneurs here like we used to have in Germany. They say, for example, we want to become the best nutrition manufacturer and develop our production in partnership with you,” Risch reports. This approach of doing things together with the customer works very well in China and helps create close customer ties.
Fewer foreigners come to Nanjing
Four years ago, the plant was relocated within Nanjing because an expansion of the former site would have been difficult. “We then built a model plant, so to speak. That’s why we are mentioned a lot in the local press as an example of an innovative technology company,” explains Risch. In any case, contact with local contacts has intensified even more because the number of foreigners in Nanjing has dropped by almost three quarters as a result of the pandemic. Only 8,000 foreigners still live in the metropolitan region of 12 million people.
“Since this decline, foreign managers receive more invitations to events and functions on the weekends to be present, because representatives are concerned about the international image of the region.” Representatives of provincial and state governments would now approach foreign businessmen very openly and ask, “Tell me, what do you suggest? What should we improve?”
Visits on-site change
He also experiences this open communication in his role as Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Nanjing for Jiangsu Province and parts of Anhui Province. He says the fact that fewer Europeans are coming to the region, who could carry China’s message to the outside world, is a problem for leaders in the region. “I mean, the image in Germany has already shifted noticeably and also partly unjustified,” says Risch, who has made the experience that visits on the ground would change the opinions of Germans about China again quite quickly. This was the case, for example, with his parents, who are now real China fans after a two-week stay.
Even though Risch is first and foremost the local managing director and has to take care of all strategic and operational matters, it is important to him that the two worlds he has known in his life move closer together again. Especially since, in his opinion, the Germans could learn a thing or two from the Chinese, especially when it comes to the innovative spirit and rapid implementation. Constantin Eckner
Decoupling
Industry
Nanjing
Pharma
Trade
Executive Moves
Wen Shugang (59) will become the new Chairman of electricity generation company China Huaneng Group. He succeeds Shu Yinbiao, who will retire at the age of 64.
Jiang Yi (60) will be the new Chairman of electricity generation company China Huadian. He previously served State Power Investment Corp.
China Huaneng and China Huadian belong to the so-called “Big Five” Chinese power producers owned by the central government.
Is something changing in your organization? Why not let us know at heads@table.media!
Dessert
Autumn is harvest time – that also includes salt. Here, salt farmers work in the Changlu Daqinghe salt works in Tangshan in the northern Chinese province of Hebei.
Stabilizing power grids with artificial intelligence
Taiwan wishes to expand relations with Germany
US politicians: scrutinize investments more closely
NIO acquires stake in mining operations
Stock markets ordered to remain stable ahead of CP Conference
Port of Hamburg: Cosco demands clarity
Heads: Andreas Risch – always on duty
Dear reader,
When the power goes out, business life comes (mostly) to a complete standstill. In China, companies have had many annoying experiences with power outages. Last year, some provinces rationed electricity for weeks at a time due to a lack of coal in power plants. This year, new problems emerged: The heat wave had paralyzed the power supply of hydroelectric plants. The situation escalated even further because China does not have a functioning electricity market and other provinces were unable to step in for the affected regions.
For shorter blackouts, however, a solution seems to be on the horizon. Chinese researchers want to use artificial intelligence to improve processes during blackouts, as Frank Sieren reports. The idea is to reduce short-term power outages from a few hours to a few seconds. A first pilot project is underway in Xinjiang, where the software is already expected to take over almost completely. The researchers speak of “self-healing functions” for the power grid. But as positive – and probably partly exaggerated – as that may sound, prolonged power shortages cannot be overcome even with AI: Because even the smartest AI is of little use when there is no power.
Today marks Porsche’s IPO. It is Germany’s biggest IPO since Telekom was first listed 25 years ago. In China, the brand is perceived very differently than in the West: There, Porsches are less perceived as sports cars and much more as luxury cars, as Christian Domke Seidel reports. Their cars are bought by women and young people far more often than in the West. Just like for big car manufacturers, China is one of the biggest single markets. More than a third of Porsche’s cars are sold in the People’s Republic. Trends from the People’s Republic could soon spill over onto the global market.
