Utility Magazine September 2025

Enhance fleet management through innovation and sustainability

As a global leader in IoT and connected transportation, Geotab processes and analyses data from over 4 million connected vehicles, generating over 75 billion data points per day. It’s a huge amount of data, and it is most powerful when we have the right tools to securely and efficiently manage it. That’s why we have partnered with Google to leverage Google Cloud’s data analytics and machine learning solutions.

Championing Innovation and Sustainability

Geotab has been awarded two Google Cloud Customer Awards for its achievements in the transportation sector. Recognition in both the Cross Industry and Sustainability categories underscore Geotab’s successful use of Google Cloud’s analytics to innovate and drive sustainable practices in fleet management.

Kirsten Kliphouse, the President of Google Cloud Americas says that the Awards are an opportunity to recognise the most innovative, technically advanced, and transformative cloud deployments across industries globally built on their platform.

In her congratulatory message to Geotab, she acknowledged Geotab’s role in “serving as an innovator for the industry”, which also highlights Geotab’s innovative integration of data to revolutionise the transportation sector, leading to transformative impacts across organisations and customers around the world.

Empowering sustainable transportation

As the world’s premier EV telematics provider, Geotab has demonstrated its commitment to reducing emissions through its Electric Vehicle Self-Assessment (EVSA) tool, which won Google Cloud’s Award for Sustainability.

The tool provides tailored EV recommendations to support businesses and governments in transitioning to electrified fleets. For two consecutive years, Geotab was also identified as a Cross-Industry winner impactful transformation facilitated by Google Cloud. The award also acknowledges the launch of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and its flagship transportation analytics platform Altitude.

Altitude has been pivotal in supporting government agencies by offering actionable, privacyconscious data insights for city planning and transportation network enhancements.

Strong synergy of Geotab and Google Cloud show great potential

As a valued partner in the Google Cloud Ready - Sustainability validation program, Geotab plays a crucial role in accelerating sustainability programs and informing strategic decisions for future developments.

Geotab’s collaboration with Google Cloud delivers significant benefits, including real-time improvements in driver safety and behavior, advancement of sustainability goals, enhanced productivity and significant cost savings.

This partnership not only redefines fleet management standards but also illustrates the impactful role of technology in fostering a more sustainable and efficient transportation industry.

An industry-leading solution

Geotab’s partnership with Google demonstrates the company is at the forefront of leveraging data analytics and machine learning to enhance fleet management, drive sustainability and create safer transportation systems worldwide.

By integrating Google Cloud’s advanced analytics with its telematics expertise, Geotab is confident of continuing its lead in the development of sustainable transportation solutions, demonstrating the profound impact that innovative technology can have on the transportation system today.

Delivering for the next generation

We’re now rmly in the second half of 2025, and 2030 is no longer a distant target, but a deadline looming large. Delivering an almost complete overhaul of our energy system is a colossal undertaking, yet I’m constantly in awe of how far the sector has come.

While Australia powers towards 82 per cent renewables, the AEMC is rolling out new rule changes to ensure that tomorrow’s energy system is one that works for everyone.

Over in the water sector, signi cant updates to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines have now come into e ect, as have the amendments to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2024, which transferred and upli ed security obligations for telecommunications providers.

Australia’s water, energy and communications sectors are on a path towards a brighter future, but moving forward means navigating increasingly complex challenges and complete unknowns.

In our September 2025 edition Utility, we’re celebrating some of the leaders, innovators and workers who are the champions of this change, and in these pages you’ll nd expert advice and thought-leading content from some of the brightest minds in the sector.

Before we take a look at what’s going on here in Australia, Utility took a trip abroad to Aotearoa New Zealand and caught up with the team at Watercare, who are in the middle of deploying an industry-leading sewer monitoring project.

is evolving energy systems means distribution networks are balancing the need to encourage

electri cation, while keeping prices low and ensuring that the grid remains secure in the face of new demand.

We caught up with SA Power Networks, who took us through the state’s world-leading exible exports program, and shared some valuable learnings as the utility embraces the future of the distribution network and it’s ever-evolving role.

‘An era of unprecedented growth’ has become a bit of a catch phrase, but it really is a time of change and evolution for the sector – and as always, its such a privilege to share the incredible work that utilities from all sectors are doing to build a secure and sustainable future.

While the world is throwing many hurdles at our essential service providers, it is truly encouraging to see them rise to the challenge, and deliver a reliable, a ordable and sustainable future.

Australia as we know it would not be the same without the important work you do – and it’s a privilege to be able to share your knowledge so that utilities from all sectors can learn and grow together.

ART

Katie Livingston, Editor

Drop Katie a line at katherine. livingston@primecreative.com.au or feel free to call on 03 9690 8766 to let us know what you think. Don’t forget to follow Utility on social media – find us on LinkedIn, X and YouTube.

John

PUBLISHER

Sarah Baker

0413 475 078

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Louisa Stocks

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From waste to opportunity

Australia’s waste streams could power a cleaner future – if policy, infrastructure and investment align to unlock biomethane’s full potential.

is chemically identical to fossil natural gas but renewable in origin. Image: manfredxy/stock.adobe.com

As Australia intensi es its e orts to decarbonise the economy, attention is turning to solutions that can deliver immediate impact without requiring a complete overhaul of existing infrastructure. One such solution is biomethane—a renewable gas derived from organic waste that can be injected directly into the country’s existing gas networks. e 2025 report by Blunomy, commissioned by Energy Networks Australia, outlines the scale of the opportunity biomethane presents, particularly for hard-to-abate sectors such as manufacturing, transport, and heavy industry.

Biomethane is produced through anaerobic digestion, a process that breaks down organic materials like food waste, agricultural residues, and livestock by-products in the absence of oxygen. e result is a gas that is chemically identical to fossil natural gas but renewable in origin. is compatibility with existing gas infrastructure makes biomethane a uniquely practical decarbonisation tool. It can be used in homes, businesses, and industrial facilities without the need for new pipelines or appliances, o ering a seamless transition to cleaner energy.

e report estimates that Australia has the technical potential to produce around 400 petajoules (PJ) of biomethane annually from existing feedstocks. is gure is signi cant, as it represents nearly the entire volume of current fossil gas consumption on the East Coast. Even the more conservative estimate of recoverable potential— between 123 and 308 PJ—would be enough to replace a substantial portion of the gas currently used in industrial and commercial applications. ese feedstocks include food and garden organics, cereal and non-cereal crop residues, sugarcane by-products, and livestock waste, all of which are already present in Australia’s waste streams and do not compete with food production.

One of the most compelling aspects of biomethane is its cost pro le. e report nds that the rst 50 PJ of biomethane could be delivered at a cost ranging from $10 to $27 per gigajoule (GJ), depending on the type of feedstock and the e ciency of recovery practices. ese costs are expected to decline over time as technology improves, supply chains mature, and supportive policy frameworks are introduced. Waste-based feedstocks,

such as food and garden organics, tend to be more coste ective due to their abundance and the lower processing requirements. Agricultural residues, while slightly more complex to manage, also o er strong potential, particularly in regional areas where they are readily available.

Beyond its role as a clean energy source, biomethane o ers a range of system-wide bene ts. It supports improved waste management by diverting organic material from land lls and wastewater systems, reducing methane emissions and creating value from what would otherwise be discarded. It also enhances Australia’s fuel security by enabling domestic production of renewable gas, reducing reliance on imported fuels. e anaerobic digestion process produces digestate, a nutrient-rich by-product that can be used as a soil conditioner in agriculture, further closing the loop on resource use. Additionally, biomethane production can stimulate regional economies by creating jobs in feedstock collection, processing, and plant operation.

e report also highlights the potential for biomethane to integrate with other emerging technologies. For example, the carbon dioxide captured during biomethane production can be used in Power-to-Liquid systems to create low-carbon fuels for aviation, shipping, and heavy road transport. is synergy between biomethane and other clean energy pathways enhances its strategic value and positions it as a cornerstone of a diversi ed decarbonisation strategy.

Despite its promise, the development of a biomethane industry in Australia faces several challenges. Chief among them is the lack of a clear and supportive policy framework. While other countries have introduced national targets, subsidies, and regulatory incentives to stimulate biomethane production, Australia has yet to implement similar measures. e report calls for biomethane to be included in existing decarbonisation schemes, such as the Hydrogen Headstart Program and the Hydrogen Tax Credit Incentive Scheme. It also recommends the establishment of national production targets, streamlined project approvals, and investment in feedstock recovery infrastructure.

Biomethane

Another key barrier is the competition for feedstocks. Many of the organic materials suitable for biomethane production are also in demand for composting, animal feed, or other bioenergy applications. is competition can drive up costs and limit availability. e report suggests that better coordination across sectors, along with investment in logistics and processing capacity, will be essential to ensure that feedstocks are used e ciently and sustainably.

e logistics of collecting and transporting feedstocks also present a challenge, particularly in remote or sparsely populated regions. Building reliable supply chains will require investment in infrastructure and workforce development, as well as partnerships with local governments, farmers, and waste management companies. Public awareness and acceptance will also play a role, as communities need to understand the bene ts of biomethane and support its integration into local energy systems.

e report emphasises that biomethane is not a silver bullet, but rather a critical piece of the broader decarbonisation puzzle. It is particularly well-suited to sectors that are di cult to electrify, such as hightemperature industrial processes, heavy transport, and

combined heat and power systems. In these contexts, biomethane can provide a low-emissions alternative to fossil gas without compromising performance or reliability.

Looking ahead, the report outlines a vision for a thriving biomethane industry that supports Australia’s net-zero goals while delivering economic, environmental, and social bene ts. is vision includes a mix of small- and large-scale production facilities, integrated with existing gas networks and supported by robust policy and regulatory frameworks. It also includes the development of new markets for biomethane-derived products, such as low-carbon fuels and renewable chemicals.

In conclusion, the Blunomy–ENA report makes a compelling case for biomethane as a ready-to-deploy solution for decarbonising Australian industry. With the right mix of policy support, infrastructure investment, and stakeholder collaboration, biomethane could transform waste into a valuable energy resource, reduce emissions across multiple sectors, and help Australia build a cleaner, more resilient energy future. e opportunity is real, the technology is proven, and the time to act is now. U

The future of recycled water

World-first research has shown purified recycled drinking water use is set to double by 2050.

An Australian-led research project has mapped out the future of puri ed recycled water across the world, with predictions it will be consumed by more than 55 million people over the next 25 years.

e rst of its kind project was led by the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) following more than two years of research and consultation with the water sector across the world. It shows that more than 100 cities could be using puri ed recycled water as part of drinking water supplies by 2050, with the number of people consuming it also expected to double.

e ndings come as a number of states and cities across Australia are now exploring future water sources in the face of growing populations, variable rainfall brought on by a changing climate, and the comparative cost of new water sources.

A series of interactive online maps have been developed to chart the global growth of puri ed recycled water systems. Despite the fact that the technology has been proven for decades, puri ed recycled water schemes are only now starting to be rolled out at scale.

ere were a handful of operating systems in use worldwide before the 2000s and that number has steadily increased over the past two decades. More than 35 cities or locations have schemes that are operating and providing clean and safe water to more than 30 million people.

e technology that is used to make puri ed recycled water clean and safe to drink is overseen by numerous

health regulators and water authorities around the world. It uses multiple barrier treatment systems and advanced puri cation technology so the water can be added to drinking water supplies.

Places like California, Texas, and Virginia in the US are already using recycled water to augment their drinking water supplies. While other major cities and regions such as Singapore, Essex in the UK, Barcelona in Spain and Oland in Sweden are also using puri ed recycled water sources.

California and South Africa emerge as two major regions where puri ed recycled water systems are set to substantially increase over the coming decades. However, other major cities and regions are also set to embrace the technology at scale including Florida and Arizona, Bangalore in India, Leon in Mexico and Hampshire in the UK.

Closer to home, Perth has an operating puri ed recycled water scheme supplying groundwater sources, while a scheme in south-east Queensland is available as part of the region’s drought plan.

Sydney has built a demonstration plant as part of a major community education campaign, along with Auckland following a citizen’s assembly which backed puri ed recycled water as its preferred new future water source. e interactive maps chart the use of puri ed recycled water from the early 1960s out to 2050, based on the number, location and types of systems being built and planned. U

Water for life

Water is a shared and precious resource, however, Traditional Owners have rarely been consulted about how water is managed and used. The Victorian Government is now working in partnership with First Nations Australians to involve them in decisions around water management.

Water is not merely a resource to be allocated, consumed, or regulated. It is a living entity, a spiritual force, and a cultural cornerstone.

For Traditional Owners across Victoria, water is inseparable from Country, identity, and law. e

Victorian Government’s Water is Life: Traditional Owner Access to Water Roadmap represents a landmark policy framework that seeks to restore justice, authority, and selfdetermination to Traditional Owners in the realm of water management. Developed through extensive engagement with Traditional Owner Nations, the roadmap outlines a comprehensive strategy to embed cultural values, increase access to water, and transform governance systems that have historically excluded Indigenous voices. e roadmap is structured in two distinct but interrelated sections. e rst articulates the Victorian Government’s commitments and policy directions, while the second presents statements from Traditional Owner Nations, each expressing their unique relationships with water and their aspirations for the future. is dual structure re ects the roadmap’s foundational principle: that water justice must be co-designed, culturally grounded, and responsive to the

diverse needs of Traditional Owners. Participation in the roadmap’s development is not interpreted as endorsement of the colonial water regime, nor is absence from the process taken as a lack of interest. Rather, the roadmap acknowledges the complexity of engagement and the importance of respecting cultural authority and autonomy.

At its core, the roadmap is a response to the enduring impacts of colonisation, which have systematically disrupted Traditional Owners’ relationships with water. ese disruptions are not con ned to historical injustices; they persist in contemporary water policy, planning, and allocation systems that continue to marginalise Indigenous knowledge and rights. e roadmap seeks to address these inequities by establishing pathways for Traditional Owners to hold and manage water, participate in decision-making, and shape the future of water governance in Victoria. e concept of cultural water is central to this vision. Unlike Western paradigms that treat water as a commodity or utility, the cultural water paradigm recognises water as a living entity with intrinsic value and agency. It is not separate from Country—it is part of Country. Traditional Owners hold the cultural authority to speak for water

within their respective Nations, and this authority is grounded in law, lore, and generations of custodial practice. e roadmap a rms this authority and commits to embedding it within the structures and processes of water management.

e bene ts of increasing Traditional Owner access to water are multifaceted and far-reaching. Holding and managing water contributes to improved wellbeing, not only through physical health but also through cultural revitalisation, mental resilience, and community cohesion. It enables the development of cultural economies that are self-determined, sustainable, and rooted in traditional knowledge systems. It enhances ecological outcomes by integrating Indigenous ecological knowledge into waterway management, environmental ows, and catchment planning. And it promotes social equity by addressing systemic barriers and fostering inclusive governance.

e roadmap outlines a series of commitments across short, medium, and long-term horizons. In the immediate term, the government pledges to establish governance structures that enable Traditional Owners to lead water planning and decision-making. is includes providing funding and resources to support capacity-building,

At its core, the roadmap is a response to the enduring impacts of colonisation, which have systematically disrupted Traditional Owners’ relationships with water. “

developing tools and guidelines for integrating cultural values, and ensuring that engagement is meaningful and sustained. Over the medium term, the roadmap envisions increasing water entitlements for Traditional Owners through reallocation, purchase, or new licensing arrangements. It also supports the delivery of cultural ows—water that is allocated speci cally to support cultural practices, ecosystems, and community wellbeing. In the long term, the roadmap aims to transform water governance to re ect shared custodianship, establish enduring cultural water economies, and secure access and rights for future generations.

ese commitments are not static. ey are designed to evolve through ongoing dialogue, co-design, and accountability. e roadmap acknowledges that some

policy options may not be appropriate or acceptable to all Traditional Owners, and it emphasises the importance of exibility, responsiveness, and transparency. It calls for decisions to be led by those with the cultural authority to speak for Country, and it recognises that genuine reform requires more than technical adjustments—it demands a fundamental shi in values, relationships, and power dynamics.

e challenges ahead are signi cant. Existing water regimes are deeply embedded in colonial legal frameworks and market-based allocation systems that o en con ict with Indigenous worldviews. Transforming these systems will require not only legislative and institutional reform but also cultural change within government agencies, water authorities, and the broader community. It will require a willingness to listen, to learn, and to share power. It will require a commitment to justice that is not symbolic but structural.

e roadmap does not o er a one-size- ts-all solution. It respects the diversity of Traditional Owner Nations and their distinct relationships with water. It provides a framework for reform, but it leaves space for adaptation, innovation, and local leadership. It is a living document, intended to be revisited, re ned, and strengthened over time. Its success will depend on the strength of partnerships, the integrity of processes, and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths.

For Traditional Owners, the roadmap o ers a platform to reclaim custodianship, restore cultural practices, and shape the future of water in Victoria. It a rms their rights, recognises their knowledge, and supports their aspirations. For government and water sector agencies, it provides a blueprint for reform, collaboration, and accountability. It sets out clear expectations and measurable outcomes, and it establishes mechanisms for monitoring progress and ensuring transparency. For the broader community, the roadmap is an invitation to reimagine our relationship with water—not as users or owners, but as stewards and allies.

