Innovation and technology bring real-time benefits to network reliability

Jemena has this week commenced using state-of-the-art network restoration technology across its electricity distribution network in Melbourne’s north-west.

Following extensive trialling over more than a year, the Fault Location, Isolation, and Service Restoration (FLISR) system is now active across Jemena’s high voltage network and already communicating real-time information back to the Jemena control room. This application is part of Jemena’s Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) and the first step towards developing a ‘self-healing’ network.

Ultimately, using the FLISR technology will help Jemena to achieve its goal of improving electricity reliability, explains Jemena’s Delivery Lead for the FLISR Project, Peter Vainer.

“This is really a remarkable enhancement to the way we operate our network. The FLISR system helps us to restore power faster via the latest in automation technology and will limit electricity outages to a much smaller area than previously.

“The technology we are using – which is the newest ADMS software of its kind –  analyses information in real-time across our network to quickly determine the location of faults and automatically isolate that particular section of the network.

“The benefits to the customer are huge. In some cases, FLISR will automatically restore customer power while making the network safe for any further necessary repairs. Historically, this analysis has been a manual process that required numerous checks before supply could be safely restored. These checks are now undertaken by FLISR, meaning that customer power in unaffected areas can be rapidly restored,” he said.

Jemena Electricity Network Operations Manager Tim Pullens said that utilising innovative technology like the FLISR system, along with the extensive knowledge of control room operators, was key to continually improving electricity reliability for Jemena customers.

“The FLISR system is the latest and most innovative tool in our toolkit to help us to manage the safety and reliability of electricity supply across our network and help us achieve our goal of improving supply reliability by 30 percent by 2023. 

“Our team work 24/7 to keep power running in homes and businesses across our Victorian network. We do this by monitoring the network and energy usage from our control room, supported by our crews in the field.

“Our customers tell us how important reliable energy supply is – particularly now more people are choosing to work from home. While we won’t always be able to avoid supply interruptions, FLISR is enabling us to minimise the impact of unplanned outages when they do happen,” Tim concluded.