Your Nico Beckert
Feature
Porsche hopes for cult following
In China, Porsche is considered less a sports car than a luxury brand. The cars reach different target groups.
The Porsche brand has two faces. One is the European one. Here, the automaker is known for its sports cars, and is associated with a lot of horsepower and the 911 model. Then there is the Chinese angle. There, Porsche is an SUV producer beloved by the young Generation Z. That affects vehicle development. The world’s largest car market could decide the future of the Porsche brand.
Largest IPO in 25 years
Thursday, September 29, 2022, is likely to become a public holiday for Porsche. The initial listing of the shares will take place on this day (DE000PAG9113). The company is issuing a cheeky amount of 911 million shares. Half of these are non-voting preferred shares, a quarter of which will be sold. Porsche expects a valuation of around €75 billion – the shares have long been oversubscribed several times over. It will be Germany’s biggest IPO since Telekom a quarter of a century ago.
Whether it will pay off for investors in the long term remains to be seen. But the fact is that Porsche sold just over 300,000 cars last year. Sales have tripled within just ten years. For 2022, the company is aiming for a return on sales of around 17 percent.
But the brand owes its yield largely to China. The company sold more than 95,000 vehicles on the Chinese market, or almost a third of its total sales in 2021. And here, the clientele ticks completely differently than in Europe. “In China, the proportion of female customers is already 50 percent and the average age is below 40,” a company spokesperson told Table.Media. For individual model series – such as the Macan – the share of female buyers is as high as 60 percent.
Porsche in China: luxury brand instead of sports car
The brand’s motorsport and Steve McQueen image, on the other hand, is largely unknown in the People’s Republic. “In China, we have only been on the market for 20 years. Porsche is perceived there more like a modern luxury brand,” says the Porsche spokesperson. This is also reflected in the vehicles sold. In Germany, the Porsche 911 topped the sales charts. In the People’s Republic, it’s the Cayenne, Macan and Panamera. All of them four-door models.
Porsche is adapting to the younger generation. In 2025, half of all newly sold Porsches are to NEVs – fully electric or plug-in hybrids. In 2030, the share of all new vehicles with a fully electric powertrain is to exceed 80 percent. These are global targets, but there is no doubt that China, with its particularly far-reaching requirements for electromobility, is likely to be a driving force in advancing the German carmaker’s development.
For instance, Porsche quotes Thomas Pretsch, Senior Manager of the Connectivity discipline at Porsche Engineering, in a press release as saying: “It is conceivable that in the future, new technology will first be developed in China before being rolled out globally.” In 2022, the number of employees at the Chinese development center is expected to grow from 130 to 160. They will primarily work on digitizing the controls: the integration of streaming and entertainment apps into the vehicle, detections of Chinese traffic signs, adaptation of assistance systems to Chinese driving styles, training AI for automated driving and transmission of vehicle-related data to the public administration.
Billions for the future of the brand
Porsche hopes the IPO will create a new perception and customer loyalty, especially in China. For one, Porsche will probably be seen as an entity completely detached from VW. The parent company has had a tough time in China for quite some time now. Partly because the brand is lagging behind in digitalization, AI, and connectivity. For some time now, success and failure in the People’s Republic have decided key staffing decisions in the Group. Its independence as a luxury brand could bring Porsche the calm it needs for long-term success.
Porsche is expected to raise around €9.4 billion with its IPO. Money the group urgently needs for its EV strategy, especially in China. After all, the in-house software development Cariad turned out to be a multi-billion euro disaster. The Covid pandemic has also shown how fragile many supply chains are. The only solution is to make investments along the value chain. The Chinese electric brand BYD, for instance, manufactures its own batteries, operates a semiconductor subsidiary, and holds lithium mining rights.
The stability of electricity grids will be a challenge for German utilities this winter. The operation of gas-fired power plants, which are capable of coping with power peaks, is at risk because of the Russian crisis. Renewables, however, do not reliably supply energy. A potential blackout has become a hot topic in Germany.
China, on the other hand, has plenty of experience with securing the power supply. During the turbulent phase of economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s, power outages happened frequently. Both demand and supply grew so quickly that they sometimes did not match. In the meantime, however, the grids are about as stable as they are in Europe – thanks in part to greatly improved management of electricity distribution.