Water is Life is more than a policy framework. It is a call to action. It challenges us to move beyond tokenistic engagement and towards genuine partnership. It asks us to confront the legacies of colonisation and to build new systems rooted in equity, respect, and reciprocity. It reminds us that water is not just managed—it is honoured. In the words of many Traditional Owners, water carries memory, meaning, and movement. It is part of us, and we are part of it. e roadmap recognises this truth and seeks to embed it into the fabric of Victoria’s water systems. As it unfolds, its impact will be measured not only in entitlements and allocations but in relationships— between people and Country, between governments and communities, and between past and future.

Water is life. And life, when honoured, ows freely. U

As pressure rises on Australian water infrastructure, compounded by climate change, ageing assets, population growth, rising costs and increasing expectations, the way forward must be innovative, e cient, and sustainable.  For

In Australian water we have reached, and in some ways surpassed, a critical in ection point. Increasing extreme weather events brought on by climate change are pushing our systems beyond their current limits. Urban sprawl and higher density inner city living are similarly putting intense strain on assets that are o en operating near the end of their lifespans.

Inter ow Innovation Manager and civil engineer, Joseph Curkovic, agrees the asset and engineering challenges the sector faces are immense.

“We’re acutely aware of the mega, macro and micro challenges facing water authorities,” Mr Curkovic said.

Innovative engineering solutions play a critical role in resolving many of these complex problems, including wellestablished trenchless technologies that help asset owners to address challenges in rehabilitating and renewing existing pipelines.”

“ ese techniques minimise excavations and result in minimal surface disruption, faster construction times at a lower cost, and signi cantly reduce the environmental footprint associated with building new pipelines, o en using open trench methods.”

As constraints tighten, Mr Curkovic said expectations rise and seemingly con icting demands increase, new technologies and methodologies are paramount to meet the future needs of our customers.

“What will be required is greater, more open dialogue and collaboration across the entire value chain and asset lifecycle between asset owners and delivery partners like Inter ow, who are leaders in trenchless technologies. It will demand increased collaboration, and ultimately, joint investments in new technologies.”

Only then, he says, will we be able to improve outcomes for the environment, and for communities that depend on our water and wastewater networks.

The net-zero challenge

More broadly, the path to sustainability and achieving net-zero carbon emissions remains challenging, according to Inter ow Sustainability and Environment Manager, Pam Johnson.

“It’s not that solutions don’t exist – many of them do. e challenge lies in rolling them out consistently across an entire sector, across businesses of all sizes and at all stages of their sustainability journey.”

“While managing our operational emissions remain challenging, it’s achievable, especially with Inter ow’s strong purpose: to improve lives, communities and the environment,” she said.

“But when it comes to what we buy and how it’s made – essentially, how other businesses operate – systemwide progress will take deep collaboration, not just with suppliers but across the whole industry.”

As major water authorities begin shi ing their procurement focus to include decisions around more sustainable and performance-based outcomes, it opens the door to new ways of working that challenge wellestablished and accepted engineering practices.

“ at gives us permission to push ahead with our innovation programs and bring our purpose to life,”

Ms Johnson said.

“Without those shi s in customer expectations, some sustainable alternatives might never gain traction.”

Ms Johnson said the myriad of pressures on water in Australia mean success is no longer de ned solely by technical outcomes. It is also about ensuring long-term water security, building stronger communities, respecting cultural heritage, embedding climate resilience and enhancing biodiversity.

“We must partner strategically to get where we want to go, and to make sure we’re all on the same journey.” U

We’re Creating the Future of Water for people, communities and the environment

Collaboration is the key to eliminating challenges, so the team at Lanco group work closely with contractors and water authorities to overcome issues as they arise. Image: Adwo/stock.adobe.com

Built for centuries

It’s an era of expansion for the water sector, but new infrastructure doesn’t just need to meet our needs today, it needs to be built for tomorrow.

Australia’s water networks are under more strain than ever. As the population grows, climate patterns shi , and demand becomes more complex, legacy infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

ese ageing systems need to be upgraded to meet new standards and rising community expectations, while at the same time water networks need to expand to accommodate populations growth and support the new green eld developments cropping up all over Australia.

Both existing and new assets also need to be resilience to increasing extreme storm, heat and ooding events, and equipped to meet future needs.

And utilities need to deliver all this without placing extra burden on consumers.

For Lanco Group Senior Design Engineer, Anthony Drossinis, success starts at the design phase.

From design to delivery

Maximising the lifespan of an asset means better return on investment, and ultimately means customers won’t be funding frequent upgrades or replacements down the track. Mr Drossinis explained that to do this, water and sewer assets need to be engineered to last a design life of at least 100 years.

“ e two main factors that contribute to the longevity and resilience of utility infrastructure is the pipe type and workmanship of pipeline installation,” he said

“I design based on the latest materials using mostly PE and the newer pipe ECOPUR for contaminated areas, this will ensure that the water infrastructure will last longer.

“However, it also depends on contractor’s workmanship, as this may have an impact on pipe integrity.”

Collaboration is the key to eliminating challenges, which why the team at Lanco group work closely with contractors and water authorities to overcome issues as they arise.

“I am in communication with the water contractor throughout the project to ensure that piping is laid as per current standards to last a lifetime,” Mr Drossinis said.

“As part of our QA construction auditing process we would audit the contractor on site and monitor if they are installing pipe as per the MRWA water code. [We’d also check] on the quality of the pipe delivered to site to see if there are any defects, and ensure that the contractor providing the joining of pipes is completing this as per the MRWA water standards.”

Mr Drossinis said that having clear, open communication with stakeholders helped him overcome challenges with two complex major water main relocations: one on Mickleham Road in Greenvale for Service Stream; and another on Clyde Road in Berwick in collaboration with Downer.

“Both these projects involved a number of stakeholders that were a ected by the relocation of a number for water mains for a road upgrade,” he said.

“Meetings were scheduled weekly and most meetings were organised to discuss updates on the project, design alternatives and other issues that stakeholders raised.”

For the Mickleham Road project, Mr Drossinis said he coordinated with Service Stream to source exact size ttings for the bigger pipe and con rm the new water main alignment.

“E ective communication between stakeholders was important for the project to run smoothly and completed on time,” he said.

While it presented new challenges, Mr Drossinis said that the Clyde Road water relocation project was one of the most rewarding – and from it he was able to improve his design process and the way he communicated with other stakeholders, such as Vicroads.

“From this project I have learnt to deal with con ict in design and has shaped me to tackle harder and di cult projects going forward,” he said. ese skills are especially important in situations where one project’s construction schedule clashes with another’s.

“In some cases there may be clashes when commencing construction on site at the same time as another authority is constructing their service,”

Mr Drossinis said.

As the population grows, legacy infrastructure is struggling to keep up and our water networks need to expand. Image: FiledIMAGE/ stock.adobe.com

e two main factors that contribute to the longevity and resilience of utility infrastructure is the pipe type and workmanship of pipeline installation “

“For example, I have recently been working on a project in South Melbourne in which we were scheduled to commence sewer works on a speci c date.

“However, Citipower advised they were completing their works for the site in the same area as our sewer works, [which] required us to reschedule our works to another date.”

Today’s challenges demand smart urban planning and engineering expertise, particularly in places like Melbourne where a large number of sites are heritage listed.

“We have completed many projects in which the land of the site may be classi ed as heritage listed or even may have cultural heritage artifacts within the site,” Mr Drossinis said.

If an artifact is found on site during construction, then this would hinder the project delivery because crews are not allowed to work on the site – so it’s essential that Lanco Group has all the information to help utilities plan ahead.

“ e rst thing the team do is conduct a property report search on the lot to see if it’s within an Aboriginal cultural heritage area.

“If the site is found to be within an Aboriginal cultural heritage area, then we would normally complete an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment to determine if a Cultural Heritage Management Plan is necessary for the site,” Mr Drossinis said

With more than 27 years of experience in the water sector, Lanco Group is a trusted partner to utilities, councils, and developers across Victoria and as well as a growing number in other parts of Australia.

e company specialises in civil infrastructure design, hydraulic and drainage services, project management, contract administration, construction auditing, and technical dra ing – but what really sets it apart is its people.

Mr Drossinis explained that the team take a tailored, collaborative approach to align with each client’s unique needs and solve problems as they arise.

“I’m always learning something new every day,” he said.

“I like the challenges of complex projects, [and I enjoy] helping clients. [I’m proud to help] enable Melbourne’s water and sewer infrastructure to grow for future generations.”

U

For

more information, visit www.lancogroup.com.au

Celebrating excellence

The 2025 NSW Water Industry Operations Conference and Exhibition was a celebration of innovation, resilience and the people who keep Australia’s water flowing.

Held over two days at the Newcastle Racecourse, the 2025 NSW Water Industry Operations Conference and Exhibition brought together operators, engineers, suppliers, and industry leaders from across the state and beyond. With its coastal charm, vibrant arts scene, and proud industrial heritage, Newcastle provided a tting backdrop for a conference that honoured both tradition and transformation in the water sector.

e conference o cially began with the Chairman’s Reception, an invite-only evening that recognised the contributions of sponsors, committee members, and volunteers.

Hosted by WIOA Chair Mat Greskie and Board Director Robert Scott, the reception included a special presentation to Sally Shepherd, acknowledging her achievements and service as an outgoing Board Director. is spirit of recognition and gratitude carried through the entire event, setting the tone for two days of learning, networking, and celebration.

A standout moment of the conference was the Women of Water Breakfast, which marked the continued national rollout of the Women in Water Operations (WiWO) initiative. is breakfast provided a welcoming space for women in the industry to connect, share experiences, and build community.

It also highlighted the growing momentum behind gender equity in water operations, with WiWO o ering a platform for mentorship, advocacy, and professional development.

e technical program was equally impressive, featuring 22 paper presentations from passionate operators and industry experts. Topics ranged from ood response and PFAS management to water quality improvements and climate adaptation strategies.

Keynote speakers included Sydney Water’s Sally Rewell and Daniel Leach, who spoke about modernising operations training, and Brendan Guiney from the Water Directorate, who shared insights on supporting regional operators. ese sessions underscored the depth of expertise within the sector and the importance of continuous learning in an era of rapid change.

Beyond the conference hall, the exhibition showcased products and services from over 120 leading companies. Attendees explored interactive displays, discovered new technologies, and forged valuable business connections.

Our operators work long and hard to deliver high-quality water. It’s not my award, it’s their award

e Meet the Exhibitor Dinner provided a relaxed setting for further networking, with canapés, drinks, and light entertainment overlooking the racecourse.

During this event, NSW Advisory Committee Chair, Alan Butler, was honoured with induction into the IDIOTS – Delegates of the Inextricably Obstructed Tap Society – a tongue-in-cheek recognition of long-standing service and commitment to WIOA’s mission.

Competitions added a lively dimension to the event, with the Reece Civil + Viadux Main Tapping Competition drawing enthusiastic crowds.

e 2025 NSW nals saw Orange City Council and MidCoast Council go head-to-head, with MidCoast Council’s team of Dean and Mark clinching victory by a mere few seconds. eir winning cheque of $1,000 was donated to GIVIT, a charity that connects Australians in need with essential goods and services. is act of generosity re ected the community spirit that runs deep in the water industry.

Another highlight was the IXOM Best Tasting Tap Water Competition, which crowned Richmond Valley Council as the 2025 NSW/ACT champion. e contest, held on the rst day of the conference, brought together samples from water treatment facilities across the region. A er rigorous judging based on clarity, odour, and taste, Richmond Valley Council’s Casino Water Treatment Plant emerged victorious by a single vote, edging out strong contenders from Sydney Water and Central Coast Council.

is win marked a triumphant return for Richmond Valley Council, whose Casino WTP previously claimed the national title in 2021.

Upon accepting the award, Richmond Valley Council Water Operations Team Leader, Allison Hawthorn, said this win belongs to the operators.

“We face a few challenges with our treatment – the water starts all pristine up on the hills of the Queensland–New South Wales Border, but as it cracks down [the Richmond River] into Casino it’s not always the best quality water at that point and sometimes there’s a rapid rise in the turbidity and it can be quite clean at other times,” she said.

“ e sample today was taken from our works depot, and our operators work long and hard [to deliver high-quality water] – they really do. It’s not my award, it’s their award.”

eir dedication, skill, and attention to detail were on full display in the winning sample, which will now represent NSW/ACT in the national nals later this year.

e conference concluded with the NSW Awards Night Celebration, which recognised excellence in operations, innovation, and leadership.

Lindsay Walsh received the New Life Member Recognition for his 19 years of service, including his role as a founding member of the NSW Advisory Committee. Known for his wisdom, humility, and regular contributions as a presenter and MC, Walsh’s recognition was met with heartfelt applause.

Veolia operator Andrea Coleman was named the 2025 NSW Young Operator of the Year. Starting her career as a laboratory assistant, Ms Coleman quickly advanced into operations, demonstrating a strong work ethic and a passion for digitisation and system modernisation. Her contributions to the Illawarra Water Filtration Plant have made her an invaluable team member and a rising star in the industry.

MidCoast Council’s Craig Stone was awarded the 2025 NSW Operator of the Year for his technical expertise and commitment to water quality. Mr Stone played a pivotal role in ensuring the Bootawa Water Treatment Plant maintained 100 per cent compliance with Australian Drinking Water Guidelines for four consecutive years. His leadership during the 2025 Manning oods, when he camped at the plant for three days to maintain operations, exempli ed his dedication and resilience.

Other awards included Best Paper by an Operator, won by Veolia Wastewater Supervisor, Scott Collis, for his presentation on navigating capital upgrades, and Best Paper Overall, awarded to Shane Dyson and Steve Buck from Icon Water for their work on mitigating water hammer in dissolved air otation systems.

Chris Yeats from PYROCAL received Best Poster Presentation for his insights on biosolids management, while Control Components won the Ron Bergmeier Award for Best Exhibition Site, recognised for their engaging and innovative booth.

e conference showcased the technical excellence, collaborative spirit, and deep sense of purpose that de ne the New South Wales water industry. From the operators who ensure safe drinking water every day to the innovators pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, the event celebrated the people who make water work.

It’s not just about infrastructure or compliance – it’s about the individuals who rise to the challenge, adapt to changing conditions, and deliver essential services with pride and professionalism – and the 2025 conference was it was a celebration of community, excellence and the shared commitment to securing Australia’s water future. U

Saving Water... by detecting leaks

Two-way street

What happens to our distribution networks when the primary consumers of electricity become the grid’s largest supplier too? This is on the cards for most of Australia, but for SA Power Networks it’s a lived reality.

Every year since 2019, roo op solar has been the largest single category of new renewable energy generating capacity added in Australia.

It now equates to 25GW of installed capacity – more than black and brown coal combined – and accounted for 31 per cent of all renewable energy generated across the country in 2024 .

While uptake of this technology has increased across the board, South Australia has the rst power system in the world where roo op solar can at times exceed the entire state’s electricity demand.

SA Power Networks Senior Manager Enterprise Innovation, James Brown, explained that 45 per cent of the state’s residential customers have a solar system installed on their home.

“If you add it all together, that’s 3GW of installed capacity. at’s three times bigger than any other central generator in the system – the biggest gas- red power station we have still in South Australia is B Station at Torrens Island at 800MW,” he said.

“ ere are now times where the entire demand of South Australia is supplied just by roo op solar during the middle of the day.”

South Australia o ers some of the most a ordable household solar installations in the country . Over last decade the State and Federal Government introduced several schemes to incentivise uptake of this technology and, as demand for installations grew, the market became more competitive, driving prices down further. ese low prices, in turn, encourage further installations, which is fantastic for meeting the state’s target of net 100 per cent renewable generation by 2027, but what does it mean for distribution network operators?

“ ere are two challenges that come with integrating really high levels of solar,” Mr Brown said.

“ e rst is network congestion. e distribution system was built for the one-way ow of energy from big, centralised generators down to end consumers. Now customers are feeding energy back into the grid, which is overloading poles, wires and substations in the reverse direction.

“ ere’s no diversity in solar: if the sun is shining, solar panels are putting out power and pushing it back onto the grid.

“When we design the network around demand, not everyone’s turning on their kettle and their air conditioner and their electric stove at the same time, but with solar, as soon as the sun is out then solar is feeding in to the network, and by the middle of the day much of the network is operating at or above full capacity.”

en there’s also the issue of system security.

“When the state is completely supplied by roo op solar, there are some challenges that come with keeping the system stable,” Mr Brown said.

“It’s really a challenge for the Australian Energy Market

Operator (AEMO), but distribution networks increasingly have a role in supporting them to maintain power system security.

“Complicating things further is the fact we expect a lot of customers will electrify their homes, their vehicles, their businesses in the coming years. And some forecasts see demand doubling in the future, if it’s not well managed.”

But just as there are challenges, Mr Brown said that this also presents a major opportunity.

“If we can integrate these resources through demand exibility, so they can be responsive to the needs of the network and broader energy system at certain times, this could save billions of dollars across the National Energy Market (NEM) in the energy transition,” he said.

The best of both worlds

e AEMO’s Integrated System Plan (ISP) outlines the sector’s roadmap to net zero, and it primarily focuses on the transmission system and large-scale centralised generation and storage, but Mr Brown said that there’s an opportunity to for consumer energy resources to play a major role.

“ e ISP considers what consumers are going to do with their resources as an input, but to be truly a least-cost plan, it needs to look at the demand-side and consumer energy resources (CER) as an output, not just an input,” he said.

“We know that consumers are willing to invest in all this new technology, but we know that there are still empty roo ops and huge potential for home batteries and V2G technology - which the distribution network could accommodate much more of, at little or no extra cost.”

