Fuyang Power Supply Company empowers smart agriculture development

On Sept 1, the Smart Agricultural Park in Longwu New village, Erlang town, Taihe county, Anhui province, which had been "closed for maintenance" for over two months due to high-temperatures, reopened and became bustling once again. Inside the old greenhouses, Zhang Yunfeng, the park’s technical director, led more than 20 villagers in transplanting tomato seedlings. Not far from the old greenhouses, the construction of the park’s second phase smart greenhouses was progressing steadily.

The Smart Agricultural Park is an innovative project initiated by the local government to advance agricultural modernization. "Back in July 2024, during the initial preparation stage of the first-phase of the project, State Grid Fuyang Power Supply Company proactively installed over 100 meters of low-voltage power lines for our park, delivering electricity directly to the construction site. Thanks to this support, the project could be put into operation as scheduled," introduced Yang Wendong, the person in charge of the park. In October 2024, the first phase – which consists of 8 modern smart agricultural greenhouses covering an area of 160 mu – was officially put into use, where vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, and spiral hot peppers took root and sprouted.

Since the smart agricultural greenhouses became operational, the park has successively introduced a suite of electrical automation equipment, including integrated automatic water-and-fertilizer applicators, automatic roller shutters, automatic ventilation and temperature regulators, as well as automatic pesticide sprayers. As the number of electrical devices increased, the power load far exceeded that during the construction phase of the smart agricultural park. Compounding the issue, the park is situated a considerable distance from the power supply station. In late January 2025, during the critical fruiting stage of the vegetables, the agricultural park was plagued by a low-voltage problem. This not only disrupted the smooth operation of temperature control and irrigation facilities inside the greenhouses, but also hindered crop growth. Yang Wendong, who had been counting on selling the vegetables at a premium around Spring Festival, was instantly anxious about the sudden low-voltage issue.

Upon learning of the situation, State Grid Fuyang Power Supply Company immediately arranged for its account managers to connect with Yang Wendong, the person in charge of the park, to jointly discuss solutions. "Taking into account the park's phase-II development plan and electricity demand, we suggest installing a 200 kVA transformer in the park, which will be conducive to its long-term development," the managers proposed. Following the recommendation of State Grid Fuyang County Power Supply Company, after completing the application processes, on-site survey, design and construction, a brand-new transformer was successfully put into operation at the park in mid-February. The power supply lines were also extended to the entrances of each greenhouse, completely resolving the park's low-voltage issue without affecting the growth of vegetables in the greenhouses.

With stable electricity support, the future of electrified smart agriculture continues to broaden. Screens inside the greenhouses display real time indicators related to crop growth, such as light intensity, humidity, temperature, and soil pH levels. "We used to rely on the weather for a good harvest; but now we farm based on data. The electrical automation equipment for smart agriculture is truly convenient and practical," said Zhang Yunfeng. He added that park managers can remotely adjust parameters on their mobile phones to achieve one-click fertilization, ventilation, watering and shading, based on the growth needs of different crops. By using IoT (Internet of Things) technology, the agricultural environment is precisely controlled, significantly improving production efficiency and the quality of agricultural products. "Thanks to the service support and stable electricity supply from the power sector, the yield and quality of our agricultural products have greatly improved, and our products are in high demand. The yield of spiral hot peppers can reach 10,000 kilograms per mu, and the yield of mini cucumbers is nearly 15,000 kilograms per mu. Each greenhouse is expected to generate an annual income of 300,000 yuan ($41,998)," Zhang Yunfeng said with great pride when discussing the improvements brought by the electrical automation equipment for smart agriculture.

As agricultural product orders continue to grow, the demand for labor has also increased. The park has provided over 20 employment opportunities for local villagers, with each position offering a monthly income of more than 3,000 yuan, increasing the villages’ collective economy by approximately 600,000 yuan. The considerable benefits brought by the first-phase of Longwu New Village Smart Agricultural Park have laid a solid foundation for the development of the vegetable industry in the second-phase smart greenhouses.

"Director Yang, your agricultural park is about to undergo expansion. We've come in advance to assess the electricity load situation, so as to avoid the low-voltage issue that occurred last year and prevent any disruption to the park's power supply." In early August, the second-phase project of Longwu New Village Smart Agricultural Park – which includes 18 smart agricultural greenhouses – officially broke ground. It is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of September, with the vegetables grown in the greenhouses will be gradually put on the market before Spring Festival. On the eve of the project kickoff, Su Kun, head of the Gongji Power Supply Station, consulted Yang Wendong, the park's director, to understand the electricity demand, ensuring that power support work is carried out proactively.

Today, the planting area of smart agricultural greenhouses in Erlang town has exceeded 1,000 mu (66.67 hectares). As electrical and intelligent equipment becomes increasingly prevalent in agricultural production, the demands for power supply have also grown. Leveraging its professional strengths, State Grid Fuyang Power Supply Company has continued to step up the renovation of rural power grids, providing full support for the application of electrical and intelligent equipment in agricultural production. Since the start of this year, in alignment with the development of high-standard farmland and rural power grid upgrading initiatives, the company has implemented 56 rural power grid renovation projects in Taihe county, covering 190 kilometers of rural power lines. Through its "grid-based" service model and relying on the "Clean Anhui Power" digital and intelligent supervision platform, the company oversees the standardization of power supply services for agricultural needs, thus providing robust support for the advancement of smart agriculture.