President Xi Jinping has even brought up the idea of global power grids that could dampen regional problems. If energy becomes scarce in one part of the world, regions with an energy surplus could step in. In the age of renewables, this idea seems more and more attractive.
Smart grid management
Widespread, prolonged blackouts are often caused by the enormous complexity of grids. The number of power plants, substations, power lines, and connected utilities creates unforeseen interactions. Once problems occur, the entire system sometimes collapses.
In late July, China’s state-owned utilities unveiled a new power distribution system that will use AI to minimize power outages. This was reported by the South China Morning Post based on a report published in the journal Science and Technology Daily. The key here is that computers are more likely to grasp the complexity and suggest the right measures to stabilize the grids.
The new software is reportedly designed to shorten power outages that would otherwise last between six and ten hours to just a few seconds. The system was initially tested in the Qitailu municipality in the province of Xinjiang, which is populated by around 200 people. From here, it will soon be expanded to other communities, the report said. Human intervention is supposed to become unnecessary to solve problems. The scientists involved speak of a “self-healing function.”
AI needs a lot of data to learn
For instance, a conventional grid control computer generates a wide range of error codes in the event of a power outage. The team that manually controls the network must respond appropriately, for example, by creating a rerouting plan. So far, this has been done according to individual experience. Software, on the other hand, can identify hidden patterns from a large number of previous power outages to provide a solution. The AI is also said to be able to identify the source of malfunctions in the physical circuits in a matter of seconds.
However, to improve accuracy, AI requires a huge amount of data to learn from, according to the South China Morning Post report. “In a residential community, the grid connects to a large number of end users,” the newspaper quotes an engineer as saying. The new programs will help master this complexity.
The power grid of the trail municipality now has more sensors than any other in China. Each sensor includes its own processor that can decide on power supply routes without human involvement. The small problem is solved in a decentralized manner before a major chain reaction occurs.
When an equipment failure occurs in the region’s low-voltage grid, the computer will “instantly start the self-healing function, including automatic fault location, fault isolation and power restoration,” the researchers said.
Power outages are also a climate problem
Power outages are becoming a serious problem not only in Germany and China, but globally. Heat waves and storms caused by climate change, as well as hacker attacks, could exacerbate the problem in the future. Power outages in China and other countries also affect our economy: when factories close because the power goes out, supply chains collapse. This year, power shortages in China also brought many factories to a standstill.
Over the next four years, Beijing plans to invest nearly $900 billion in the nation’s energy grids, according to state news agency Xinhua.
AI is already being used, especially in newly built wind farms and solar plants. However, applications are usually limited to high-capacity data networks that connect major cities or main distribution centers with high transmission rates. AI applications are also limited to industrial applications so far.
Xi dreams of a Silk Road for electricity
Back in September 2015, China’s President Xi Jinping already spoke before the United Nations General Assembly in favor of a global power grid. With it, China could simultaneously shape international standards, as it did with EV batteries.
China’s state-owned power grid operator SGCC is setting the pace for China’s global electricity ambitions. The plan for its Global Energy Interconnection Initiative is to advance regional interconnection by 2025, the expansion of renewable energies by 2030, and finally intercontinental grid interconnection by 2050. The foundation for the grid is ultra-high voltage (UHV) technology. It involves transmitting 800,000 volts via direct current cables or up to 1.1 million volts via alternating current systems.
China’s ultra-high voltage technology allows transmitting electricity over extremely long distances. The transmission distance can reach more than 5,000 kilometers. The power loss at these distances is only 1.6 percent. The main purpose of the network is to exchange electricity from renewable energies, the planners explain.
China buys grids – and reaps mistrust
According to a Financial Times report published the year before the pandemic, the Chinese global power expansion is already in full swing. Since 2013, State Grid and other Chinese companies have poured some $123 billion into power grids around the world. Corresponding deals have been signed in countries including Chile, Brazil, Russia, Portugal, Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and the Philippines, the newspaper reports, citing a study by Washington-based consulting firm RWR Advisory.
