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Enabling digital transformation with innovative solutions for a more sustainable energy future.
Client & location:
Vector - New Zealand
Date:
2023
Background
Vector is the largest electricity distributor in New Zealand, serving nearly two million homes and businesses across Australasia with energy and communication services. The company offers customised electricity and gas metering solutions for large energy users through its smart metering business, Vector Metering, and includes Powersmart and HRV in its group of companies. As a leader in the energy sector, Vector is committed to innovation and sustainability, challenging the status quo and working with partners to accelerate its digital transformation.
Highlights
In 2016 our people helped Vector implement an important distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) . A DERMS is a software platform that allows real-time communication and control across edge devices that typically lie outside grid operators' direct control. Built with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the system manages a group of distributed energy resource assets to deliver vital grid services and balance demand with supply. During the project we identified software constraints and provided recommendations on how to improve its speed, reliability, and security. With their feedback and insight, Vector was able to roll out a comprehensive monitoring, analytics, and control system.
Empowering the business with reliable insights
Since the DERMS project, our people have collaborated on a range of projects, utilising both our strategic advice and DevOps services.For example, our team worked with Vector to develop a reference architecture template for utilities to align internal teams and technology, boost performance, and increase security across the customer value chain. This framework is in use today, giving Vector insights on quality, costs, performance, and security across customer value streams and helps them scale effectively.
Currently, our team is supporting Vector’s Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) project, which will provide automated outage restoration, improve network performance, and distributed energy resource support. The ADMS will integrate with DERMS and include modules for outage management, electronic switching, automated fault identification, and service restoration. It will offer valuable insights on outage treatment and benefit customers with more reliable information and increased energy efficiency and quality. Integrating the two systems is complicated and requires an information technology foundation that can support each component of the system, but we’ve ensured it can be deployed as a highly reliable, scalable, and secure solution.
Our team is also working with Vector on their New Energy Platform (NEP), an internet of things and analytics solution for the energy industry that leverages machine learning to provide customers with more affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy options.
Our people continue to work with Vector, helping them become a digitally enabled business that improves grid reliability, meets demands, and stays ahead of the curve.