“ is could be a low-cost way to meet demand with technology that we know can be deployed rapidly at scale” Mr Brown said there’s room in the ISP to include recommendations around how Australia can invest more in that part of the system too.

“It’s not about transmission versus distribution. ere’s so much to be done in the energy transition that we just need to everything at this point,” he said.

“If we can get the optimal mix of resources at the distribution level, we can signi cantly improve long-term outcomes for customers... [and] demand exibility is the key to integrating these resources into the grid.”

Any way the power flows

A study from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) found exible demand could save between $3 billion and $18 billion in generation and storage costs3 –and especially in a cost-of-living crisis this is by no means insigni cant.

“ e size of the prize is huge. So, we need to have a crack at making it happen,” Mr Brown said.

Traditionally, whenever demand on the system increased, the network operator would then build bigger substations or upgrade the poles and wires. But, exible

demand incentivises customers to use digital technology to shi the use of their assets to outside peak demand times – meaning more assets can be accommodated by existing networks.

Mr Brown played a key role in developing and implementing SA Power Network’s rst real demand exibility o er – Flexible Exports.

e rst trials kicked o in 2021, and now Mr Brown said the team are looking at what they can build upon from there.

“In around 2015–16, we started to see the network become congested due to all the solar that was out there, which manifested in the voltage going higher and

customers inverters tripping o ,” he said.

“We were getting increasing numbers of customers contacting our call centre to understand what was happening to their system. And so we were faced with the challenge of guring out how we can support solar at scale.

“We could spend what we forecast to be hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrading the network to support all this excess solar, the cost of which would be passed through to all customers, so even those who don’t have solar would have increased electricity bills.

“We could also limit solar exports all the time, and tell customers they’re going to be xed at a really low level of

Image: SA Power Networks

grid export all throughout the year, which means they get less value from their solar, which impacts their return on investment. It would’ve also meant potentially wasting all of this cheap renewable energy that’s been generated on our roo ops.”

However, Mr Brown explained that when SA Power Networks did the modelling, it was actually only a handful of days per year where the grid was becoming congested.

“So, we thought rather than building a network to support this all the time or restricting customers all the time, why don’t we build a system that allows customers to export more outside of those peak times and reduce exports at times only when the grid is actually congested,” he said.

South Australia is the rst, and currently the only, state to o er all customers a exible export limit – and from July 2025 all solar customers can now choose to have a grid export limit of 1.5kW per phase, or a exible limit that varies up to 10kW per phase, depending on the grid conditions.

But blazing that trail didn’t happen in a day.

“It was a long journey, because we had to do a range of things behind the scenes to make that happen,” Mr Brown said.

“We needed to develop standards to communicate with customer inverters, to tell them what their export limit is at a point in time, which hadn’t been done before.

“We went on a search and looked at international standards, and we found the Common Smart Inverter Pro le (CSIP) from California, but it didn’t really t the context. So, we took that, we came together in a working group with like-minded stakeholders across the country and developed a local adaptation, which has recently been aformalised by Standards Australia, aptly named CSIPAUS.”

SA Power Networks then had to work with all of the manufacturers of solar inverters across the globe to build that capability into their inverters.

“South Australia is a small jurisdiction, so you might think ‘why are all these global manufacturers going to focus in on South Australia and build this capability?’

“And I think we were able to sell them on the vision that this is going to become the standard for Australia and then everywhere else in the world. We’re at the forefront of the transition when it comes to roo op solar, and if they come on the journey with us, they’ll be set up for when this becomes a requirement elsewhere,” Mr Brown said.

“We also worked really closely with the South Australian Government who developed requirements that meant any solar that was sold in the state had to have these new capabilities, because we thought it was an essential requirement going into the future.”

To ensure that solar installers had the tools they needed to get these systems up and running correctly, SA Power Networks also engaged with the solar industry over a long

period of time. It completely revamped its whole solar connections process and ew in equipment manufacturers from across the country to conduct in-person training with installers.

We’re all part of the solution

With Flexible Export rolled out across South Australia, Mr Brown and his team are now supporting other systems to implement the same capabilities – and he said engagement is central to success.

“Codesign solutions if possible. Involve customers early. Involve industry early. If you make them part of the solution and equip them with the tools and processes to be successful, then they’ll be your biggest advocates,” he said.

In developing this new norm, SA Power Networks treated exible exports as a ‘product o ering;’ rather than an engineering solution – which Mr Brown said means the design is customer- rst and the systems and tech are an enabler.

“Just shy of 90 per cent of customers are choosing to opt into the exible limit.

“And there’s a lot of talk about consumer trust in the transition which is critical. We think that in practice, if you get the deal right and you engage with customers and are transparent about what you’re o ering, then they’re willing to make that trade o .

“And we’ve seen that play out in reality, with more than 26,000 solar customers signed up to Flexible Exports.”

For SA Power Networks, engagement with the solar industry was again crucial to making sure the roll-out of the o er was successful.

“Customers tend to not have a lot of direct engagement with their distribution network outside of when they want to get a connection or when the power’s out and they want to get it restored,” Mr Brown said.

“And the key for us was we recognised that the solar industry was really the conduit to the customer.

“So, we tried to train and equip the industry with the things that they needed to be able to put this o er in front of customers.”

At rst, SA Power Network’s approach was to give the installers all the information they could and let them gure out how to pitch it to customers. But Mr Brown said they found that the best solution was a surprisingly simple one.

“In the end, they just wanted some simple o cial documentation from us that they could just put in front of the customer and say: ‘this is from SA Power Networks, this is what Flexible Exports is, and this is how it works’,” he said

“And that’s been really key to helping support trust, because they trust the person who’s installing a solar system to help them get some energy independence and save them money on their bills.”

e other core element to building trust consumer trust is transparency with information.

“We’ve tried to be as transparent as we can about how o en solar is going to get turned down or export will be increased,” Mr Brown said.

“We can never provide guarantees for future performance, but we do provide the last 12 months of data on our website so that when you’re going through the process, the installer can bring you to that web page, type in your address and say, ‘Look, this is what it was like last year.

“But trust is built up by being transparent and doing the right thing over an extended period of time. You can’t win it overnight.

“If we can continue to show that this is something that consumers can trust, then we’re hoping that that builds a solid foundation for the next phase that we’re looking to do in this space.”

The next phase

As more CER come online, Mr Brown said SA Power Networks is transitioning to a new function: from an asset owner to distribution system operator.

“We need to enable and coordinate the resources on the distribution network so that they result in the best long-term outcomes for all customers, not just those that can invest in the technology,” he said.

According to Mr Brown, there are three steps on that journey.

e rst is exible connections, which involves rewarding customers for signing up to make their CER and smart appliances able to respond to signals based on the grid conditions.

“Flexible Exports is our rst foray into this for solar, and we’re now testing exibility on the demand side – so with smart appliances such as EVs, hot water systems, and other technologies,” Mr Brown said.

Increased electri cation could potentially double network demand by 2050, and SA Power Networks is looking to support as much of that added demand within its existing network at possible.

If the network doesn’t need to be upgraded, then those expenses won’t be re ected in customer’s bills.

Mr Brown explained that there will still be some places that need to be upgraded, but SA Power Networks’ vision is to minimise that as much as it can – and right now this is being tested with its Energy Masters pilot.

Delivered in collaboration with the South Australian Government, electricity retailers and technology providers, the program gives 500 households subsidies to install electric appliances (for example, split-system air-conditioners, heat pump hot water systems or EV chargers) at their home as well as a home energy management system (HEMS) to manage their use.

ose customers are then being rewarded for the exible use of those appliances.

“ e home energy management system will rst optimise for the best use of the customer behind the meter. So, for example, if they’re on a time of use tari the HEMS will schedule appliances, and charge and discharge any battery at the home to minimise the customer’s electricity bill,” Mr Brown said.

“ ey also consent to a exible connection with us, where we will send them a signal from the grid and say, if you allow your exible appliances to respond at these times and keep their usage within the limits of the grid, we’ll pay you a rebate on your distribution charges on your electricity bill.

“ en the retailers in the program are saying, ‘well, if you’re willing to go even further and enable us to manage your resources based on the wholesale price of electricity, then we’ll give you more nancial rewards.”

According to Mr Brown, interoperability is going to play a key role to this initiative’s success – meaning the technologies that customer purchase need to be able to work together communicating consistently with each other and the grid.

“Standards don’t sound like a shiny thing, but they’re super important for enabling consumers to get the most out of the resources that they’re purchasing,” he said.

e message SA Power Networks is hearing from most consumers is that energy need to be simple and easy – so demand exibility o ers can’t be too complex either.

To get this right, Mr Brown said there will need to be tight collaboration between networks, retailers, and tech companies to build simple o ers that are ‘set and forget’ to avoid burdening the customer.

Image: SA Power Networks

On the bright side, customer interest in the Energy Masters pilot exceeded SA Power Network’s expectations.

“We had 500 spots in the program, and we had more than 2000 people apply. So, there’s consumer interest in doing this – and I think that helping to contribute to the broader system and reduce costs for everyone is something that some consumers are keen to do – if the rewards and trade-o s are transparent,” Mr Brown said.

Charging ahead

e next is phase is what SA Power Networks calls exibility services.

Even with exible connections in place, Mr Brown said that there will still be network constraints – and again, instead of investing in poles and wires, SA Power Networks thinks that solar, batteries and EVs can be part of the solution.

“First, we’re looking to trial a marketplace where we can we publish our network constraints and aggregators, VPP operators and large battery customers (or people acting on their behalf) can say ‘I’ve got capacity in that area. I can reduce demand by discharging my battery or turning o my EV chargers during that time,’ and then we will pay them for doing so,” he said.

“ is is an e cient way for us to procure non-network solutions. is has been done at scale in the UK and it’s something that we’re looking to bring to Australia.

“Our context is a bit di erent to the UK model – over there it’s mostly about larger resources – but we think that it’s possible with smaller resources connected deep in the distribution network.

“CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy are doing a trial of this at the moment and we’re hoping to start our own trial from next year.”

e third and nal stage on SA Power Networks’ journey is ensuring that these resources are considered as part of energy system planning and can be integrated into the wholesale energy market.

“It’s our role to help facilitate those resources that are participating in the wholesale market or doing other things with retailers, and also maintain overall reliability and system security,” Mr Brown said.

“It all sounds complex, especially in a world where consumers are telling us that energy needs to be simple, but what we’re nding is that in collaboration with retailers and technology companies we can o er this in a way that’s simple for the end consumer.

“We could see a world where an electricity plan looks like a mobile plan; where if you install all these resources, your bill will be X dollars a month, or if you are willing to be  exible and respond to the grid, it’ll be a much cheaper cost, and customers decide to opt in get the nancial bene t.”

Leaving no-one behind

By now, the entire sector knows the importance of consumer participation in the energy transition, but for customers to be a part of this shi to renewable, exible energy they need to purchase and install new technology in their homes – so, what about consumers that don’t have the opportunity to do that?

For SA Power Networks, its role is to enable customers to install the technology they wish to, but Mr Brown said that shouldn’t come at the cost of its core purpose: to deliver reliable and a ordable power for all customers. ere are many varied reasons why customers can’t access modern technology, but one of the core barriers is nancial vulnerability.

For those without the means to purchase solar systems, batteries or EVs, Mr Brown said there needs to be electricity tari s that are simple, predictable and make the most of the technology that others are installing so that people who are nancially disadvantaged can still save money on their electricity bills. ere are also people who have limited access to CER as a result of their living circumstance, like renters or apartment dwellers.

Renters can’t make modi cations to their property without the landlord’s consent, and there’s o en no incentive for the landlord to make those improvements. Similarly, it’s di cult to put a solar system on an apartment building – and residents may not be able to get an EV (or get the best charging rates) if there are no charging facilities in their complex.

“We need models that open the door for everyone.

“ at’s things like having shared solar or community batteries that customers can receive bene ts from, even if they don’t have the physical means to install it on their property,” Mr Brown said.

“ en there’s the wicked problem of getting the right incentives in place, so that landlords and/or renters can invest in technology.”

Both the energy system, and the utility sector as whole are undergoing a major shi . For many regulated utility businesses like SA Power Networks, Mr Brown said that developing new exibility o erings is bringing them closer to customers that ever before.

“We need to have a product mindset, which we kind of never have had as a sector before – we’re developing things that we want consumers to take up, whereas before, we’ve had a monopoly mindset where consumers have just had to take what we’re o ering,” he said.

“So, when we’re developing these new o erings and services, we need to think about them from the consumer lens and ask them what they want.”

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Strengthening Victoria’s energy system

Construction of the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub is well underway – and it’s set to play a key part in securing the state’s electricity grid as coal-fired power stations retire.

Australia’s energy system is in the midst of a profound transformation – and the sector must not only deliver enough new clean energy infrastructure to meet our net-zero goals, but in doing so ensure a reliable, a ordable electricity supply.

While the Federal Government has pledged to generate 82 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030, Victoria and set its own target of 95 per cent by 2035. To accelerate this transition to clean energy, the newly reformed State Electricity Commission (SEC) has partnered with Equis to deliver one of the world’s biggest batteries –the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub (MREH).

e rst phase of the MREH project comprises the connection of a 600MW and 1.6GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) into the existing Sydenham Terminal Station through a new 500kV underground cable circuit. At the completion of this phase, the MREH will have su cient battery storage to power 200,000 homes during the evening peak period. e system will soak up surplus roo op solar and energy from the grid, charge the batteries when renewable energy is most abundant, and discharge when supplies tighten.

As Victoria’s ageing coal- red power stations retire, this development in Melbourne’s west is set to strengthen the electricity network and safeguard the state’s power supply.

e MREH will also unlock capacity for more renewable energy to help Victoria hit its 95 per cent renewable electricity target.

Equis has engaged Transgrid to develop the transmission infrastructure required for the 500kV connection to the Victorian grid including the establishment of new Plumpton Renewable Terminal Station (PRTS) and a 500kV underground cable system between PRTS and AusNet’s Sydenham Terminal Station (SYTS). Daly’s Constructions was engaged via Taihan Electric for the delivery of this 500kV underground cable system.

A landmark power project

e 1875m-long underground cable system connecting PRTS to SYTS is the rst 500kV underground AC cable system constructed in Australia. Not only does the MREH represent a groundbreaking achievement for the country as a whole, but in delivering the rst cable installation of this type in Australia – and what is also believed to be the third ever in the entire southern hemisphere – Daly’s Constructions has set a new industry benchmark.

According to the team, Daly’s Constructions is also the only construction partner in Australia to deliver high-voltage (HV) and extra-high-voltage (EHV) cable installations in Australia, spanning 11kV through to 500kV – including 22kV, 33kV, 66kV, 110kV, 132kV, 220kV, 275kV, 330kV, and 400kV.

As the principal contractor for underground cable works within AusNet’s SYTS and the parcel of land next to the terminal station, the Daly’s team took great care to ensure that this landmark project was not only delivered on time, but in a way that ensured the safety of everyone on-site and protected the local environment.

In addition to trenching, conduit installation and installing cables, Daly’s was responsible for the construction of the joint bays, erecting the cables onto structures, producing a detailed design of termination structure foundations within SYTS and facilitated the installation of joint and terminations.

e team also conducted site investigations – including thermal resistivity survey and Geotechnical testing along the route – implemented environment and sediment controls along the cable easement, and handled the temporary works design and construction of two weatherproof sca olds to facilitate termination works.

As the SYTS is a live 500kV terminal station, successful delivery of the works within the 500kV terminal station required Daly’s ongoing coordination with everyone involved and strict adherence to safety protocols.

Once complete, the MREH will be the largest BESS in the Southern Hemisphere, but it also includes the fi rst 500kV cable and the fi rst 500kV battery connection in Australia.

Images: Daly’s Constructions

To facilitate the large-diameter cable required for this project, Daly’s had to take a specialised approach, including designing and manufacturing a new hydraulic drum stand.

Breaking down barriers

Trenching works kicked o in July 2024, but a signi cant amount of rock in ground presented a schedule risk for the project, and it was estimated that around 60–75 per cent of the excavation works included rock breaking in hard basalt.

To tackle these very hard ground conditions, Daly’s employed its eet of 23t and 13t excavators and assisted with the development of an accelerated program to minimise the impact on the project’s timeline.

Daly’s deployed multiple crews to complete concurrent work fronts within the cable easement, the PRTS and the SYTS.

e trenching works were completed in January 2025, and the team wasted no time in kicking o the installation of the power, optical bre and earthing cables.

Rising to the challenge

To meet the desired ratings, the cables were installed within conduits in a at spaced arrangement, which were back lled with thermally rated materials in accordance with the design.

A total of six drums of 154mm-diameter cable, each 5.3m wide and weighing 31t were needed for this landmark project, which called for a specialised approach. Daly’s designed and manufactured a new hydraulic drum stand that can handle cable drums ranging from 2.4m wide to 8m wide, 3.0–4.4m in diameter and up to 70t in total weight, with a gearbox and motor designed to hold or recover cable up to 10t. ese cable drums were transported from South Korea to Daly’s Laverton yard for storage, then the Daly’s team managed the transportation from Laverton to the

project’s site – which required specialised transport with pilots vehicles, as well as oversize and overmass (OSOM) permits.

