The real-time database（RTDB）is one of the core components of the power dispatching automation system.The current RTDB mainly renders real-time data service to a local-area system，while unable to support real-time data storage and sharing among wide-area systems.An analysis is made of the current architecture of RTDB systems，based on which an architecture of a wide-area distributed RTDB system for power dispatching automation systems is presented.The key technologies of the architecture such as storage，location，redundancy，synchronization，security，etc are discussed and the prospects for future applications are given.