How this power company fixes blackouts in 70 seconds
Endeavour Energy is on the cusp of deploying a “self-healing” function that will allow its technicians to restore power to most customers within 70 seconds without having to visit the site physically.
The enhancement is on top of a three-pronged approach to digitisation at the NSW electricity distributor that included creating a digital version of its outage management system, consolidating 26 legacy software products into an integrated SAP platform, and co-creating a digital twin of its entire electricity network.
Rudi Reynierse (left), Endeavour Energy’s head of technology, and Edmund Li, Endeavour’s head of system operations.
Rudi Reynierse, Endeavour’s head of technology, says that the digitisation of the company’s outage system, known as the Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), had by far “the biggest transformative impact” by improving how the company’s technicians manage the network.
Staff can now use iPads in the field to “interact with the grid in real time” and assess the status of a certain segment of network that they need to work on, he says.
The focus on digitising what is an asset-heavy business is among the reasons why Endeavour won the resources, energy and utilities industry sector award as part of the inaugural AFR Digital Transformation Leaders Awards.
The awards, compiled in association with Boston Consulting Group, are designed to identify Australian companies that have successfully overhauled their technology stack and continue to improve their digital operations.
Endeavour Energy technicians at work.
Endeavour’s technology efforts featured elements common to the other four industry winners of the award – telco infrastructure company Superloop, engineering consulting company Aurecon,
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