Specialised cranage had to be used to load and unload the cable drums, which required Daly’s to develop li plans and perform geotechnical testing to establish ground bearing pressure. e Daly’s team even had to modify its caterpillars for this project to take the larger cable and as well as its ramp roller to cater for the increased width and height of drums.

e installation works wrapped up in February 2025, and Daly’s began works to construct two 30t precast joint bays – which included the installation of enclosures and ancillary pits for the cable jointing works.

While two joint bays were constructed, the cables were jointed at just one, with the second joint bay to be used for future extension of the circuit to a new terminating point.

Daly’s installed two 20m-long sca olds, which were covered with weatherproof shrink wraps to ensure the termination works were not impacted by dust and moisture. ese sca olds stood at 5m deep and 11m high with four working decks and were fully equipped with power supplies and air-conditioning.

By the end of April 2025, the cable system was ready for pre-commissioning to meet the accelerated program, marking a major milestone in the delivery of this complex transmission project.

Building positive outcomes

Daly’s strong commitment to both worksite safety and cultural and environmental responsibility was put into practise at every stage of this project, which resulted in highly positive outcomes.

Not only was it completed without a single environmental breach or incident, but the team’s collaborative e orts and proactive risk management meant that there were zero losttime incidents, and just one medically treated incident. e team’s dedication to health and safety was evident throughout the project duration, and regular inspections, frequent joint walk-throughs, and ongoing engagement through daily, weekly and monthly meetings allowed Daly’s to foster a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.

External safety audits conducted identi ed no nonconformances, reinforcing the project’s high standards of compliance and performance. e integration of all stakeholders in planning, review processes, and site activities ensured alignment, transparency and shared ownership of success.

Construction works were carried out to comply with Cultural Heritage Management Plan (CHMP) conditions and a strict environmental management framework was set out to ful ll the planning permit requirements. ese controls included mandatory CHMP induction,

regular Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) inspections, dust and noise control, establishment of a no-go zone along the cable easement and sediment control. Daly’s also established speci c measures to protect the habitat of the endangered growling grass frog.

All the construction activity along the cable route was strictly con ned to established easement and beyond that was a no-go zone, which was delineated with approximately 4km of temporary fencing. A 1.5km-long sediment fence was also constructed along the cable easement on identi ed locations, and another speci c fence was constructed around the growling grass frog habitat near the land adjacent to SYTS to prevent the frogs from entering the construction area.

Pre-commissioning tests were completed in May 2025, and Daly’s Constructions Director, Mark Daly, credited the project’s success to strong teamwork with stakeholders, solid planning, and the dedication of an experienced construction crew.

Regular progress meetings and open lines of communication helped keep everyone aligned and ensured smooth coordination across key work areas –leading to a well-executed delivery of this vital piece of renewable energy infrastructure.

As Victoria’s energy transition powers ahead, the success of this groundbreaking project reinforces both the state’s future, and Daly’s position as a trusted partner in delivering critical energy projects across Australia. U

This complex project was completed safely, underscoring Daly’s commitment to cultural and environmental responsibility.

To prevent delays due to the hard ground conditions, Daly’s crews worked across di erent work fronts concurrently.

Daly’s Installed weatherproof sca olds equipped with power supply and air conditioning to facilitate the installation of cable terminations.

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Powering change

The Federal Government has unveiled an ambitious national emissions target that can only be achieved by successfully transitioning the grid to renewable energy. There’s a lot resting on utilities’ shoulders at the moment, but are we actually on track for 2030?

On ursday 18 September 2025, the Federal Government announced that it has accepted the Climate Change Authority’s independent advice, and set a national target to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions to 62–70 per cent below 2005 levels by 2035

According to the Federal Government, this is an ambitious but achievable target that responds to the science and is delivered with a practical plan.

A risk we can’t ignore

Australia’s rst National Climate Risk Assessment (NCRA) paints a sobering picture: climate risks will be cascading, compounding and concurrent – and no Australian community will be immune. is comprehensive assessment was developed by the Australian Climate Service, drawing on data from the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, the ABS and Geoscience Australia to outline the risks posed by climate change across the country.

By 2050, up to 70 per cent of native plant species could face conditions outside their current climate range. Sea level rise could put 1.5 million more people in highrisk coastal areas. Heatwaves could claim lives and threaten the security of our water supplies – especially in northern Australia. And the economic toll from reduced productivity and disrupted supply chains will be felt across every sector

While it nds that climate hazards will worsen under all plausible futures, the di erence between 2°C and 3°C of global warming is signi cant and early action can reduce long-term costs and protect what we value most.

According to the report, since 2022 Australia has made important progress when it comes to cutting emissions and acting on climate change, and the Federal Government said that while we can no longer avoid climate impacts, every action we take today towards our goal of net zero by 2050 will help avoid the worst impacts on Australian communities and businesses. is means that keeping global temperatures at less than 2ºC above pre-industrial temperatures will stabilise some, but not all, climate impacts.

Informed by CSIRO modelling, the Climate Change Authority’s 2035 Targets Advice to the Federal Government makes it clear that in order to do this, we need to accelerate out emissions reduction.

Australia’s current emissions target is a 43 per cent reduction on 2005 levels by 2030, and if we continue on our current trajectory, Australia is projected to reduce emissions by 51 per cent by 2035.

However, the Climate Change Authority’s report shows that to limit warming to 1.5°C, Australia must reduce emissions by 19–24Mt per year on average (or 62–70 per cent) between now and 2035. at’s a steep climb from the current trajectory. But it’s not impossible.

A roadmap for the future

Electricity generation accounts for 34 per cent of Australia’s current emissions, while energy end-use accounts for another 43 per cent. Together, this represents the lion’s share of the country’s carbon footprint, and while renewables now make up more than 40 per cent of generation in both the National Electricity Market (NEM) and the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), fossil fuels still dominate the energy mix.

By continuing Australia’s transition to a secure, reliable renewables-based electricity system, the Federal Government said that we can deliver around half of the reductions needed to achieve the recommended 2035 target.

In addition, electri cation and improved e ciency of transport and buildings can account for a further 11–14 per cent of required emissions reductions, with the remaining reductions covered by e ciency improvements across the industry, mining, and agriculture sectors. But doing so requires the committed and coordinated e orts of governments, utilities, industry and consumers. Alongside the new 2035 target, the Federal Government also unveiled a new roadmap to net zero, which builds on the lowest cost actions Australia can deliver over the next decade while leaving room for new technologies to take things up a gear.

According to Federal Government, the majority of the reductions for Australia to reach the initial stages of our 2035 climate change target range can be achieved through actions in ve priority areas that build on existing policies.

1. Clean electricity across the economy

2. Lowering emissions through electri cation and e ciency

3. Expanding clean fuel use

4. Accelerating new technologies

5. Scaling up net carbon removals

For the energy sector, achieving the new target means increasing the pace of electricity decarbonisation and scaling up capacity in the NEM – including six-fold growth in utility storage, quadrupling wind capacity, tripling utility solar capacity and doubling roo op and distributed solar capacity by 2035, consistent with the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO’s) Step Change scenario. It also calls for increased electri cation of buildings and vehicles – and around half of the light vehicles sold between now and 2035 need to be electric.

We can’t give up now

Meeting this target is going to take a colossal e ort, but for the energy sector is rising to the challenge.

e Australian Energy Council (AEC) shared it’s support for this economy-wide interim emissions reduction target, and said that it as an important step towards achieving net zero.

AEC Chief Executive O cer, Louisa Kinnear, said “following the release of the Federal Government’s interim target range of 62 –70 per cent by 2035 it is now critical we focus on the best ways to achieve that goal at the lowest cost.

“Interim targets serve to provide certainty to industry and the broader economy about the expected investment pathway.

“ e interim target will be challenging, but that is not a reason to stop trying.

“ e scale of the challenge ahead has been recognised along with the need for careful planning and a whole-ofeconomy approach, and supportive policies and market incentives to be successful and a ordable.

“ e energy sector has done most of the heavy li ing in reducing emissions and will continue to be called on.

While the electricity sector has been able to utilise existing technologies like solar and wind to reduce its emissions, its progress now depends on timely transmission upgrades and market-based incentives to deliver the right mix of generation, including rming.

“We will need to stay open to managing the pace and coordination of the energy transition to ensure costs are kept as low as possible given electricity’s central role across all sectors of the economy.

“Inevitably as we get closer to a high renewables grid, the cheapest and easiest form of abatement is moving away from energy.

“ at’s why it is important for all sectors to play a part. Equally, both consumer a ordability and industry competitiveness must remain at the heart of the economywide e orts.”

Transgrid also welcomed the 2035 climate change target as it gets on with the job of transforming the NSW power system from coal generation to renewable energy.

Australia’s renewable energy transition and the broader decarbonisation of the economy will be a major contributor to meeting the 62 to 70 per cent reduction in emissions compared with 2005 levels.

“Our transmission network is at the heart of the National Electricity Market and is vital to achieving the nation’s net-zero emissions targets,” Transgrid CEO Brett Redman said.

“Transgrid is delivering major transmission projects to connect geographically disperse renewable generation to the national grid, delivering cleaner and more a ordable energy to millions of consumers.

“At the same time, we are planning for growth in electricity demand over the medium to long term as transport, buildings and industry electrify. Electri cation is important for economy-wide decarbonisation and will be essential for Australia to meet its net-zero targets.”

Transgrid’s nation-critical projects EnergyConnect, HumeLink and VNI West are crucial to integrating new solar, wind and hydro generation into the National

EnergyCo and

workers at the Wellington North Solar Farm. Image: New South Wales Government

Electricity Market and strengthening connections between NSW, Victoria and South Australia to increase sharing of renewable energy.

“As NSW enters the ‘deep transition’ phase, we must accelerate the buildout of renewable generation, storage and transmission if the state is going to reach our forecast 90% clean energy threshold by 2035,” Mr Redman said.

“It will take the aligned e orts of governments, regulators and the entire energy sector to ensure

renewable generation and security services are ready on time as coal retires.

“We congratulate the Commonwealth Government on this ambitious level of transformation to cut emissions, deliver cleaner and more a ordable electricity and position Australia as a global leader in renewable energy.

“Transgrid looks forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Commonwealth and state governments, communities, landowners and industry

partners to realise our clean energy future and meet this emissions reduction target by 2035.”

Energy Networks Australia (ENA) also welcomed the ambitious emissions reduction targets released today. is level of transformation represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to cut emissions, deliver cleaner energy and position Australia as a global leader in the energy transition.

Achieving renewable energy goals will require a strong

As NSW enters the ‘ deep transition’ phase, we must accelerate the buildout of renewable generation, storage and transmission if the state is going to reach our forecast 90% clean energy threshold by 2035 “

and enduring commitment to the right policy settings, ensuring investment con dence, timely delivery of grid infrastructure, as well as keeping customers at the heart of the transition. Strong engagement and consultation with communities will also be critical to ensure the energy transition is delivered in a way that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.

With a coordinated e ort across the sector, networks are committed to the challenge and look forward to working

with governments, communities, and industry partners at all levels to deliver on this ambition.

Chief Executive Dominique van den Berg said:

“Australia has the ambition and opportunity to lead the world in clean energy, but ambition alone won’t build the energy system we need. Let’s make sure that together we get the right policies in place, so we can deliver reliable, a ordable energy that puts customers and communities at the centre of the transition.”

Going in with a plan

e Federal Government’s Net Zero Plan sets out how Australia will achieve a fair, orderly and e cient transition to net zero. It provides a framework for action that builds on the country’s natural strengths, to ensure all Australians bene t.

Supporting the Net Zero Plan are six sector-speci c emissions reduction plans, including the Electricity and Energy Sector Plan – a detailed roadmap for decarbonising Australia’s energy system.

is framework breaks the transformation into three phases:

• 2025–30: reach 82 per cent renewable electricity generation while other sectors begin to decarbonise through electri cation

• 2030–35: continue decarbonising transport, buildings

and industry through electri cation and energy e ciency

• 2035–50: Accelerate fuel-switching and scale clean energy sources to achieve a high-performance, a ordable and reliable renewable energy system Australia’s energy sector will require signi cant structural change as the economy moves to net zero, and setting a pathway to 2050 requires a whole-of-system view rather than considering each sub-sector as di erences in technology and market readiness mean each will transition and decarbonise at its own rate.

e Electricity and Energy Sector Plan describes a decarbonisation pathway between now and 2050 for the energy system as a whole, which is characterised by three major shi s.

Meeting demand

e rst is a shi to an increasingly e cient energy system to support growing demand. is means electrifying where possible and using energy more e ciently and exibly, by expanding and reforming existing mechanisms to drive energy performance; identifying, incentivising and increasing visibility of demand-side opportunities across the economy, and incentivising energy performance improvements where there are large opportunities.

As part of this, the Federal Government is set to

establish a Demand-side Statement of Opportunities (DSOO), which will complement existing planning by the AEMO. e DSOO is designed to identify opportunities to improve productivity within the energy system, reduce costs for consumers, and ensure the system is prepared for new electricity loads. It will also help reward consumers who provide demand-side services, potentially avoiding costly infrastructure build-outs by leveraging exible demand.

To support electri cation, the Federal Government is investing an additional $40 million to accelerate the rollout of kerbside and fast-charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. is investment builds on existing programs and re ects the growing importance of transport electri cation in reducing emissions. Demand exibility –shi ing electricity use to times when renewable energy is more abundant or cheaper – is also being prioritised. Examples include heating water during peak solar generation or storing solar energy in batteries for evening use.

Analysis from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) suggests that a 25 per cent improvement in economy-wide energy e ciency by 2035 is both ambitious and achievable. is level of improvement could result in cumulative emissions savings of 33 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent between 2025 and 2035, representing around 9 per cent of the estimated emissions gap between the Baseline Scenario and current policy trajectories. It would also reduce total nal energy consumption by 187 petajoules in 2035 and signi cantly increase productivity across industries.

To coordinate longer-term action, the Federal Government has developed the National Energy Performance Strategy (NEPS) in collaboration with state and territory governments. In the near term, NEPS focuses on improving access to information, reducing upfront costs for energy performance improvements, and addressing split incentives – such as those between landlords and tenants. Existing initiatives include the Household Energy Upgrades Fund and the Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative, which support upgrades in Australian homes. e 2024 amendment to the ARENA Act has also expanded the agency’s mandate to support electri cation and energy e ciency, with programs like the Industrial Transformation Stream of the Powering the Regions fund targeting industrial improvements.

Electri cation increases electricity demand and may place greater pressure on electricity networks, particularly as large industrial users electrify. ‘High quality’ electri cation is vital. is means improving appliance and equipment e ciency and exibility to reduce the impact of electri cation on the grid. Choosing the right combination of ‘smart’ appliances and equipment to support demand exibility while electrifying will maximise bene ts.

Energy e ciency is particularly important to support broad-based electri cation. Without these improvements, electricity demand in the NEM would be more than 20 per cent higher by 2050. E ciency gains help relieve pressure to build additional renewable generation and rming capacity, and reduce the need for network augmentation.

As households and businesses electrify, managing system impacts becomes essential. High-quality electri cation – using e cient and exible appliances – can reduce strain on the grid. However, accelerating electri cation also raises equity concerns, particularly for lower-income households that may face rising costs if they remain connected to gas networks while others switch.

Demand exibility is increasingly integrated into the electricity system. Households and small businesses can participate through virtual power plants, while large users engage in market mechanisms and grid management programs. Despite this, market operators currently lack visibility into users’ exible capacity, which can lead to ine cient interventions. Unlocking further industrial potential will require better data, supportive market arrangements, and reforms to mechanisms like the Wholesale Demand Response.

Going electric

As Australia’s coal- red power plants near the end of their operational life and retire, they are progressively being replaced by renewable sources like solar, wind, and rmed by battery storage, which is being complemented by enhanced peaking, rming and system security measures to ensure system reliability and security.

is includes pumped hydro and natural gas- red generation, which plays an important role in managing periods of low renewable generation, particularly in winter. And according to CSIRO’s GenCost Report, renewables provide the cheapest form of new generation even when accounting for these additional rming costs.

At the same time, our electricity system is becoming more dispersed and bidirectional. Households are playing a more active role in energy markets by generating, storing and exibly using electricity.

With solar panels installed on more than a third of Australian homes, there is more roo op solar capacity than all of the remaining coal red generators, providing around 11 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation. e expansion of renewable generation has already driven substantial emissions reductions since 2005. Continued growth in renewables will further reduce electricity sector emissions and enable economy-wide decarbonisation through electri cation.

Reaching 82 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 is a major milestone on the path to net zero, supporting Australia’s target of reducing emissions to 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. To meet this goal, the pace

of utility-scale renewable and storage deployment has accelerated and will need to continue to grow.

Beyond 2030, maintaining a strong build rate will be essential to support our 2035 Target and meet a doubling of current electricity demand by 2050. is comes with challenges – there is a need for private market investment to maintain a high renewable build rate, alongside ensuring su cient long-duration rming and better use of existing network infrastructure and CER

All while ensuring that Electricity remains a ordable, reliable and secure; Consumers are empowered to more actively participate in the electricity retail market if they choose (e.g. through virtual power plants); Social licence for the renewable transition is maintained; Network infrastructure is constructed and utilised e ciently

Our electricity system will need to expand to meet demand from electri cation and new industry growth, including from data centres. Energy e ciency improvements will o set some of this growth – but the pro le of electricity demand will also change, with greater variability in generation, changing peak demand and new large loads.

By shi ing from coal to renewables, scaling renewable supply, and improving performance of our networks and how we use electricity, Australia can decarbonise the sector and service new demand.