The Chinese state-owned power grid operator SGCC is one of the largest corporations in the world. State Grid also wants to become actively involved in Germany. There had been plans to acquire a stake in the power grid operator 50Hertz. The German government criticized the plan, and the stake ultimately went to the Belgian company Elia. If and how China will be forced to adjust its plans after the end of the global Covid pandemic is therefore still open.
Artificial intelligence
Climate
Power
Renewable energies
Science
Technology
News
Taiwan wants to expand relations before German delegation arrives
Ahead of a visit by members of the German parliament to Taipei, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has emphasized its interest in expanding relations with Germany. At a ceremony to mark the founding of a parliamentary association for friendship with Germany, Vice Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang said on Wednesday that Taiwan and Germany shared common values like freedom and democracy, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. A delegation of six members of the “Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends” in the Bundestag is expected to arrive in Taiwan on Sunday. Until Thursday, they hope to get a picture of the security situation, economic development and political situation in the democratic island republic.
At the ceremony, Germany’s representative in Taipei, Joerg Polster, highlighted that trade between Germany and Taiwan exceeded $20 billion last year. In addition to economic exchange, he said, it was also important to strengthen cooperation between governments and parliaments. Germany supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to the “Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends,” the Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag also plans to send a delegation to Taiwan (China.Table reported). ari
Germany
US politicians call for greater investment screening
Several senior US politicians have called on President Joe Biden to issue a decree ordering greater scrutiny of US companies’ investments in China. Biden should issue the legislation “to safeguard national security and supply chain resiliency on outbound investments to foreign adversaries,” said the letter, signed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, among others. The US Congress is currently considering new legislation that would grant the US government extensive new powers to block billions of dollars of US foreign investment in China.
To this end, US Vice President Kamala Harris now campaigned for closer cooperation with Taiwan: “Taiwan is a vibrant democracy that contributes to the global good — from technology to health, and beyond, and the United States will continue to deepen our unofficial ties,” Harris said in a speech on a US warship in Japan on Wednesday. Harris criticized China, saying Beijing “has challenged freedom of the seas” and “has flexed its military and economic might to coerce and intimidate its neighbors.” On Wednesday, the US government also planned to announce a major investment in the Indo-Pacific region. rtr/ari
Geopolitik
Investments
Trade
NIO acquires stake in lithium mines
The Chinese EV manufacturer Nio is investing about €7.8 million in the Australian mining company Greenwing Resources. Nio is the first Chinese car company to take a stake in a mining company, reports the business portal Caixin. Greenwing operates lithium mines in Argentina and Madagascar.
Recently, a growing number of car manufacturers are participating in mining projects. In August, Volkswagen announced its intention to acquire stakes in Canadian mining companies. In China, the price of lithium increased by 80 percent this year. High demand from the EV industry is seen as a major reason. In the first eight months, more than 3.8 million EVs were sold in China. nib
Bergbau
Industrie
Lithium
Shares remain stable before CP Conference
China apparently wants to prevent a stock market slide ahead of the Communist Party Congress, scheduled to begin on October 16. Securities regulators recently instructed several fund managers and brokers not to engage in massive stock sales in the run-up to the CP Congress to avoid large market swings, according to a Reuters report. The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges had issued verbal instructions as part of unofficial guidelines, it said. “They asked (us) to avoid abnormal trading activities, including massive sell-offs and buy-ins. Basically, it’s a move to stabilize the market,” the agency quoted an unnamed source as saying Tuesday. The matter reportedly is “politically sensitive.”
China’s main stock index, the CSI 300, has lost about 6 percent so far this month and more than 20 percent this year. In late July, the Shanghai Stock Exchange had already pledged to maintain market stability and “firmly” prevent any large and rapid fluctuations in the capital markets ahead of the CP Congress. The exchanges declined to comment on the events to Reuters. rtr/ck
20th party congress
Chinese Communist Party
Finance
Shares
Port of Hamburg: Cosco sets deadline for entry
The Chinese shipping company Cosco has set a deadline for the German government to approve its planned participation in a Port of Hamburg terminal. According to the German broadcaster NDR, the federal government is to issue the outstanding approvals by the end of the year. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) is also in favor of the stake. However, the Federal Ministry of Economics recently expressed reservations about the deal (China.Table reported). Economy Minister Robert Habeck said as recently as mid-September, “I’m leaning in the direction that we don’t allow it.” Habeck said he wanted to be more critical of Chinese investments in Germany in the future. A decision is expected for October. nib
Cosco
Germany
Hamburg port
Logistics
Trade
Heads
Andreas Risch – home in two different worlds
Andreas Risch is the Managing Director of the mechanical engineering company Fette Compacting in China and Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Nanjing.
