EnergyAustralia signs a deal with IBM

EnergyAustralia says the project, a part of its initial investment of $170 million in its smart network roll-out, will help it stay at the forefront of the global intelligent network transformation.

EnergyAustralia has signed an agreement with IBM for the implementation of an energy network monitoring and control solution.

A key project within EnergyAustralia’s overall intelligent network programme, 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.

As per the agreement, 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.

According to IBM, this 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.