While there is a clear technological pathway for the decarbonisation of electricity supply, challenges remain in rolling out the required generation and network infrastructure.

It will be critical to manage electricity system security – the system’s capability to withstand and recover from disturbances and contingencies – as Australia’s energy transformation gathers pace and synchronous power plants like coal exit the system. rough the ECMC, governments are working collaboratively with energy market bodies and networks to ensure we have appropriate regulatory frameworks, technological innovation and policy settings in place to maintain a stable, reliable and safe power system through the energy transformation.

The future of gas

Natural gas currently accounts for 13 per cent of Australia’s nal energy consumption and 21 per cent of emissions. While its role will diminish over time, it remains important for high-heat industrial processes, electricity rming and as a chemical feedstock.

e Future Gas Strategy outlines a pathway to transition gas use toward higher-value, non-substitutable applications. Renewable gases like biomethane and hydrogen will be scaled to replace fossil gas where possible. e Malabar Wastewater Demonstration Plant is already injecting biomethane into the shared gas network, and hydrogen production is expected to grow as infrastructure and industry mature.

Building the backbone of clean energy

Delivering the energy transition will require a suite of nationcritical infrastructure projects. Transmission upgrades, renewable energy zones (REZs), and large-scale generation and storage assets are all part of the puzzle.

Projects like EnergyConnect, HumeLink and VNI West are already reshaping the National Electricity Market (NEM), connecting geographically dispersed renewable generation to the grid. Marinus Link, backed by a $3.8 billion investment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, will link Tasmania and Victoria, enhancing grid resilience and unlocking new renewable capacity.

In New South Wales, the Central-West Orana REZ is powering ahead, with major construction underway. In Queensland, the SuperGrid initiative is transforming the state’s energy landscape. Across the country, wind farms, solar arrays, pumped hydro and battery storage projects are scaling up to meet future demand.

Energy is an essential input across all sectors of the economy: industry, resources, transport, the built environment, and agriculture and land. ese sectors cannot decarbonise unless the energy system provides enough clean, a ordable energy to meet their needs.

Australia’s new 2035 emissions target is bold, necessary and achievable. But it will only be met if the energy sector continues to lead the charge. U

The recently completed Buronga Substation, a key component of Project EnergyConnect. Image: Transgrid.

Metasphere helps customers prevent leaks and spills for a cleaner, greener world

Our intelligent, innovative all-in-one telemetry solutions provide full network visibility, performance and forecasting.

Reducing telemetry ownership cost for customers to manage time-critical remote assets and systems.

Building tomorrow’s grid

When all Australia’s coal-fired power plants close, how will the grid keep up with demand? Tackling that challenge puts the imperative on the energy sector to roll out new transmission infrastructure as soon as possible.

According to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) 2025 Electricity Statement of Opportunities report, transmission developments are key enablers of reliability risk reduction in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

During periods of high demand, when reliability risks typically occur, transmission network capability limits are o en reached, and the report highlighted the important role these assets play in meeting consumer demand.

To deliver the reliable, renewable and a ordable energy system Australia needs, we have to roll out more than 6000km of new transmission projects, and there’s no room for delays. However, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that rising component prices and supply chain pressures are hindering the development of transmission grid infrastructure across the world.

Competing demand from grid expansion projects that are underway simultaneously across multiple regions is exacerbating supply chain bottlenecks, and according to the report, procurement times for essential components like power transformers and cables have almost doubled in four years.

On top of that, major transmission interconnectors span vast distances o en through remote areas – which makes transportation of both major components and essential equipment all the more challenging.

The last leg is the hardest e last-mile delivery process perhaps the most critical part of the supply chain, but o en it’s also the most challenging – especially when it comes to energy infrastructure projects where precision, delivery speed and reliability are essential.

Traditional inventory models based around rigid stock allocations are struggling to keep pace with the demands of today’s energy sector. Image: ungvar/stock.adobe.com

Major transmission developments require some rather complex last-mile logistics, from getting oversized transformers and cables on-site to delivering components to remote or hard-to-access areas. Any construction site is an unpredictable environment, last-minute changes and unforeseen problems can disrupt delivery plans, while uncontrolled circumstances like harsh weather conditions can easily cause delays or damages to components, which then leads to increased costs and project overruns.

To deliver this vital infrastructure, crews need the right parts, and they need them fast. But without clear visibility, the entire operation slows. Missing or misplaced parts trigger a domino e ect of rescheduling, increased overtime, additional freight costs and blown out project timelines.

When these teams are o en already stretched thin by labour shortages, dealing with the consequences of poor inventory visibility wastes hours they don’t have.

As the energy transition accelerates and demand on these essential crews increases, smart, e cient logistics will be crucial to supporting eld technicians.

Droppoint CEO, Jason Flanagan, said that managing inventory centrally without an e ective last mile strategy can leave crews waiting for deliveries or driving hours just to collect inventory, and a lack of operational visibility presents signi cant business risks and ine ciencies.

“Without clear insight into inventory status and movement, organisations are prone to unnecessary procurement, stagnant inventory, poor stock rotation and lost productivity due to time spent searching for items.”

With net-zero targets looming large and a growing pipeline of infrastructure to be delivered, the stakes are higher than ever. Inventory gaps aren’t just inconvenient, they’re an obstacle the sector can’t a ord to ignore.

To deliver vital transmission infrastructure, crews need the right parts, and they need them fast. But without clear visibility, however, the entire operation slows. Image: kamonrat/stock.adobe.com

e energy sector faces the dual challenge of ensuring operational uptime while managing inventory e ciently

“We understand the operational realities utilities and their partners face, which is why we specialise in inventory and logistics solutions tailored for utility teams,”

Traditional inventory models based around static warehouses and rigid stock allocations are struggling to keep pace with the demands of today’s energy sector. A new approach is needed to guide the industry through Australia’s transition and into the future energy system.

For Droppoint, this means real-time visibility across all locations, from central warehouses to eld vehicles; smart forecasting tools that position parts where they’ll be needed most; seamless logistics that deliver to parts quickly and reliably, no matter the location.

“ is is the foundation of a responsive, resilient supply chain, one that is ready to lead Australia through its energy transformation, and Droppoint is helping businesses bridge the inventory visibility gap in the Australian energy industry,” he said.

Rather than relying on traditional inventory models that are centralised and in exible, Droppoint is built around the understanding that technicians are the heartbeat of operations. As an expert in inventory and logistics solutions for eld workforces, Droppoint partners with best-in-class carrier partners and storage providers to create custom logistics solutions to eld service teams in the energy industry. Parts can be delivered close to homes, work sites or one of the 500 conveniently located 24/7 Droppoints sites at any time, eliminating the need for technicians to return to a central depot or travel between sites. e whole system is underpinned by MOS (Material Orchestration System), Droppoint’s purpose-built logistics so ware. MOS brings transport, inventory and location management together to provide a single source of truth.

“ e energy sector faces the dual challenge of ensuring operational uptime while managing inventory e ciently,”

Mr Flanagan said.

“Droppoint excels where ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems o en fall short, delivering e ective last-mile visibility for inventory tracking from its source –depot or vendor – to the point of use.”

Built by eld service professionals for eld service professionals, MOS is designed to keep technicians working, not waiting. But, the company o ers more than just so ware, it has boots on the ground and a dedicated team committed to delivering best in class service and support – allowing Droppoint to equip the energy sector with the real-time inventory visibility and reliable logistics they need to keep Australia switched on. U

For more information, visit droppoint.com.au

Weathering the storm

Extreme weather is testing Australia’s utility networks. Here’s how collaboration and innovation are helping build resilience.

Australia’s climate is changing – and fast. Over the past two decades, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as bush res, oods, cyclones and heatwaves have increased signi cantly. According to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s State of the Environment Report, these events are no longer rare anomalies but recurring disruptions that a ect communities, ecosystems and infrastructure.

e impacts of these events are deeply felt by communities who face evacuations and property damage. e warming of the Australian continent has led to longer re seasons, more intense rainfall events and higher average temperatures, which put a strain on our essential utility networks and can lead to potential cascading service disruptions.

Power under pressure

Extreme weather events can wreak havoc on electricity infrastructure. Heatwaves cause transmission lines to sag, bush res destroy poles and substations, and oods submerge critical assets. A report from Australian Energy Council1 highlighted how multi-region heatwaves, such as those in January 2020, limit the ability to draw supply from neighbouring states in the National Electricity Market (NEM), increasing the risk of blackouts.

Technicians must respond quickly, but the damage can be widespread and unpredictable. e physical strain on infrastructure is compounded by the logistical challenges of accessing damaged sites, especially in remote or ooded areas.

During disaster recovery, visibility of damage, coordination across agencies and access to real-time data are critical. Without reliable power or telecommunications, technicians struggle to locate faults, deploy resources and communicate with teams. is in turn can delay restoration and increase safety risks.

A chain reaction

Power grids rely on communications for monitoring, control and automation. If telecommunications networks go down, then utilities lose access to grid telemetry, remote monitoring and coordination tools. Conversely, communications assets need power to function, creating a feedback loop of vulnerability.

In disaster scenarios, mobile networks o en become lifelines – not just for technicians but for emergency responders and residents seeking help. ese impacts can also bleed down into the water sector: power outages can disrupt water pumps and treatment plants, a ecting supply and sanitation, and without connectivity, water authorities may struggle to communicate outages or coordinate emergency responses.

ese delays can then further hinder electricity restoration, creating cascading impacts across sectors. e interdependence of these systems means that a failure in one can ripple across others, amplifying the impact of extreme weather events. is underscores the need for robust backup systems that can operate independently during emergencies.

We’ve got your

back

In disaster scenarios, access to reliable backup power is essential – and utilities networks need systems that are safe, scalable and weather-resilient. Without backup, technicians are literally le in the dark, and unable to restore services or protect critical infrastructure.

However, disaster recovery means working in hazardous conditions, navigating debris, unstable terrain and extreme temperatures.

Understanding this deep need for resilience, BLUETTI o ers a suite portable power stations, battery backup systems, solar generators, and modular energy storage solutions designed to withstand the elements, o ering portability, scalability and solar compatibility make them ideal for utility crews working in disaster zones.

BLUETTI industrial and commercial energy storage system solutions can be exibly deployed to meet the needs of your assets.

As extreme weather becomes more frequent, resilience must be built into every layer of our utility networks. With innovative power solutions, utilities can empower technicians, protect communities and ensure that the sector is ready when the next storm hits. U

Back-up power systems are essential for successful disaster recovery. Image: BLUETTI

Australia’s hydrogen industry nds itself at a pivotal moment in 2025. e sector is seeing robust growth, with the market valued at more than $6 billion in 2024 and projected to grow rapidly over the next decade.1

e Federal Government’s 2024 National Hydrogen Strategy has also set ambitious goals, targeting at least 15 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen production annually by 2050, with milestones for 2030 and beyond.2

As of 2024, the Australian market was worth around $6.8 billion, and is projected to grow at 9.1 per cent CAGR to reach $16 billion by 2034. Geoscience Australia notes that more than 76 major hydrogen projects are in the pipeline – up from 48 in 2022 – with more than $200 billion in investment planned for hydrogen and hydrogen-derived products. 3

An industry facing challenges

While there are enormous opportunities on o er, there are also challenges: high production costs, infrastructure and supply chain limitations, and uncertain market demand are placing many projects at risk. e challenge is to scale up electrolyser capacity, ensure safety, and deliver coste ective, reliable hydrogen solutions.4

Australia is laying important groundwork to become a global leader in green hydrogen, but most projects remain in early phases. Realising that ambition depends on reducing production costs (targeting less than $2/kg), ramping up domestic demand, and securing international partners to transition from concept to commercial scale.

In this climate of opportunities and challenges, Bürkert found itself uniquely positioned to support the hydrogen industry’s growth in Australia and globally – with more than 25 years’ experience in uid control and modular system integration, and a commitment to hydrogencompatible technologies.

Burkert’s technology includes high-precision valves, sensors, and process automation solutions that are essential for the safe, e cient and reliable operation of hydrogen production systems.

Bürkert o ers solenoid valves and ow sensors speci cally designed to handle high-pressure hydrogen (up to 1000bar) and high purity levels, essential for electrolyser systems, fuel cells and refuelling stations. Its products are tested for hydrogen embrittlement, leakage, and chemical resistance: especially important when handling compressed or cryogenic hydrogen, where typical seals and metals may degrade over time.

Hydrogen poses explosion risks and demands strict leak control, so it is important to use technologies that provide tight and e ective shut-o , redundant fail-safe designs and continuous monitoring capabilities. Bürkert’s Type 2380 proportional valve series and its mass ow controllers are widely used to optimise hydrogen generation e ciency and safety, and Bürkert can provide modular, pre-assembled gas panels and valve blocks that simplify integration and reduce design time for green hydrogen plants, refuelling infrastructure, and other industrial process plants. As Australia’s hydrogen industry navigates rapid expansion and signi cant challenges, the need for proven, reliable and scalable technology is greater than ever. Bürkert’s commitment to innovation and industry collaboration ensures that electrolyser projects and hydrogen infrastructure can operate safely and e ciently, helping Australia realise its clean energy ambitions. U

1. Expert Market Research 2025, Australia Hydrogen Market Growth Analysis Report - Market Size, Share, Forecast Trends and Outlook (2025-2034).

2. Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water 2024, National Hydrogen Strategy 2024.

3. Geoscience Australia 2024, Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources 2024 – Hydrogen.

4. Hale R 2025, ‘High hurdles for hydrogen: Australian ambitions face economic and technological reckoning’, Energy News Bulletin.

For more information, visit burkert.com.au

Security at scale

As utilities race to upgrade their networks to meet growing demands, how can they ensure both new and existing critical infrastructure is secure without hindering operations?

The pressure is mounting for utilities across all sectors. Population growth, rapid digitisation and ambitious net-zero targets are driving an unprecedented infrastructure expansion.

Ageing water and sewerage systems are nearing the end of their lifecycle, while digital transformation and renewable energy integration demand smarter, more resilient networks.

ese projects need to be delivered without delay, however, with customers expecting a higher standard of service there’s also no room for productivity to drop in day-to-day operations.

At the same time, the traditional approach to security in critical infrastructure is being ipped on its head.

e regulatory landscape is shi ing fast, with physical and cyber security no longer viewed as separate risks, but concepts that are intrinsically intermeshed.

Suboptimal physical security can compromise system reliability, shut down assets and delay incident response. Breaches or outages in protection systems can also trigger emergency responses like manual load shedding, impacting service continuity and public trust.

Utilities don’t just need to deliver new assets, they need to ensure they’re defended from day one – but they also need to do so in a way that doesn’t hinder productivity and integrates with existing infrastructure.

Can’t take the risk

e Critical Infrastructure Resilience Strategy outlines a whole-of-government approach to managing physical, cyber, personnel, and supply chain risks – and its highlights increasing government focus on Governments on the attack surface presented by physical infrastructure. e strategy highlights concerns that remote infrastructure at risk of being targeted, and the interconnected nature of our system also increases the risk of cascading failures.

Both cyber and physical security hazards a ecting critical infrastructure have the potential to signi cantly compromise the entire supply chain of essential services across Australia.

Unsecured network devices in public areas can be reset or damaged, leading to service interruptions, and then failure or disruption in one asset can have ow on e ects in sectors. Physical access control is essential to prevent unauthorised access and maintain operational continuity – but without hindering operations.

Multi-faceted compliance

Compliance is the rst step, and o en the most challenging hurdle to navigate. e Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI) now mandates that even secondary assets – such as data storage systems linked to critical infrastructure – must be secured and auditable.

e Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Program (CIRMP) and Telecommunications Security Risk Management Program (TSRMP) require utilities to show resilience across both physical and cyber domains.

e CIRMP and TSRMP mandate that utilities identify and mitigate material risks related to hazards, including those that pose a risk to physical security.

For speci c policies and guidelines utilities can turn to the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF), which sets out best-practice physical security standards for government entities, including layered access zones, secure containers, and auditable entry logs.

Key systems that meet stringent standards for physical resilience, tamper resistance and key control o er utilities both compliance and con dence with hierarchical keying, scalable deployment and centralised control, ensuring that only authorised personnel can access sensitive sites.

However, access controls for these physical assets don’t just need to be highly secure, logged and revocable – it’s also important that they don’t hinder operations.

Utilities operate in dynamic environments, o en across vast geographies, and it’s imperative that technicians have timely access to assets.

Traditional mechanical locks, while robust, lack the exibility and traceability required in today’s regulatory climate – similarly lost or misplaced keys are both a security and operational risk.

On the other hand, fully digital systems can be costly, complex and vulnerable to cyber threats. e solution needs to combine the reliability and security of mechanical locks with the intelligence and control of digital auditing – and this is where hybrid access control systems shine.

The best of both worlds

To navigate this evolving regulatory landscape, BAI communications deployed EKA CyberLocks and Keys across its entire national network.

As a major player in broadcast and telecommunications infrastructure, BAI was faced the challenge of securing hundreds of unmanned sites across Australia. With Cyberlock’s solution, the company was able to implement a uni ed access control system that reduced operational delays, improved compliance and enhanced security.

is hybrid access control solution combines electronic cylinders with programmable keys, which enables granular access control without the need for power or network connectivity at the lock site.

Each key is a credential, a data logger and a security device. Access permissions can be updated remotely, and every interaction is recorded – providing a full audit trail.

