Utility network management is complex. When severe weather or natural disasters hit, temporary or permanent damage can occur to the transmission grid. More than 80 percent of network faults can be attributed to short-term supply interruptions from disrupted power lines, according to reports. To combat this, utility companies segment their distribution networks in order to isolate faults to as small a part of the grid as practical.
Traditionally these segments are controlled by breakers installed at key points in the network. However, breakers can only respond to significant power surges and are only installed at sub-stations, so resilience is less than optimal. Reclosers eliminate these shortcomings as they enable utility companies to manage and monitor their network in a more efficient manner before substations can be affected. In order to function, reclosers need an always-on, real-time connectivity solution for instant control in cases of outage or disruption to power lines. They can be triggered remotely and also provide data back to the operations center, enabling utility companies to prioritize restoration activities, reduce customer outage time, decrease revenue impacts from outages and minimize the potential for cascading infrastructure damage.
Ergon Energy maintains and manages the regional electric distribution network in Queensland, Australia, where it provides energy for more than 720,000 homes and businesses over almost a million square miles. The distribution network covers some of the most rural parts of Australia, using about 150,000 miles of power lines and more than a million poles.
To manage this grid, Ergon has installed hundreds of reclosers, including in areas where traditional connectivity is, to say the least, problematic. To solve the connectivity issue, the company has deployed Inmarsat’s BGAN M2M service. The service is powered by 3G, so Ergon can use a direct interconnect to the Australian meet-me-point in Sydney.
Each recloser uses between 5 and 15 megabytes of data per month and the service is expected to have an operational lifetime well into the 2020s.
“The Inmarsat BGAN M2M service has given us access to parts of our distribution network that had remained out of bounds when it comes to remote monitoring and control,” said Sanjeewa Athuraliya, Senior Telecommunications Architect, Ergon Energy. “We chose Inmarsat for its reliability. Monitoring and controlling a power grid needs a real-time, always available flow of information and we’re happy to say Inmarsat’s service has been extremely reliable.”
