Africa Energy Forum Sees Launch Of White Paper Supporting AI-Driven Power Network Innovations

With this white paper, we aim to empower African utilities to embrace fgOTN as a core enabler of smart grid communications

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 30, 2025/APO Group/ --

During the Africa Energy Forum, Huawei, together with several African electric utilities, officially released the fgOTN (fine grain OTN) White Paper for Electric Power, offering critical insights and guidance for African utilities on building next-generation power communication networks.

The white paper is designed to support power companies in navigating the evolving digital landscape, which is increasingly defined by AI integration and emerging service demands.

Addressing Legacy Network Challenges

As the power sector continues its digital transformation, traditional communication technologies such as SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) are reaching the end of their lifecycle, with limited evolution and outdated infrastructure.

In response, the newly released white paper introduces fgOTN, a next-generation solution that provides a reference architecture and construction roadmap for power communication networks, leveraging fine-granularity Optical Transport Network (OTN) technology.

fgOTN: Built for Africa’s Power Sector

The fgOTN technology is a small-granularity hard pipe system derived from the OTN standard, offering secure, isolated data transmission through rigid hard pipe channels. This architecture boosts bandwidth efficiency and ensures reliable, high-performance communications, meeting both current and future demands of African power networks.

The white paper outlines how power communication networks should be:

• Fully automated
• Digitalised and intelligentised
• Able to support centralised, unattended operations
• Optimised for enterprise digital workflows and market-based transactions

These capabilities will significantly enhance the sector’s ability to observe, control, and manage grid systems in real time.

Industry Support and Technical Leadership

Luo Xin, Optical Product Director at Huawei Southern Africa Region, stated:

“fgOTN is a new ITU-T-defined technology that inherits the safety and stability of SDH and adds the scalability and intelligence of OTN. It’s tailor-made for the power industry. In April, CIGRE established the D2.65 working group to explore its application in the energy sector. With this white paper, we aim to empower African utilities to embrace fgOTN as a core enabler of smart grid communications.”