BAI technicians now carry these programmable keys, which that grant access only to authorised sites, during approved time windows. Every entry attempt is logged, and lost keys can be simply deleted – eliminating the risk of uncontrolled access.

is not only helped BAI deliver a securer network for customers, contractors and employees, but it also simpli ed the management of keys, with one key con gurable to access all sites and zones.

CyberLock cylinders also retro t into most applications including padlocks, with no cabling or networking needed as the lock is powered when inserted with a CyberKey – which is ideal for securing remote assets like telecommunication shelters or towers.

To date, BAI has issued 1661 CyberKeys and installed 1745 CyberLocks across 395 sites including telecom towers, huts and gates, which allowed the company to centralised and automated it access capabilities.

In a world where threats are both physical and digital, hybrid systems like EKA CyberLock o er a pragmatic path forward.

ey bridge the gap between legacy infrastructure and modern compliance, enabling utilities to protect what matters without slowing down. U

For more information, visit ekacyberlock.com.au

Hybrid access systems simplify key management, and with EKA CyberLock, the security risk posed by lost or misplaced keys is mitigated. Image: Davcor

Elevating water security

Water is the driving force of all nature and our most essential resource. To keep supplies flowing, Australia needs to urgently expand its pipeline networks –but these projects also need to be completed safely.

Australia is home to some of the driest inhabited areas on the planet, and access to safe and reliable water supplies is vital, especially for remote communities. However, as populations grow, demand for this resource is increasing, and to ensure that all communities have a secure water supply, pipeline networks need to grow and existing infrastructure needs to be constantly upgraded.

ese projects need to be delivered quickly, safely and e ectively. However, pipeline projects present a range of safety hazards, as construction o en takes place in harsh conditions, involving heavy machinery and pipeline pieces that can weigh upwards of 10t.

Pipeline Plant Hire (PPH), in partnership with Global Equipment Services (GES), has designed and manufactured a range of vacuum pipe li ing equipment speci cally to increase productivity and reduce risks in pipeline projects.

GES Director, Matt Dridan, said that tragically, lives have been lost in the pipeline industry.

“ ey sit at the forefront of our minds every time we review a design,” he said.

“First and foremost, our equipment is designed to protect lives, and secondary to that has emerged greater e ciencies and enormous advances in pipeline assembly.”

e company’s VacLi grips pipeline pieces by cupping onto their side with a rubber seal called a ‘shoe’ before creating a vacuum seal that can easily support up to 15t of pipe.

“Our vacuum li s are able to deliver the forces required to assemble pipe in situ, and in so doing, vastly increase e ciency and safety in pipeline assembly,”

Mr Dridan said.

“ is is supported by a guidance system that helps guide the pipes together for assembly for O-ring joint types.

“ is guidance system eliminates the need for ground crew to be in or near the trench in harm’s way.”

Safe and secure

Mr Dridan said that the water sector has really embraced the vacuum li .

“Several major water utilities such as Melbourne Water, Adelaide Water and SA Water have had some big projects that have been delivered with the help of our vacuum li s,” he said.

“Safety is the number one factor for water authorities. Vacuum li ing o ers a rare opportunity for both safety and e ciency to increase exponentially,” he said.

“ rough e ective use of a vacuum li , no one is working at heights, and no one is working at depths – the two dangerous extremes.”

Mr Dridan said that PPH isn’t just a manufacturing company that decided to take on vacuum li s.

“We came from the pipeline industry, and from that experience we developed vacuum li s that t the sector and meet its unique requirements.

“ e people at Pipeline Plant Hire have more than three decades of experience in the industry, so we understand the process, we understand the rami cations of not getting it right, and we understand the overlap of various equipment and conditions.

“Our strength has always been in the ability to cra the correct solution to long-standing and all too readily accepted ine ciencies in the vacuum li ing market.”

Mr Dridan said the rst thing his team does is sit down with their client to get a deep understanding of the project’s scope, what they’re trying to achieve as well as the terrain they’re working in.

“From there we can design and supply the best piece of equipment for the job,” he said.

While PPH machinery is known for its quality, this excellent performance is secondary to safety when it comes to design philosophy. We also have the largest hire eet in the country, and with our round-the-clock local support, we can deliver the right outcome for any project.”

For heavy-duty pipeline projects, PPH o ers vacuum li s integrated into excavator host bodies. ese machines have the greatest li ing capabilities and are ideal for dedicated pipeline projects.

e company also o ers a quick-hitch attachment type, which is a vacuum li that can be easily a xed to third party excavators. ese attachments have a li ing capacity of 15t and, weighing only around 750kg, are much cheaper to freight across the country than a dedicated machine.

Unique to its vacuum li eet, PPH also incorporates a boost reservoir system as a failsafe.

“Our machines have oversized vacuum supply systems and in the event of power failure, our valves will automatically deliver vacuum to the load,”

Mr Dridan said.

“ ey also have multiple layers of alerts for low vacuum warning, such as audio and visual alarms for operator and ground crew.

“Our vacuum li s are built to thoroughly exceed Australian safety standards, because there are no second chances with li ing.” U

Vacuum pipe lifts can increase e ciency and safety of pipeline projects. Image: Pipeline Plant Hire

The PL1500 is a gamechanger for pipeline construction. The unique, quick-hitch, vacuum lifter attaches to your existing excavator, reducing your machine hire cost and getting things moving fast. Capable of safely lifting 15,000kg, the heavy-duty, self-contained unit can handle all types and lengths of pipe. It integrates seamlessly with the host excavator, using the main controls and hydraulics to operate the vacuum lifter. Plus, built-in smart tech ensures it’ll only pick up or put down a pipe on a solid surface. That’s safer than many other vacuum lifters on the market. To find out more, speak to the Pipeline Plant Hire team today.

A resilient future in the pipeline

Australia’s infrastructure boom is reshaping the water sector, and the decisions we make during construction will define the resilience of tomorrow’s networks.

Across Australia, water utilities are racing to meet the demands of a growing population, a changing climate, and an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. But a secure water future is not just about rolling out new infrastructure – it’s about building the right network, in the right way, with the right components to ensure longevity.

Major pipeline projects not only need to be delivered according to tight timelines and strict budget, but the end result needs to be able to stand the test of time. at means resilience to things like corrosion, shi ing soils and extreme weather events, which wear away at the integrity of pipeline assets over years, need be built into the project from day one.

In for the long haul

e choices made during the construction phase of a pipeline project have long-term consequences. From material selection to installation methods, every decision can either extend or shorten the life of an asset.

Improper alignment or inadequate protection during installation can lead to premature wear, corrosion and, if le unchecked, contribute to asset failure.

Kwik-ZIP General Manager, Paul Je reys, explained that spacers ensure proper alignment and centralisation of carrier pipes within casing in the case of slip-lining projects. ey also help reduce friction and protect pipe coatings during installation.

A spacer system can also help prevent corrosion in both new and rehabilitated pipelines – but the key is to choose the right type of spacer.

e soil conditions and the environment you’re working in can drastically increase the risk of corrosion taking hold of your asset. While a stainless-steel spacer might be able to fend o degradation in some conditions, they don’t stand a chance in a harsher environment with acid sulphate soils.

However, the acidity and mineral make-up of soil isn’t a xed value that remains the same until the end of time – and frequent extreme weather events are known for wrecking havoc on our ecosystems.

For example, long periods of drought can expose normally waterlogged acid sulfate soils, and when soil is dry, naturally occurring metal sul des within it can react with oxygen in the air to form sulfuric acid, causing the soil to become extremely acidic.

So, while the environment may not be particularly harsh at the time a pipe is installed, the soil conditions in 20 years might be very di erent.

Mr Je reys said that the best approach is to opt for a spacer made from inert materials, such as high-grade thermoplastic, which are resistant to corrosion.

“Corrosion accelerates degradation and contributes to a reduction in the life of pipeline infrastructure,” he said.

“It can be transferred via a metallic spacer to the steel pipeline itself, or when from an old pipe to an exisiting pipe that’s been inserted for rehabilitation.

“ e Kwik-ZIP range of spacers are manufactured from our engineered thermoplastic blend, which is characterised by its high resistance to corrosion, ensuring they remain intact throughout the life of the pipeline.”

As Australia continues to invest in its water future, seemingly small decisions today that make a big di erence tomorrow.

“Spacers are a relatively small component on the grand scheme of things, but not implementing the right solutions upfront o en leads to higher maintenance costs, service interruptions, and reputational damage down the line,” Mr Je reys said.

“Kwik-ZIP spacers are designed to help utilities reduce the total cost of ownership and deliver better outcomes for their customers.

“It’s not just about compliance – we want people to trust the result” U

kwikzip.com

Kwik-ZIP’s large range of spacers caters for a wide range of pipe sizes and providing fl exibility to deal with project alterations. Image: Kwik-ZIP

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Battery Systems

Duty of care

To protect the ecosystems and people it serves, Watercare is taking proactive action to stop sewer blockages before they become overflows.

As the largest water utility in Aotearoa New Zealand, Watercare is entrusted with protecting our most precious resource as well as the environment and communities that rely on it.

e utility provides water and wastewater services to 1.7 million customers in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and handles the collection, treatment and disposal of around 450ML of wastewater every day.

Watercare Smart Networks Manager, David Moore, explained that water is an important resource and the foundation of life, so the utility has a responsibility to look a er it.

“We have a duty to future generations, and our over ow reduction program is part of that,” he said.

A sensor purpose

When wastewater spills into the environment, it can bring with it harmful contaminants that can damage local ecosystems, impact water quality and even present risks to human health if not properly treated.

Mr Moore explained that the older sections of the city have a combined stormwater and wastewater system.

“So, when we get rain, the combined system is designed to spill into the harbour,” he said.

“We also have a separated system in the rest of the city, but unfortunately people sometimes misconnect their pipes and rainwater from someone’s roof can get into the sewer, which causes over ows.”

Rather than respond to spills a er they’ve already occurred, Watercare’s goal is to move to a more proactive approach – which means equipping the team with as much information as possible. However, visually inspecting thousands of kilometres of pipeline through CCTV is a monumental and time-consuming undertaking.

“ e thing is, we don’t know what we don’t know,” Mr Moore said.

“Without accurate data we could think we’re doing a better job than we actually are, but if we know what is going on, then we can improve.”

Mr Moore said sewer sensors o ered a promising solution.

“We started doing some pilots in Auckland and we were getting brilliant data back, so we then put a business case up ato move it region-wide and start the process,” he said.

Rather than fragmenting the project across multiple vendors, the utility deliberately selected one technology partner to simplify delivery, integration and automation.

“We’ve done a lot of projects where we had multiple partners and we all end up just pointing ngers at one another wondering why it’s not working,” Mr Moore said.

“ e supplier knows their products, they know their warranties and they know how it should be installed properly.

“So, we went out to market with all our speci cations, but they had to supply, install, and then operate it for a ve-year period – which means they’re wedded to the longevity of their product as well.

Watercare Smart Network Engineer, Kevin Ang, holding a Spectra sensor.

Images: Kallipr

Watercare shortlisted three applicants and then brought those three suppliers in to pitch their solutions.

“We did what we call a lean, agile procurement – we had all the supplies in the room and they all had to present their solution in front of everyone in the room.

“ en we also have a parallel commercial negotiation going on, so the commercial team is hashing out all the terms of the o ers, then our teams get together and compare notes. en we give the supplier feedback in areas we think they could do better,” Mr Moore said.

“ en in the a ernoon, the suppliers come back and give us their revised and nal o er and presentations. And then we make the call that day.

“We did the same thing for both the sensors and the analytics package. It’s quite a brutal procurement process, but we got it nished quite quickly – the key is having everybody there who can make the decisions to move it forward.”

In the end, it was Kallipr’s presentation that stood out to Watercare and the company is now delivering 5000 Spectra sensors across the utility’s wastewater network.

A simple solution

Kallipr CCO, Stelios Trikoulis, explained that Spectra is designed to approach sewer monitoring in a holistic way that simpli es all aspects of the way the technology is used.

“E ectively, it’s an out of the box, guided experience when it comes to sewer level monitoring. e sensor, the bracket, the mobile and the so ware are all packaged together so you could theoretically give someone Spectra and a user manual and they could install it,” he said.

“It’s built to be super simple for the user, but also to address historical problems that exists with sewer level monitoring.It also includes a variety of features to minimise the time spent during installation and ensure that the installation is done right the rst time.”

Sewers are one of the most challenging places to deploy any kind of technology in to – as Mr Trikoulis puts it, everything wants to kill your device in a sewer.

So, Spectra had to be built to survive those harsh conditions.

“ e biggest risk is water ingress into the device, as well as ensuring that all materials are corrosion resistant so even if anything is exposed, it’s protected,” he said.

“It’s built like a tank so that it can survive in that sewer environment.”

e devices have an IP68 resistance rating, which means they can be fully submerged 5m underwater for 14 days. It also uses a dual SIM-card

“In places like Auckland, where there are two major carriers and connectivity varies in di erent parts it means if they can’t connect to one network then the device can connect to the other,” Mr Trikoulis said.

With any remote monitoring device, Mr Trikoulis explained that the most limiting factor is how long the battery lasts.

“ e biggest problem that’s faced, especially when we look at sewer technology, is that when we talk about the battery life, everyone assumes that you transmit the data back once per day,” he said.

“But, if there are alarms in the sewer for blockages or high water levels, the sensor may transmit data more frequently, sometimes up to 24 times a day (once an hour).

“If your battery can last for ve years based on one transmission a day, but your average transmission is four times a day, then the battery may only last a few years.”

To solve this, operators can go down into the sewer, locate the sensor and change the battery – but Mr Trikoulis explained that this o en creates more problems than it solves.

“ ese devices have to achieve really high IP ratings, through speci c manufacturing processes. Opening them to replace the battery can compromise the seal, increase the risk of water ingress, and may even void the warranty.

Over the next 12 months Watercare and Kallipr are installing 5000 sensors across Auckland.

“With Spectra, we use a patent pending swappable battery system. It works much like a handhled power drill – simply unscrew the old pack and and secure the new one in place.”

e battery maintains its IP68 rating when it is changed and is designed to last longer in eld – it also works with the device so ware to reduce the load on the battery.

“We wanted to reduce the total cost to install and service this asset, and make sure that the utility can get the best bang for buck over the longest period of time,” Mr Trikoulis said.

“We have a one-cell battery pack and a two-cell battery pack. Our standard battery life of one transmission per day for the two-cell is ten years, and the one-cell is ve years, and a lot of utilities are opting for the two-cell for extra insurance. On one transmission per hour, the two-cell can also last for more than a year before a battery replacement is required.”

Spectra also has on-device intelligence that does the computing at the edge, so it processes, aggregates and cleans the data before it comes back to the systems, enabling local threshold alerts and reducing unnecessary transmissions.

Not only does this help preserve the battery life, it also stops utilities from being overwhelmed by too much data

“Traditional remote monitoring would just [collect] data and feed it back to a platform. But because you’re in a sewer, you may have things in the way like a pipe, a bench or a root. ose obstructions can distort the data and make it inaccurate,” Mr Trikoulis said.

“So, Spectra has the smarts on it to clean the data before it goes back.

“We can also change the way the device reports so they can be smarter about how much data they bring in.”

Mr Trikoulis said that like Watercare, Kallipr is focused on getting it right the rst time.

“We’re putting the e ort into the product now to ensure that when it goes in, it doesn’t have to come back out.”

Delivering outcomes

When a large company opts for multiple suppliers, it’s got the resources to support and coordinate a number of di erent parties, but Mr Moore said that while Watercare is a big sh in Aotearoa, globally the utility is just a little sh in a very big pond.

“ e more suppliers we go for, the more complex our ecosystems become,” he said.

“Part of the reason behind the decision [to opt for one supplier] was economics, because if we get more [devices] from one supplier, we get them cheaper. But it’s also about trying to keep our systems simple.

“If we keep them simple, we’re more likely to keep them working.”

Mr Trikoulis said that Watercare’s decision to opt for a DaaS (data as a service) model with the project, and outsource the full delivery and management of hardware, so ware, installation and connectivity to Kallipr is an industry rst.

“It is very transformational when it comes to how you solve industry problems. Because they’re putting an outcome to market, not a speci c solution,” he said.

“Traditionally when a utility buys hardware, the vendor is only thinking about their product not that way it interacts with the eld team.

“As soon as you move to a DaaS model, everyone needs to work together to make this happen, and it forces the suppliers to resolve that friction to deliver the outcome.

“And I think that’s what Watercare really picked up on, they gured out that we can solve friction points by taking an outcome focused approach.”

Immediate success

e rollout of all 5000 sensors is set to be completed in June 2026, but the program has already seen its rst success in September 2025, when a Spectra sensor installed in Ōtara’s wastewater network detected a blockage and prevented its rst over ow.

Watercare’s crew were able to respond the same day the blockage was detected and immediately get to work removing it.

Mr Moore said that without the sensor, the utility would have been responding to an over ow instead of preventing one.

“ ey’re very good at looking at patterns and predicting when a blockage is forming so that we can get to it before it becomes a bigger problem,” he said.

But for Watercare, this is only the start of its journey.

“What we’re looking at for the future is how we can use these predictive capabilities to take real-time control of the network.”

“Once we start being able to analyse the data, we’re going to unlock an awful lot of things,” Mr Moore said.

“You o en start o with one vision but then everyone gets energised and we start coming up with more ideas.

“If we can work with suppliers who are like that, then we can all bounce good ideas o one another and move forward a lot faster.

