Huawei AI processors complete first test in China's power industry

SHENZHEN - Huawei's Kunpeng and Ascend AI processors have been deployed on the full hardware and software stack at the information and data center (IDC) of the Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau Co Ltd, the company said Tuesday.

As a subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid, Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau set up an ICT lab with Huawei last November, focusing on the innovative combination of AI and the Internet of Energy.

With its powerful Ascend processor equipped with the Atlas 200 AI accelerator module, Huawei has built an intelligent inspection system for power transmission for the bureau.

According to Lyu Zhining, head of IDC, massive tests completed under specific scenarios have shown the stability of Huawei's processors, which meets the requirements for technical performance.

A traditional patrol check of the grid requires a lot of manpower and resources since the safety and stable operation of power transmission could be affected at any moment by road work below the grid, or even a kite caught in the lines, he said.

Lyu added that it only takes two hours now to finish the inspection using the new system, while it used to take the linemen 20 days to do the same amount of work, an 80-time increase in efficiency.

"We're planning to install Huawei's AI chips into all monitoring cameras along transmission lines throughout the city, as well as on our drones," he said.