![\"On](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/On-Aug.-30-an-expert-team-from-the-Internet-of-Things-Center-of-China-Southern-Power-Grids-Guizhou-Electric-Power-Research-Institute-tested-a-BeiDou-module-at-a-substation-in-Guizhou.-Photo-Xinhua.webp\")
<\/p>\nA research team from China Southern Power Grid\u2019s Guizhou Electric Power Research Institute has integrated BeiDou high-precision positioning and short-message communications into the safety monitoring of small hydropower plants in Guizhou, southwestern China. The technology has completed demonstration applications at three remote hydropower stations, helping address communications blind spots and weak early-warning capabilities in the province\u2019s mountainous areas.<\/p>\n
Guizhou is characterized by extensive karst terrain, complex topography and highly variable weather. Power infrastructure and small hydropower facilities are widely distributed across remote areas, where conventional communications and monitoring systems can be difficult to deploy and maintain.<\/p>\n
Small hydropower plants are an important supplementary power source for Guizhou\u2019s grid. In addition to generating electricity, many of the facilities support flood control and irrigation in reservoir areas. However, safety monitoring at remote plants has traditionally relied heavily on manual inspections because of limited communications coverage, outdated monitoring equipment and insufficient warning capabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, many indicators had to be checked through on-site surveys. With the support of new technology, we can now monitor key dam safety indicators in real time and respond promptly,\u201d said Zhu Shiming, head of the Tongren Yangxi Small Hydropower Station.<\/p>\n
As online monitoring capabilities have improved, the station has also reduced unplanned outages and achieved more stable grid-connected generation, according to Lin Xiankan, general manager of the Power Dispatch and Control Center at China Southern Power Grid\u2019s Tongren Power Supply Bureau. The more reliable output provides additional support for maintaining electricity supplies in Tongren.<\/p>\n
To address communications constraints in Guizhou\u2019s remote mountainous areas, the research team developed an integrated dual-channel communications device combining BeiDou-3 short-message services with 4G. When the public mobile network is available, the device transmits data through 4G. If the network is interrupted, it automatically switches to the BeiDou short-message channel.<\/p>\n
This failover architecture allows critical monitoring data to continue reaching operators even when terrestrial communications are unavailable. The team also developed a regional ad hoc network communications module to collect and organize data from multiple sources across reservoir areas, where conventional network infrastructure can be difficult to establish.<\/p>\n
The technology has completed demonstration applications at the Tongren Dongfanghong, Yangxi and Ganjinqiao hydropower stations. The deployments filled a previous gap in online monitoring for small hydropower safety and operating conditions in Guizhou, according to the project team.<\/p>\n
The research has since expanded from hydropower facilities to transmission infrastructure. In 2023, building on the earlier work, the Guizhou Electric Power Research Institute launched a project focused on key technologies for transmission-line condition monitoring through the fusion of BeiDou high-precision positioning and multi-source data.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On Aug. 30, an expert team from the Internet of Things Center of China Southern Power Grid\u2019s Guizhou Electric Power Research Institute tested a BeiDou module at a substation in Guizhou. Photo Xinhua.<\/em><\/p>\n The project combines BeiDou positioning with inertial measurement technology. BeiDou positioning is used to correct accumulated errors in inertial measurements, while inertial sensing helps compensate for the limitations of BeiDou positioning in high-dynamic operating environments. The combination is intended to improve monitoring performance by allowing the two technologies to complement each other.<\/p>\n The research has also contributed to the development of industry standards. In December 2024, China\u2019s national standardization authority formally approved the launch of a standard proposed by China Southern Power Grid\u2019s Guizhou Grid Co. The standard, titled \u201cTechnical Specification for a BeiDou-Based Foundation Landslide Monitoring System for Power-System Towers,\u201d will establish technical requirements for monitoring potential landslide risks around transmission-tower foundations.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery parameter comes from repeated verification in the mountains of Tongren and field measurements on transmission towers in Duyun,\u201d said Li Huan, general manager of the Internet of Things Center at the Guizhou Electric Power Research Institute. \u201cFrom the dam of a small hydropower station to the conductors of a transmission line crossing the mountains, each verification contributes to the reliability of the standard and supports safer power production.\u201d<\/p>\n For power utilities and infrastructure operators in remote mountainous regions, STARPATH GLOBAL offers competitively priced satellite imagery leveraging China\u2019s expanding satellite fleet. Through its satellite imagery catalog<\/a>, the company can recommend a resolution suited to specific applications such as transmission-line corridors, reservoir areas and landslide-risk monitoring, helping customers obtain sufficient data without paying for unnecessary image capacity. Organizations without prior remote-sensing experience can also apply for the Pioneer Partner Program<\/a>, through which STARPATH GLOBAL\u2019s FDE team supports project implementation and personnel training. Utilities seeking a tailored satellite-monitoring solution can contact STARPATH GLOBAL<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A research team from China Southern Power Grid\u2019s Guizhou Electric Power Research Institute has integrated BeiDou high-precision positioning and short-message communications into the safety monitoring of small hydropower plants in Guizhou, southwestern China. The technology has completed demonstration applications at three remote hydropower stations, helping address communications blind spots and weak early-warning capabilities in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":89677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,2,8796],"tags":[2194,135,10433,10432,10435,10436,451,10434,10437],"class_list":["post-89667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-news","category-utilities","tag-beidou","tag-china","tag-china-southern-power-grid","tag-guizhou","tag-power-grid","tag-remote-monitoring","tag-satellite-communications","tag-small-hydropower","tag-transmission-lines"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89667"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89680,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89667\/revisions\/89680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}