In October 2022, central Victoria was hit with a major flooding event that devastated local communities. Homeowners were forced to evacuate as floodwaters damaged homes, rivers and roads. But amidst unprecedented circumstances, Coliban Water’s unwavering focus on caring for customers, and staff dedication to local communities helped it act quickly to mitigate the damage. Coliban Water Managing Director, Damian Wells, [...]
By Neve Surridge, Corporate & Customer Graduate – Reputation and Media | Corporate Affairs, Powercor Australia For any major project, getting community engagement right is essential to a smooth delivery. Here we take a look at two major power upgrades in regional Victoria this year, and how they have shown how proactive engagement with households and businesses can help teams [...]
From maintaining hydration and protecting public health to supporting social and economic development, water is a critical part of everyday life. However for some outback towns, clean drinking water doesn’t flow freely from their taps. In an effort to provide better amenities to remote first nations communities and secure the state’s water supply, SA Water is looking to desalination. For [...]
In this article we explore some of the most frequently asked questions and debunk common myths about horizontal directional drilling (HDD). We’ll discuss the benefits it provides when assessed against other pipe installation methods, and focus on the environmental upside, flexibility of design and how the technology supports construction in congested, urban, industrial and sensitive environments. Do I need to [...]
Origin Energy manages one of the largest gas supply networks in Australia, and controls and monitors thousands of gas assets as part of Australia Pacific LNG’s coal seam gas to liquefied natural gas project in Queensland. Here we take a look behind the scenes at the technology and operations used in the utility’s Brisbane Central Control Room (BCCR). In a [...]
By Frank Zeichner, CEO IoT Alliance Australia The transformative power of digital technologies discussion is happening in every boardroom and on every construction site in Australia. Yet despite well-established business cases, we’re lagging and slow in our uptake and use of the smart data that is essential for Australia’s future prosperity. At stake is our economic productivity and net zero [...]
The Wharf Street Basin Next Generation Community Park is a key project for the Canning City Centre Regeneration Program, which is a ten year, $76 million program that aims to transform Canning’s City Centre into Perth’s southern CBD. Wharf Street Basin has been reimagined as a new smart park and is one of the City of Canning’s centrepieces of urban [...]
In February 2023, the Queensland Government approved the Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline (FGP) for construction. The FGP is a $983 million pipeline to address the single source water supply risk from Awoonga Dam, enabling long-term water security to Gladstone’s industry and support ongoing economic development in the region. The 117km pipeline will run from the Lower Fitzroy River in Rockhampton [...]
As renewable energy gains importance in our pursuit of sustainability, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to accelerate its adoption and maximise its effectiveness. Some of these challenges include intermittency and reliability. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, are intermittent as they do not produce power consistently. Ensuring a stable and reliable energy supply is [...]
Community batteries are flexible and scalable energy solutions that benefit both the local communities they are built in and the wider energy system. Ausgrid is collaborating with the Federal Government to deliver a major community battery rollout, which will see as many as 400 batteries powering neighbourhoods across Australia. The Community Batteries for Household Solar Program will support power quality [...]
The Bouldercombe Battery Project (BBP) will be one of the first standalone large-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Queensland and is the first fully commercial project financed battery in Australia. Australian company Genex has partnered with Tesla and Powerlink to operate the battery. We spoke to Genex Chief Executive Officer, Craig Francis, to hear more about the project’s funding, [...]
Australian utilities are sitting on a bounty of untapped biogas that has the potential to transform the energy landscape, supercharge a site’s energy efficiency and drastically improve their bottom line. Here we discuss how this untapped resource can drive the energy transition. Waste to energy technologies that harness the power of biogas are mature and transformative solutions that achieve the [...]
By Anna Collyer, Chair of the Australian Energy Market Commission As the once-in-a-generation transformation of the power system continues, the way customers interact with energy in their homes is also changing. The Australian Energy Market Commission is now recommending electricity smart meters in 100 per cent of households by 2030 as a critical step to realising benefits for both. The [...]
By Ben Barnes, General Manager Corporate Affairs, Australian Energy Council As the cost of living increases, energy bills are placing more and more financial pressure on consumers. In this article the Australian Energy Council (AEC) takes a look at the government reforms currently underway, and how they might impact retailers’ already supporting customers experiencing payment difficulty. A lot has been [...]
