EnergyAustralia, Australia's largest electricity distribution network, today announced an agreement with IBM for the implementation of an energy network monitoring and control solution.
A key project within EnergyAustralia's overall intelligent network program, the Distribution Monitoring and Control (DM&C) project involves the roll-out of 12,000 sensing devices throughout the electricity distribution network, creating a smart grid. The project will enable EnergyAustralia to deliver energy more efficiently and reliably, and allow a greater number and range of environmental solutions to be integrated into the electricity network such as renewable energy.
Under the agreement signed in the first quarter of this year, IBM will design and build the system IT architecture to support the project, in which sensing devices will connect with EnergyAustralia's operational systems using a combination of fourth generation and existing technologies. This world-class intelligent network will carry the necessary data for EnergyAustralia to reduce outages through faster fault location and preventative maintenance and, to work towards managing distributed energy sources such as solar and storage devices.
EnergyAustralia's Managing Director George Maltabarow said the project was an important part of the company's initial investment of $170 million in its smart network rollout.
"This project will help us stay at the forefront of the global intelligent network transformation," Mr. Maltabarow said. "It will give us an instant picture of the electricity network which will help shorten power interruptions by allowing us to quickly locate and repair faults.
"It will also mean preventative maintenance can be better targeted so we can avoid faults and outages in the first place."
In addition to consulting, systems integration and IT services expertise, IBM has invested heavily in solutions such as Tivoli Netcool and Websphere Datapower to assist utilities in realizing their intelligent network visions.
"IBM is delighted to bring its infrastructure, systems integration and project management expertise to bear on this ground-breaking transformation project," said David Murray, General Manager, IBM Communications Sector, Australia.
"Only through the creation of a smart grid that can sense, communicate, analyze and respond, can Australia build the energy infrastructure it needs to meet the challenges of climate change, globalization, and changing consumer demand."
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