“Innovation breeds innovation, and I’m quite excited to see where we can end up.” U  For

The batteries on Spectra sensors can easily be swapped without compromising the device’s integrity.

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Water is a non-negotiable – it’s our most essential service and a secure supply is the foundation of a thriving community.

Population growth has led to a once-in-a-lifetime infrastructure boom, and water authorities are racing to future-proof their networks for the next generation.

At the same time, climate change is bringing about hotter, drier and more unpredictable conditions – and utilities need to ensure existing assets can not only weather the storms, but that precious water isn’t lost as a result of undetected leaks, damaged assets – or worse, contaminated as a result of wastewater over ows.

ese challenges are increasing demand for skilled engineers, operators and technical sta , but water isn’t the only sector vying for new talent – the energy and construction sector are facing their own urgent skills shortages and as the transition to renewables ramps up, so too does the demand for critical minerals and therefore the need for more personnel in the mining sector too.

Not only is there a shortage of engineers across the board, but much of the sector’s existing workforce is also nearing retirement.

e median age for an employee in the Australian water sector is 471 , and a 2025 report 2 on local New South Wales water utilities found that 59 per cent of the workforce is older than 50.

Faced with these urgent challenges, utilities need to optimise the resources they do have. is calls for a proactive, strategic approach to asset management – and information is the most powerful tool they have at their disposal.

Two heads are better than one

Fortunately, we live in an era dominated by technological advancement. In particular, digital twins have emerged as revolutionary tools for various industries – and these virtual replicas of physical systems or assets are already reshaping how water distribution networks are planned, operated, and maintained.

Digital twins bridge the gap between physical assets and their digital counterparts. ese high- delity virtual models integrate real-time data and predictive analytics, enabling water industry professionals to forecast demand, monitor asset conditions and pre-emptively address issues. e concept isn’t just theoretical; it’s actively transforming water distribution from reservoir to faucet.

By simulating real-world conditions, digital twins o er unprecedented insights and foster a more e cient, reliable, and responsive water management framework.

However, for digital twins to be e ective, they require foundational elements including robust water models, real-time data integration, predictive analytics and a capable management team. e Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN) underscores the pivotal role of digital twins in modern management strategies, how they can enhance water system e ciency and reliability.

Immediate impact

Digital twins o er immediate, tangible bene ts across planning, design and operations and maintenance (O&M):

• Planning – digital twins enable long-term infrastructure simulations, helping planners understand potential futures and make informed decisions

• Design – these virtual models assist in optimizing designs by visualizing how components will interact before actual implementation

• O&M – real-time monitoring and predictive analytics allow for proactive maintenance, reducing downtime and extending the lifespan of assets

As we move forward, embracing digital twins will be pivotal in addressing the growing demands and challenges facing the global water industry “

Several water organisations across the globe already reaping the bene ts of digital twins, including Australia’s very own Hunter Water, which implements Autodesk’s InfoWater Pro and Info360 Insight to gain real-time operational insights.

Over in the US, water authorities are also taking a similar approach, with Davidson Water utilising tools like Autodesk’s InfoWorks WS Pro to enhance its water distribution system; while Western Virginia Water Authority has adopted Autodesk’s Info360 Plant to optimise its water treatment processes.

ese case studies demonstrate the versatility and e cacy of digital twins in di erent contexts, showcasing their role in transforming traditional water management practices.

A standout features of digital twins is their ability to deliver reliable and high-precision modelling. is is especially crucial in the unpredictable world of water distribution, where factors like aging infrastructure and uctuating demand pose signi cant challenges. By providing accurate simulations, digital twins enable utilities to navigate these uncertainties with greater con dence and e ciency.

Turning insights into action

Despite being data-rich, the water industry has historically struggled with extracting actionable insights. Digital twins address this by breaking down silos across asset lifecycles and departments, fostering a uni ed data environment. ey o er viable solutions to pressing challenges such as ageing infrastructure, labour shortages, and rising operating costs.

Digital twins are at the forefront of a transformative wave in water distribution. ey o er the precision, connectivity, and predictive power needed to enhance every stage of water management, from planning to operations. As water industry professionals continue to adopt and re ne these virtual models, the promise of a more e cient, reliable, and responsive water distribution system becomes ever more attainable.

As we move forward, embracing digital twins will be pivotal in addressing the growing demands and challenges facing the global water industry. U 1. www.jobsandskills.gov.au/jobs-and-skills-atlas 2. DCCEEW: NSW Local Water Utility Workforce Composition Report

For more information, visit boards.autodesk.com/anz-water-utilities

Digital twins provide e ective solutions to some of the most pressing challenges faced by utilities, and empower them to make faster and betterinformed decisions. Image: Autodesk

A smarter path to asset longevity

Customers need their essential services to be reliable, sustainable and resilient, but above they need to be a ordable. This means utilities need do more with what they have, but how can they do this without impacting service quality?

The utility sector is caught in a double bind: ageing infrastructure demands more frequent maintenance and eventually replacement, while on the other side utilities are under pressure to deliver sustainable, a ordable and reliable service, o en without the luxury of large capital budgets.

For asset managers operating under these constraints, the ISO 55000 framework o ers clear guidance: focus on long-term value, proactive risk mitigation, and whole-of-life asset performance.

As essential service networks expand to meet future demands, much of the sector is already embracing this philosophy, and investigating new ways to ensure longevity is embedded in this new infrastructure from day one.

However, utilities must still rely on many of their ageing assets, which are o en built in a way re ect the needs, the understanding and the technology of an era long since passed.

ere’s no going back in time, and it’s equally as unreasonable to replace every single of these assets at once –so there needs to be a way to keep these assets in operation for longer, without impacting the quality of service they provide.

But, it turns out there’s a coating for that.

Shutting down corrosion

A primary wastewater treatment plant discovered condensation-induced corrosion on large in uent pipes. If le unattended, this posed a serious risk of asset failure, but replacing the pipes would require a plant shutdown and potentially impact the ow of almost 2000ML of water per day.

So, the plant sought help from the team at Chesterton, who o ered a surprisingly simple solution to one of the industry’s toughest challenges.

is wastewater treatment plant wasn’t alone in these struggles – it was an all too familiar story that the team

at Chesterton had seen countless utilities face worldwide. To help the industry protect assets in Chesterton had engineered a high-performance industrial coating speci cally to prevent abrasion, chemical damage and erosion on both metal and concrete assets in harsh corrosive environments.

Unlike traditional paints or epoxies, Chesterton’s ARC Industrial coatings are designed to extend the life of pumps, pipes, pits and other critical infrastructure in extremeduty environments.

ese ceramic-reinforced coatings form a strong bond to substrates, providing a seamless and durable barrier that shields equipment from internal and external attacks.

In the case of this particular wastewater treatment plant, Chesterton’s team determined which ARC solution would work best for their environment, and then set to work, thoroughly cleaning all the surfaces before applying the ARC 797 primer.

e team then nished the job with ARC S2, which created a robust barrier against future corrosion. Not only did this solution avoid a high-cost shutdown, it also extended the asset’s service life, and aligned with asset management best practices by minimising risk and preserving critical functions.

Well protected

Chesterton recently helped another municipal utility to reduce the cost of a well li pump restoration project. is utility faced severe corrosion in a sewage li station pump a er just 12 months of service. With performance dropping sharply and ow rates nearing critical thresholds, the team considered installing an additional new pump (estimated at ~$35,000) to maintain capacity.

However, Chesterton technicians were able to rehabilitate the existing pump by grit-blasting, rebuilding damaged areas with ARC 858 composite, and coating all internal and external surfaces with ARC 855.

e team were able to completely restore ow performance for 35 per cent less than the cost of a replacement.

Smart maintenance, sustainable results

ese two case studies illustrate a simple truth: proactive coating and sealing strategies not only prevent failures but also preserve asset value, reduce lifecycle costs, and enhance operational reliability.

For Chesterton, innovation is about leading with purpose, and the team’s goal is to ensure your operations thrive by extending the life of your assets, mitigate maintenance risks, and aligning with ISO 55000 strategies.

It’s about building a more sustainable future, together. U

ARC-coated surface after proper surface preparation. Images: Chesterton

Under the surface

Australia is delivering new major infrastructure at a lightning pace, and with net-zero deadlines on the horizon and a workforce shotage there’s no time for unexpected incidents.

Underground utility assets deliver the vital services that our communities depend on, but damaging these complex networks doesn’t just cut us o from these services – it can cause signi cant project delays and even have dangerous consequences for personnel.

Colliers Engineering Subject Matter ExpertInternational, Nick Zembillas, said that recent studies by Infrastructure Australia indicate that more than 40 per cent of major projects encounter delays or cost overruns due to inadequate subsurface utility investigations.

“Imagine a major infrastructure project underway – a vital new rail line cutting through a busy urban corridor. Beneath the surface, a complex network of utilities awaits. A miscalculation or an undetected pipe can not only delay the project by months but also in ate costs by millions,” he said.

Mr Zembillas said that the Before You Dig Australia (BYDA) initiative has been critical in raising awareness about underground risks.

At BYDA’s 2026 Utility Safety Conference, Mr Zembillas will discuss the essential role of integrating both traditional “Before you Dig” queries, comprehensive Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) strategies in navigating these challenges.

In his session, Beyond the Surface: e Future of Subsurface Utility Engineering & AS 5488, Mr Zembillas will explore how AS 5488 and advanced SUE methodologies can mitigate risks, improve project outcomes, and set Australia apart as a leader in underground utility management.

Locating and mapping subsurface assets is not only vital for utilities in conducting upgrade works, visibility of these assets is also essential for all civil construction projects. For civil contractors, this underground risk is part of the job. Whether they’re digging for drainage, trenching for comms or building new infrastructure, every bucket in the ground carries the potential to impact underground utility assets.

The Before You Dig Australia (BYDA) initiative has been critical in raising awareness about the risks of underground assets. Image: Iryna/stock.adobe.com

at’s why BYDA is bringing the industry together on 4–5 March 2026 for its rst national Utility Safety Conference 2026 – an event built around damage prevention, collaboration, and improving safety.

A deep dive

e inaugural event will kick o with a keynote from Melbourne Business School Institute for Digital Innovation & AI (IDIA) Director, Professor Ujwal Kayande, on how AI could rewrite the underground and deliver a smart response to these buried risks.

Next, international award-winning author and quali ed lawyer Greg Smith will who’ll take attendees on a deep dive into WHS governance and assurance.

According to Mr Smith, many organisations invest signi cantly in collecting data about, and reporting on, WHS, however, there are no WHS metrics that demonstrate an organisations compliance with its legal obligations or assist o cers to demonstrate due diligence.

At best, Mr Smtih said WHS metrics may help organisations ask better questions. At worst they waste valuable resources obscuring the true state of safety in an organisation and creating an “illusion of safety”.

In his session, Mr Smith will share recent cases to illustrate the challenge of understanding and demonstrating the e cacy of WHS management and provide a framework for better WHS assurance.

It’s a chance to set new benchmarks, have honest conversations, and shape how we move forward together. “

Following Mr Smith’s keynote, BYDA has lined up a plethora of national and international speakers who are experts in utility safety, regulation, and infrastructure risk. is two-day event will be a national forum focused on the practical changes needed to drive down utility strikes and li safety standards across the civil construction sector.

is is BYDA’s rst-ever national utility safety conference, and it marks a pivotal moment in the industry’s approach to damage prevention. It’s a chance to set new benchmarks, have honest conversations, and shape how we move forward together.

Starting the conversation is year’s theme ‘Connected. Protected. Respected’ highlights the role everyone plays in reducing underground risk. Contractors are key to turning plans into safe, e ective action on the ground. e conference acknowledges the roles we all play and explores how better connection across the industry can protect people and infrastructure.

Contractors are o en rst on site, and the link between planning and delivery and the people operating near or around critical infrastructure. is conference puts contractors in the same room as asset owners, locators, engineers, planners and regulators, all working toward the same goal: zero damage, zero harm, and zero disruption.

e program is built to spark discussion and break down silos between organisations and roles – it’s a chance to gain practical insights into what’s working, and what’s not, in the eld.

e event will cover key industry challenges, such as:

• Preventing utility strikes through better planning and communication

• Building stronger safety systems that work on project sites

• Addressing skills and training gaps across the workforce

• Strengthening collaboration across organisations and roles

If you want to stay ahead of safety and compliance requirements, build stronger partnerships and be part of a safer, more e cient future for civil construction, then this is your event.

is inaugural event will take place at the RACV City Club in Melbourne from 4–5 March 2026, but industry early bird registration is only open until 30 September 2025, so don’t wait to secure your place and register now to dig into safety at the BYDA Utility Safety Conference 2026. U

To register, scan the QR code or head to byda.com.au/byda-utility-safety-conference

Getting the basics right

Australia’s infrastructure boom is reshaping the nation – and it’s driving demand for trade fleets that are as adaptable as the projects they support.

Australia is building like never before. From transport networks to renewable energy hubs and climate-resilient utilities, the scale of infrastructure investment is unprecedented. And it’s not slowing down.

Population growth is fuelling demand for new housing, roads, rail, hospitals, and schools. At the same time, the transition to renewables is transforming the energy landscape, with billions owing into solar and wind farms, transmission corridors and battery storage. But with scale comes complexity. Projects are more diverse, timelines are tighter, and the pressure to deliver is mounting. For contractors the challenge is to support a wide range of applications with a reliable eet that’s ready to go.

In this new era, versatility isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. Contractors are being asked to pivot between civil works, utilities, renewables and social infrastructure. e skills shortage means teams must be nimble, able to work across sectors and adapt to changing scopes.

Australia needs between 260,000 and 385,000 additional workers in the next few years to meet infrastructure demand.

But with labour productivity stagnating and 98 per cent of construction projects experiencing cost or schedule overruns, the sector risks falling into a ‘pro tless boom’ – where investment is high, but returns are eroded by ine ciency.

As the sector evolves, Enviroline saw a need for modular, trade-ready vehicles designed to meet the needs of diverse projects.

Fleet managers today face a balancing act. Operational demands are rising, capital costs are climbing, and infrastructure is becoming more complex. What they need isn’t just a supplier – they need a partner.

Enviroline understands this. at’s why their process is designed to take the burden o your hands, so you can focus on what matters most: delivering projects, managing teams, and growing your business.

From vehicle sourcing and custom t-outs to branding, registration and nance, Enviroline o ers a complete, end-to-end solution. eir modular t-out range is tailored to trades including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, council and utilities – with options that scale as your business does.

Bridging the skills gap

With skilled labour in short supply, contractors who can work across multiple project types are in hot demand. But versatility alone isn’t enough – they need the right equipment to be productive.

at’s where Enviroline shines. eir trade-ready vehicles are designed to maximise e ciency on the road and on site. Every t-out is tailored to your work ow, helping your team stay organised, reduce downtime, and deliver more with less.

And because every minute counts, Enviroline’s streamlined process means you spend less time building your eet – and more time building your business.

e risk of a ‘pro tless boom’ is real. High transaction costs, sta churn, industry fragmentation, and technical risk can erode margins and stall progress. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

By investing in purpose-built, reliable equipment, contractors can drive productivity, reduce risk and improve ROI. Enviroline’s solutions are built to last –ensuring your eet delivers value not just today, but for years to come.

And as your business evolves, Enviroline evolves with you. eir team works closely with clients to ensure eets adapt to changing needs, new contracts and emerging opportunities.

Expanding your eet shouldn’t mean more headaches, and Enviroline’s goal is to make growth easy by delivering turnkey, trade-ready vehicles that save you time, reduce risk, and help your team hit the ground running.

e team understands the pressure eet managers and trade businesses face – tight timelines, compliance requirements, and the constant need for reliability and e ciency. at’s why they’ve built a streamlined process that delivers fully equipped work vehicles, tailored to your trade and ready to perform from day one. U

Enviroline understands that every business is di erent, so its vehicle fi t-outs are designed with your specific needs in mind. Image: Prime Creative Media

Uncharted territory

Asset location maps are not a guarantee of an underground utility’s exact position, and without digital records Australia’s era of expansion could be fraught with danger.

Australia is facing an urgent need for new infrastructure, driven by rapid population growth and the transition to renewable energy. As new housing developments crop up, utilities from all sectors not only need to expand their networks to accommodate the next generation but ensure that their current assets are in good condition.

To meet demand, these projects can’t a ord to delay. But when work begins, if unbeknownst to construction crews there’s a gas pipeline hiding underneath the surface, then what should have been a celebration quickly becomes an emergency.

e consequences of striking an underground utility are far reaching – impacting safety, project timelines and budgets as well as service reliability.

Contact with gas lines, electrical cables, or pressurised water mains endangers construction workers and anyone else in the vicinity.

Work must then be halted to assess damage, coordinate emergency repairs, and ensure the site is safe to continue. ese delays cascade into missed deadlines, idle labour and disrupted supply chains, and ultimately budget blow-outs. For developers and contractors, a single misstep underground can translate into millions lost.

When underground utilities are damaged, this can also trigger widespread outages, a ecting homes, businesses, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure – and repeated incidents of utility damage degrade the long-term reliability of these networks.

Preventing these hazards requires proactive planning and accurate data – but when you’re relying on paper maps of assets that were built 50–100 years ago, accuracy is di cult to ensure.