Andreas Risch explains the reason why he moved to China as follows: “In Germany, you are very much concerned with risks and internal processes. In China, you are primarily concerned with meeting customer requirements.” Since 2016, Risch has been the managing director of the China division of Fette Compacting, the global market leader for solutions and machines for tablet production, primarily for the pharmaceutical industry. Risch, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, runs an independent production site in Nanjing that also serves markets outside China with tablet presses.
“We are fully represented in China with second-level support, we have application experts, we have a large laboratory, we have pharmacists to serve the entire market,” Risch said. He believes this puts the company in a good position in light of the ongoing discussion about decoupling. “We have two production plants in Germany and China, and they naturally complement each other now.” It is also advantageous for his company, he says, that the China site was already established back in 2004. This meant that the corresponding structures could be set up earlier than other competitors.
Close cooperation with clients is the norm
2004 was also the year Risch visited China for the first time, but back then not yet in the service of Fette Compacting, but as Technical Director for a globally positioned division of the GEA Group. He later managed the expansion of the site from Germany. Sometime later, he met his wife in Beijing. They married in 2009. However, Germany initially remained the center of his life until GEA Group offered him a job in Shanghai in 2010.
He has been working at Fette Compacting since 2016. “We still have real entrepreneurs here like we used to have in Germany. They say, for example, we want to become the best nutrition manufacturer and develop our production in partnership with you,” Risch reports. This approach of doing things together with the customer works very well in China and helps create close customer ties.
Fewer foreigners come to Nanjing
Four years ago, the plant was relocated within Nanjing because an expansion of the former site would have been difficult. “We then built a model plant, so to speak. That’s why we are mentioned a lot in the local press as an example of an innovative technology company,” explains Risch. In any case, contact with local contacts has intensified even more because the number of foreigners in Nanjing has dropped by almost three quarters as a result of the pandemic. Only 8,000 foreigners still live in the metropolitan region of 12 million people.
“Since this decline, foreign managers receive more invitations to events and functions on the weekends to be present, because representatives are concerned about the international image of the region.” Representatives of provincial and state governments would now approach foreign businessmen very openly and ask, “Tell me, what do you suggest? What should we improve?”
Visits on-site change
He also experiences this open communication in his role as Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Nanjing for Jiangsu Province and parts of Anhui Province. He says the fact that fewer Europeans are coming to the region, who could carry China’s message to the outside world, is a problem for leaders in the region. “I mean, the image in Germany has already shifted noticeably and also partly unjustified,” says Risch, who has made the experience that visits on the ground would change the opinions of Germans about China again quite quickly. This was the case, for example, with his parents, who are now real China fans after a two-week stay.
Even though Risch is first and foremost the local managing director and has to take care of all strategic and operational matters, it is important to him that the two worlds he has known in his life move closer together again. Especially since, in his opinion, the Germans could learn a thing or two from the Chinese, especially when it comes to the innovative spirit and rapid implementation. Constantin Eckner
Decoupling
Industry
Nanjing
Pharma
Trade
Executive Moves
Wen Shugang (59) will become the new Chairman of electricity generation company China Huaneng Group. He succeeds Shu Yinbiao, who will retire at the age of 64.
Jiang Yi (60) will be the new Chairman of electricity generation company China Huadian. He previously served State Power Investment Corp.
China Huaneng and China Huadian belong to the so-called “Big Five” Chinese power producers owned by the central government.
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Dessert
Autumn is harvest time – that also includes salt. Here, salt farmers work in the Changlu Daqinghe salt works in Tangshan in the northern Chinese province of Hebei.