The Compressed Air Association of Australasia (CAAA) recently announced CAPS Australia as the winner of the inaugural CAAA Safety Award. The winner was judged as having the best system, work procedure or tooling idea that improves the safety of the compressed air industry. CAPS Australia’s winning submission was in recognition of their implementation of technology, usually used for caravans and [...]
With climate change, population growth, and industrial development placing pressure on our finite water supplies, the challenges water utilities face are growing more complex, and there has never been a more urgent time for innovative and sustainable solutions to manage our most precious resource. Recycling water is one of the key ways that utilities can keep up with this demand [...]
Over the long term, dams can provide the cheapest source of bulk water for the urban environment, and dam water is easier to treat than other sources, such as seawater desalination. However, their construction can involve significant costs, and environmental impacts. The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) has prepared a detailed study into dams. Surface water dams have long [...]
The Federal and Northern Territory Governments are investing millions into helping deliver essential services such as access to clean drinking water and reliable power to remote communities. A $17.5 million investment made by the Federal Government, with $9.1 million from the Northern Territory will see two critical projects built in two remote communities across the territory whilst $92.8 million is [...]
Sandra Jefford and Wilco Droppert own and operate Wilandra Farms, an organic dairy farm in the Gippsland region of Victoria. However, despite the farm’s success, its irrigation and dairy operations were using about 500,000kWh of energy per year. Energy costs were high and irrigating the farm was a costly and time-consuming process. In 2019, the couple sought an energy audit [...]
By Steph Barker, Journalist, Utility Magazine The Alice Springs Future Grid Project is a whole-of-systems project that aims to roadmap how Alice Springs can achieve 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030. The $12.5 million project involves collaboration by multiple organisations from across the Northern Territory and Australia, and its purpose is to identify and overcome barriers to further renewable [...]
By Ash Hamer, Major Projects Manager, Yarra Valley Water, and Australasian Society for Trenchless Technology’s Young Person of the Year 2022 The trenchless industry is an essential part of delivering infrastructure for Yarra Valley Water customers. Its assets (mainly sewer mains) have been getting larger and more complex over the past decade due to population growth. Here, Yarra Valley Water’s [...]
By Dr Fiona Simon, CEO, Australian Hydrogen Council As the world-wide discussion shifts towards clean energy and hydrogen, Fiona Simon, CEO of the Australian Hydrogen Council, explains how Australia can rejoin the hydrogen race and what it can do that will have an immediate impact on the Australian hydrogen industry. Since the release of the National Hydrogen Strategy in November [...]
By Shane Rattenbury, Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction ACT has become a leader in energy storage with the successful completion of the Next Generation Energy Storage program and investment in large-scale batteries. The ACT is electrifying and shifting to a zero emissions future. Creating a strong and stable distributed energy system is a critical focus for this work. [...]
When examining a Smart Water Metering (SWM) project, the initial focus is often the smart meter, communications and meter management software. However, Taggle Systems has found long-term project and business success is driven by other considerations. Sure, within a SWM project the meter metrology, battery life, telemetry and ultimately the data delivery by the Meter Data Management Systems (MDMS) are [...]
Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) is in the process of implementing an automated water meter reading system that helps conserve water, supports operations and improves the customer service experience for its customers throughout the region. External consultants were engaged, a proof of concept trial was undertaken and in March 2023, the first of the smart water meters were installed. As a [...]
Vegetation management is a vital part of helping to protect the Alice Springs community from the impacts of severe weather. You might not expect wild storms, gusty winds and heavy rains in the desert regions of Central Australia, yet they occur frequently during late spring and summer. The storms can cause significant destruction, and the town of Alice Springs – [...]
Meeting strict and increasingly complex regulatory requirements is perhaps one of the greatest challenges faced by most modern utilities. The inherently high-risk nature of the sector means it is highly regulated across a number of facets, with vegetation management being an area requiring particular attention. Meeting the challenge of adhering to vegetation regulatory requirements is too complex a task to [...]
All pipelines are exposed to a range of physical, climatic and chemical elements that can cause corrosion. This is often exacerbated in harsh environments, where pipelines are exposed to high salt levels or extreme temperatures that can accelerate the rate of decay. Ignoring the effects of corrosion can be costly for asset owners, and planning for corrosion control and mitigation [...]
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