World's first commercial large AI model for energy sector

Shandong Energy, Huawei, and Yunding Technology have jointly launched the Pangu Mine Model, the world's first large commercial AI model for the energy sector. 

The model aims to enhance the application of AI in the mining industry and transform workshop-scale AI model development into factory-scale development. 

Li Wei, Chairman of Shandong Energy, says: "As a world-leading ICT infrastructure and smart device provider, Huawei shares Shandong Energy's goal of digital transformation." 

"The two companies are complementary to each other and are mutually reinforcing." 

"We aim to improve the intelligence level of the mining industry by expanding the depth and breadth of AI application in different scenarios, and continually using AI to deliver more automation, achieve greater efficiency, reduce labor intensity, and improve safety in the mining industry," says Wei.

Shandong Energy, Yunding Technology, and Huawei have begun implementing the first set of AI applications for mining. These were developed based on the pilot verification of large AI models in industrial production. 

There are 21 application scenarios related to 9 operating activities: coal mining, tunnelling, primary transportation, auxiliary transportation, lifting, safety monitoring, rock burst prevention, coal preparation, and coking.

Rock bursts were highlighted as a particularly challenging issue in mining. Drilling de-stress holes is the primary means of preventing rock bursts, whose quality matters.

Shandong Energy has addressed this challenge in its Lilou and Xinjulong coal mines by deploying a large AI model. With its visual recognition capabilities, the model can intelligently analyze the quality of stress relief drilling and assist rockburst prevention personnel in quality verification, reducing their review workload by 82%. 

It used to take three days to complete such checks; now Shandong Energy says the time has been shortened to 10 minutes, with a 100% acceptance rate.

Moreover, Shandong Energy, Yunding Technology, and Huawei established a joint innovation centre at the beginning of 2022, where they introduced the Pangu Model.

The Pangu Model features de-coupled operation management and intelligent production, in-campus data processing, large-scale replicability, and learning and analysis from small samples. 

The joint innovation centre's AI operation system uses central training, edge inference, cloud-edge coordination, learning by using, and non-stop optimization. 

The centre's AI management system comprises group management and coal mine execution. The management of coal production was transformed from reactive and manual-intensive to proactive and intelligent. 

Zou Zhilei, Chairman of Huawei Mine Business Unit, says: "AI will continue to power the upgrading of the mining industry, and play an important role in making coal production safer, greener, and semi- or fully-automated." 

"Huawei will continue to dive deep into industry transformation, and make the powerful capabilities of the Pangu Model available to a wider range of industries."

"We will enable partners and work with them to solve industry problems in specific scenarios, creating greater value."

"The launch of the first commercial Pangu Mine Model has injected new impetus into the high-quality development of the mining industry and the energy sector at large," says Zhilei.