On March 9, the "electricity post" in a small village, Jiti in Banan District, was put into service. It is the first digital and intelligent rural "electricity post" in SW China's Chongqing. As Banan District's first demonstration project integrating electricity and rural revitalization developed by State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Company, it strives to advance rural revival and promote the construction of urban-rural integrated development.

Jiti Village's "electricity post" includes three functional business consulting and handling zones, a smart rural energy monitoring platform, multi-functional services, and a resident grid manager. It can offer one-stop electricity services so that 1,071 households that cover a combined area of 9.8 square kilometers in Jiti Village can enjoy electricity services within the village. Moreover, it has also removed the last crucial hurdle against rural electricity supply services through a grid-based model.

Efficient rural electricity services

"Before, we needed to go to the service hall at Dongwenquan Town to get our electricity affairs handled. But now we can get them handled right in our village, and there are even specialized persons instructing us, which is much more convenient." According to a resident of Jiti Village, he was so happy to know that specialized persons come here every week to get their electricity affairs handled.

Huang Shiji is the grid manager of Jiti Village's "electricity post" who takes charge of services related to new electricity users, users who wish to have the electric capacity increased and users who want to alter their use of electricity, business consulting and inquiry, and other services for villagers and enterprises in the village. By releasing a "grid manager's announcement" and joining Jiti Village's WeChat group, he works to offer local villagers and enterprises services and promote the "Online State Grid APP." Thanks to the efforts, Jiti villagers can enjoy services related to new electricity users, paying electricity bills, and other aspects right within the village. They can see their problems solved within a much shorter time. In addition, the grid manager also works closely with specialized persons who know very well about electrical safety in the village to provide rural electricity users with the same efficient services as urban ones.

"Now we enjoy a sufficient supply of electricity, and we even have two rooms that are fully power-driven." The owner of Yun Lin Jian, a local guesthouse, recalled that in late 2021, he went to grid manager Huang Shiji to report the problem of being under-voltage at peak periods at his guesthouse and the plan of expanding his guesthouse and building a guesthouse village.

Huang Shiji then reported the problem to Shinan Electric Power Supply Branch, who sent specialized persons to conduct an on-site investigation. Immediately after confirming that the transformer capacity couldn't satisfy the electricity needs of the expanded guesthouse, the company started to install a new 400kVA common transformer, 37 new utility poles, and 2.1 kilometers of electricity wire and build Dashanbao standardized station area to meet all the electricity needs of the guesthouse.

Over recent years, the company has invested 3.5 million yuan in helping Jiti Village improve the power grid structure and develop a new rural power grid that is on par with an urban one, thereby securing a sufficient and reliable supply of electricity for the development of the village.

Big data support green development

Inside Jiti Village's "electricity post," the "smart rural energy monitoring platform" takes pride in place. Two display screens clearly show the statistical data and real-time monitoring data about the village's electricity use and whether the charging piles that are distributed across the village are in use or not.

To take the lead in promoting green commuting and restructure Jiti Village's energy consumption in a green and low-carbon way, Shinan Electric Power Supply Branch has built two charging stations and twelve charging piles at the village's two eco-friendly parking lots, and also cooperated with seven agritainment businesses including Hu Yun Liang Ju and Bai Lu Yuan on building another seven charging piles. Notably, the charging stations outside the "electricity post" generate electricity through photovoltaic canopies. When weather permits, a total of 32 kilowatt-hours of electricity can be generated per hour, which can be used by both the charging stations and the "electricity post." In this way, the "electricity post" can be operated on carbon-free energy.

At Banan District's Tian Ping Shan Yu Eco-garden, Wang Linping, General Manager of Chongqing Shan Yu Yi Xiang Tea Co., Ltd., mentioned that their Chongqing Tuo Tea production workshop used firewood to fry tea leaves before, but now it has been changed into electricity as electricity supply becomes sufficient and reliable.

Moreover, Shinan Electric Power Supply Branch has actively promoted the seedling technology that relies on electricity at the bases for characteristic industries for pears, flowers, trees, blueberries, and grapes and promotes the tea leaf drying technology that is electricity-driven at the base of Chongqing Tea Co., Ltd. as it seeks to advance the electrification of modern agricultural parks. Meanwhile, it has kept its eyes on the long run and built photovoltaic micro weather monitoring stations at pear orchards, tea gardens, and vineyards. By monitoring rainfall, illuminance, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, PH, and other data that are then sent to the database of the "electricity post" for statistical analysis and processing and shared with Jiti Village, automated environmental control and intelligent environmental management can be realized, and a solid foundation and positive technological support provided for developing smart agriculture in rural areas.

"Our smart rural energy monitoring platform uses electricity meter as the front-end information collector and transmit what it collects back to the "electricity post" for intelligent analysis. Thus, the grid manager can address potential faults early and accurately." According to Yang Dexiang, Deputy Director of the Marketing Department of Shinan Electric Power Supply Branch, the "Rural Electrification Index Billboard" can be customized by analyzing relevant data to show the rural electrification level from five dimensions of "development," "livable," "business-friendly," "industry-friendly" and "agriculture-friendly," and the achievements made by Jiti Village in rural revitalization from the perspective of big data of electricity. At the same time, an electricity consumption monitoring network that integrates "rural tourism, planting of cash crops, agritainment businesses, self-employed businesses, and residents" can be formed, and a user profile for electricity consumption can be established. This can help relevant government departments with analysis and decision-making in epidemic prevention and control, care of the left-behind elderly, agricultural production, green commuting, and other aspects.

This year, Shinan Electric Power Supply Branch will make a constant effort to build a demonstration area of rural electrification and set up "electricity posts" in more villages together with the government. Thus, villagers can enjoy electricity services right within the village, characteristic electricity replacement and green energy consumption services can be promoted based on the characteristics of local industries, and support can be provided for the government which can utilize big data of electricity to advance rural vitalization and build more beautiful villages.