The good old ways

Before You Dig New Zealand General Manager & Utilities Damage Prevention Expert, Phil Cornforth, explained that a lot of utility infrastructure was in the ground decades ago, and all the as-built records were completed on paper. en, as the sector adopted modern GIS systems, those paper records were simply transferred as is. But with both of those methods, he said there’s room for error.

“At Before You Dig New Zealand, we send out new service plans on behalf of the asset owners to anybody that’s digging – but there’s just so much room for those plans to actually not be correct,” Mr Cornforth said. is creates challenges for both construction crews working on new developments, as well as utilities looking to upgrade their networks.

“If they don’t know fully where those assets are, then how do you go about a rehabilitation plan? Where do you start?”

is is why Mr Cornforth is advising utilities to map and record asset positions using high-precision GNSS equipment and the Geolantis 360 platform.

“With Geolantis, we’re able to digitally capture this information to put that whole legacy of incorrect plans behind us, and 20 years down the track people won’t be having this problem,” he said.

Striking an underground utility not only impacts a projects budget and timeline, it’s a significant safety risk. Images: Pelican Corp

Geolantis 360 creates accurate, geospatially referenced maps that can be exported into GIS, CAD, or Google Earth formats, and when used alongside GNSS surveygrade equipment it delivers centimetre-level accuracy. is means utilities and contractors have a reliable, shareable record that they can trust when planning jobs near critical infrastructure.

A simple solution

Implementing a solution to a problem shouldn’t be complex challenge in itself, and Mr Cornforth explained that the idea behind Geolantis was to make this system as simple and easy to use as possible.

“We’re not replacing a utility owner’s GIS system, those systems are pretty well set up. Instead what we’re doing is feeding information into those GIS systems,” he said.

“It allows the utility owner to do away with that old, error prone and also time-consuming approach, and digitally map down to a centimetre where their assets are.

“ en you can just export that data directly into a GIS format, or AutoCAD, format. And designers can still check the quality before directly uploading it straight into their own GIS systems.” is solution isn’t just more accurate, it also helps locators and utilities to save a lot of time and resources.

“It’s a fairly straightforward app,” Mr Cornforth said.

“For the people that are out there in the eld using it, it’s just a few pushes of the button to start your mapping.

is needs to be coupled with an external piece of hardware – so it’s a high precision GPS antenna that can easily be coupled with a locator. And most of the modern, high-precision utility locators are compatible with the system as well.

Mr Cornforth said that pairing the devices is just like any Bluetooth device. All you need to do is switch the two devices on and press a button.

“It also doesn’t really matter what type of asset they’ve got. It’s con gurable to any type of asset,” he said. is means that instead of spending their time out on-site with a tape measure, sketching the location of an asset, project managers can use their time to ensure that works are completed on time.

“If somebody comes along with a digger or a shovel and smashes up your cable underneath the ground because they didn’t know where it was – no other priority you had matters if your cable doesn’t work, so you’ve got to send somebody out there to repair it.”

For Mr Cornforth, adopting a digital approach gives utilities and contractors certainty – not just in asset positions, but also in the cost of asset protection, strike avoidance, and minimising unnecessary relocations. is in turn supports better planning and improved health and safety outcomes.

“Everything eventually will be digital. So if your current system of documenting where your assets are is a very manual process, then you’ve always got that room for errors in there,” Mr Cornforth said.

“By using Geolantis to digitally capture your assets, you’re dispensing with the possibility of getting it wrong.” U

For more information, visit geolantis.com

Geolantis 360 creates accurate, geospatially referenced maps that give utilities a reliable, shareable record of their assets.

The Australian Standard for fixed DC power system has changed, and best practise is no longer optional so how can critical asset owners remain compliant?

In critical infrastructure, system reliability has long depended on experience, proven engineering, and tfor-purpose design. With the release of AS 4044:2024 –the updated Australian Standard for DC power systems in xed installations – the benchmark has shi ed from best practice to prescription.

is update codi es what experienced engineers have long advocated: tested performance, traceable documentation, and auditable system resilience.

For operators of substations, control rooms, transport hubs, and emergency infrastructure, the standard now sets clear, enforceable expectations.

What does the standard require?

AS 4044:2024 introduces minimum requirements across six critical areas:

• Battery testing and maintenance: Proactive lifecycle monitoring prevents failure at point of load

• Insulation and overvoltage protection: Enhanced creepage and clearance standards for harsh conditions

• Charger reliability: Proven performance under load and fault conditions

• Installation and commissioning: Mandatory proof-oftesting with detailed documentation

• Control logic and redundancy: Validated changeover mechanisms through tested sequences

• Electrical safety measures: Updated protection standards aligned with current OHS requirements

In short, ‘best practise’ is no longer optional. DC systems must be demonstrably compliant – backed by evidence of testing, con guration and real-world performance.

Australian-engineered solutions

For Century Yuasa, this regulatory evolution aligns with more than 30 years of operational experience across Australia and New Zealand.

e company’s systems are already designed to meet –and o en exceed – the demands that AS 4044:2024 now makes mandatory.

Century Yuasa has engineered its solutions to be resilient in the face of harsh climates, including temperature extremes and environmental challenges. ey also include long-life VRLA technology to reduce on-site servicing and ensure reliability in remote installations.

ese systems have proven performance for missioncritical loads and are build with zero-failure tolerance at their core. is, coupled with full documentation and replacement planning, ensures asset owners have certainty around the lifecycle of these solutions. Built in Brisbane using Yuasa’s proven VRLA battery and Intelepower Charger technology, these systems are manufactured to ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 standards. And when deployed in substations, communications sites or transport assets, they’re designed to exceed AS 4044:2024 requirements.

Beyond compliance

However, achieving compliance takes more than selecting compliant hardware – which is why Century Yuasa provides full lifecycle implementation. is includes site audits and assessments measured against the new requirements; documentation and certi cation to ensure complete traceability from install to commissioning; full lifecycle planning, including proactive maintenance schedules and planned replacements; and ongoing compliance support such as regular system validation and performance monitoring. In environments where failure isn’t an option, partial compliance isn’t enough. AS 4044:2024 represents a structural change in how DC power systems are designed, tested and supported throughout their operational life. For operators managing critical infrastructure, this standard provides a framework for risk mitigation, operational e ciency and long-term asset performance. For Century Yuasa, it’s an opportunity to continue delivering the engineering expertise, local support and proven technology that keeps improving the essential services Australian communities depend on. U

To read the full compliance whitepaper, scan the QR code or visit: intelepower.com.au/whitepapers

How utilities use 5G connectivity for digital transformation

Utility companies including power, gas, and water have vast opportunities to improve operational efficiency and customer service by upgrading infrastructure with smart devices and automated systems and by implementing broadband connectivity solutions that maximize data and improve communications. Ericsson's enterprise wireless solutions unlock the power of 5G and LTE to securely connect power grids, smart meters, personnel, stations, and beyond

Private cellular networks

Connecting the facilities and components of a utility with a private cellular network can provide significant benefits. Complete control of the network enables layers of security that aren’t possible over Wi-Fi or public networks, eliminates traffic competition, and boosts performance and quality of service.

Ensuring persistent oversight and security is just as critical for physical facilities as it is for the network. With surveillance cameras and sensors providing on-demand feeds available in real time though LTE- and 5G-enabled wireless edge routers teams can quickly conduct video, thermal, and LiDAR-based inspections across widely distributed sites

Remote sites

For systems and installations located in remote or difficult to reach areas, reliable wired connectivity isn’t always readily available. Sites

( s)

can be monitored and managed centrally, but also process analytics, run applications, and more in the field

Service vehicles

Installation and maintenance of power, water, and gas lines involves a wide range of specialized services. Vehicles equipped with mobile routers have the wireless connectivity necessary to enable the continuous transmission of important data between field workers and headquarters

Predictive maintenance

With utility systems going digital and wirelessly connected sensors and smart meters streaming real-time data, information about leakage, diversion, downed wires, faults, and grid imbalances can be collected and analyzed quickly and automatically Machine-learning and AI subsequently enable predictive maintenance to decrease outages and identify where investment is needed

Power, precision and reliability

When it comes to maintaining critical stormwater and sewer infrastructure, contractors and councils across Australia need equipment that delivers results every time.

The DCS Extractor Combination Vacuum Jetting System, designed and built locally by DCS Manufacturing, continues to be, for more than 20-years, the system of choice for those seeking power, safety and versatility in one robust package.

At its core, the Extractor is a combination highpressure jetting and vacuum recovery system with the added capability of hydro-excavation. is makes it the ideal all-rounder – equally suited to clearing blocked lines, recovering debris, and undertaking nondestructive digging in sensitive environments.

Built for tough Australian conditions

Engineered with Australian operators in mind, the Extractor is built to meet the toughest industry demands. Its 8000L stainless steel debris tank and 6000L water capacity provide serious holding power, while the 269lpm, 155 bar water pump and 30lpm, 200 bar hydro pump deliver the force required for the most challenging jobs. A heavy-duty 6” vacuum pump (24”Hg/2,300 m³/hr) ensures rapid and e cient debris recovery.

e Extractor also features an overhead hose reel equipped with 183m Piranha slither sewer hose, and 6” Vacuum Hose boom with 200° rotation and giving operators the reach and exibility to handle diverse site conditions.

Designed with the operator in mind

Every detail of the Extractor is geared towards operator safety and ease of use. With both remote and manual controls, a walk-up staircase, and generous canopystyle storage compartments, and industry leading 10” user interface, the system is as practical and simple as it is powerful.

With operator safety at the forefront of DCS design and planning, DCS Manufacturing have implemented a new 10” user interface that includes step-by-step start-up guides, emergency stop button identi cation, and more, ensuring operator safety from start to nish.

Importantly, it is designed and manufactured to meet Australian Standards and compliance regulations, providing peace of mind on every project.

What truly sets the DCS Extractor apart is the backing of DCS Manufacturing’s service and parts support long a er time of purchase. Customers not only receive a high-quality, Australian-made system, but also the assurance of ongoing maintenance, support, and spare parts supply to keep their investment performing for years to come.

For councils, utilities, and contractors seeking a reliable, all-in-one solution for jetting, vacuum recovery, and hydro-excavation, the DCS Extractor represents the new benchmark in performance and dependability. U

DCS Manufacturing has servicing the water industry since it was established in 1993. Image: DCS Manufacturing

Sustaining power

When the power goes out, it’s not just inconvenient – when one essential service goes down, other critical assets face an unexpected shutdown. But how can utilities break that cycle?

Every single one of us depends on utilities to deliver the services that keep Australia running, but just as consumers depend on them, essential service providers are also dependent on each other.

Without power, our water networks can’t pump precious drinking water into our homes and businesses. If the grid goes down as a result of an extreme weather event, then telecommunications networks can be le without power – and without comms, disaster recovery e orts become an even bigger challenge. e team at CAPS Australia saw that industrial, utility and commercial operations require uninterrupted power supplies that can depend on when disaster strikes – so the company made it its mission to sustain power through a range of reliable and coste ective back-up energy solutions.

A powerful partnership

Partnering with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine System Asia, CAPS delivers the power solutions needed across industrial, commercial, data centres, healthcare, construction, residential and mining, ensuring the power never goes out on key infrastructure.

By collaborating with world class brands, CAPS ensures it has the equipment sizes and power outputs needed to meet a range of speci c operating requirements.

CAPS is the o cial Australian distributor for the Mitsubishi Generator Series (MGS). Delivering outstanding performance in fuel e ciency and reduced emissions, the MGS exempli es quality and performance.

Designed and built with state-of-the-art capabilities in one model, CAPS said that the MGS-R Series is the “all-in-one” solution.

Meticulously cra ed in Japan, the globally recognised Mitsubishi Diesel Engine is equipped with a range of standard features, in addition to Mitsubishi Turbochargers, advanced control systems and a topquality brand of alternators, ensuring durability and reliability in even the most demanding applications. e range of MGS-R diesel engines have a power output from 385kVA to 3025kVA, including data centre speci c power output ratings.

the most demanding applications.

Engineered with quick-start ability within ten seconds and 100 per cent one-step load capability, the MGS-R demonstrates its reliability in demanding situations. e AC generator in the MGS-R is fully sealed, with a three-phase RMS sensing digital automatic voltage regulator (DAVR) that has built-in protection against sustained over-excitation. Controlling the unit is the MGS-R’s standard 7310 programmable microprocessor control panel, which serves as an automatic start/stop panel, complete with generator breaker control.

A system for the application

Con guring the power solution suited to the individual requirements of the client, CAPS not only draws from the Mitsubishi Generator Series, but also the leading equipment ranges of Rehlko (formerly Kohler), Airman and Teksan Generators

CAPS delivers complete solution designs, developed by its in-house engineering team and supported through its Australian ISO9001 accredited manufacturing facility. e custom-built systems, including containerised and acoustic enclosures, are perfectly matched to clients’ requirements.

Founded in Western Australia in 1980, CAPS joined the Ingersoll Rand family in 2024, expanding its access to the Ingersoll Rand’s global o ering of innovative and missioncritical air, uid, energy and medical technologies. CAPS’ delivery of air and power solutions is also underpinned by the nancial strength of one of the world’s leading companies. With ten branches nationwide, CAPS’ dedicated team provides exceptional service, expert advice, support and spare parts. With a 24/7 maintenance and breakdown service available, CAPS can also package its service and support experience into CAPS Care – a suite of diagnostic and maintenance programs.

Utilising quality products with proven reliability, CAPS delivers global solutions, suited to Australian conditions, backed by local service. U

Images: CAPS

CAPS partners with leading brands to deliver complete power solutions tailored to the specific needs of your facility.

The Mitsubishi Generator Series is known for delivering outstanding performance in fuel e ciency and for ensuring reliability in even

Taking the pressure o

Water is the lifeblood of a thriving community and with temperatures rising we can’t a ord to waste a single drop. This industry expert shares advice on how utilities can combat leaks and safeguard this precious resource.

Water loss through leaks is one of the most persistent challenges facing utilities across Australia. For many councils and water providers, decades of underinvestment in infrastructure have le ageing pipes vulnerable to leaks, bursts, and ine ciencies. At the same time, demand for water is increasing, and utilities are under pressure to reduce operating costs, meet regulatory obligations, and deliver reliable service to customers.

Taggle So ware Product Owner, Ashlynn Davies, brings rst-hand experience to this issue – and in her experience pressure management o ers one of the most e ective and economical ways to address these challenges.

By carefully monitoring and controlling pressure within a distribution network, utilities have found that they can not only reduce leakage, but in turn extend the life of assets and create a more resilient and e cient system.

Applying practical experience

A chemical engineer by training, Ms Davies began her career working with central New South Wales councils to improve the e ciency of water distribution networks from both a water loss and energy perspective.

She found that the councils had a range of low-cost optimisation opportunities, o en involving pressure management strategies – from simply recon guring the network using existing stop valves to adjust zone boundaries, to installing a pressure-reducing valve (PRV) with monitoring to safeguard minimum service levels. By focusing on utilisation of existing infrastructure and extending the life of current assets, these approaches delivered signi cant leakage reduction at a fraction of the cost of full pipeline renewals. ese insights are at the heart of Taggle’s approach. With digital water meters now entering the market equipped with optional pressure sensors, utilities can capture pressure data alongside consumption information.

Working alongside water and infrastructure managers like Narromine Shire Council Manager – Utilities, Doug Moorby, Taggle is exploring how pressure monitoring in district metered areas (DMAs) can transform network management.

“Most leaks usually move downward rather than upward, making them more challenging to detect. e sensors assist us in monitoring changes and validating ndings with hydraulic models,” Mr Moorby said.

“By focusing on one of the DMA’s, we have managed to get [non-revenue water] down to just two per cent water loss from six per cent in November [2024], which is amazingly low. Australian utilities frequently lose around 30 per cent in the network, so we are really pleased with our results.”

From supporting proactive pressure management strategies to providing evidence for customer service, pressure sensors are becoming a critical tool in modern utility operations. According to Ms Davies, some of the key use cases and bene ts include:

Leakage reduction and asset protection

Lower pressure means lower leakage rates. By maintaining stable, appropriate pressures, utilities can signi cantly reduce losses across the system. PRVs combined with pressure sensors help safeguard pipes, joints, and household connections from fatigue, extending asset life and deferring expensive capital replacement costs.

Planning pressure management actions

Continuous pressure monitoring highlights patterns of stress across the network. Utilities can use this intelligence to plan interventions such as valve recon gurations, PRV installations, or pump scheduling adjustments. Avoiding unnecessary over-pressurisation not only reduces leaks but also saves energy, translating directly into reduced operating costs. Pressure sensors ensure that planned actions are based on evidence, not assumptions.

Monitoring and optimisation of actions

Once a pressure management action is implemented, sensors provide the feedback loop needed to track how pressures respond across the network.

is visibility helps operators verify whether pressure has stabilised as intended and assess whether further adjustments are needed. By linking observed pressure changes with ow and consumption data, utilities can close the loop between planning and execution, ensuring actions deliver the desired outcomes.

Demand management

Customer demand is pressure dependent. Reducing pressure can directly reduce consumption, particularly from appliances and leakage on customer properties. Reducing pressure therefore becomes a useful tool for managing peak demand periods and balancing supply across the network.

Compliance and customer service

Monitoring pressure helps utilities maintain minimum service pressure requirements and provide reliable supply across the network. ey also give operators concrete data to address customer complaints about low or inconsistent pressure. In this way, pressure monitoring improves both operational performance and customer satisfaction.

Event detection and rapid response

Pressure anomalies, such as sudden drops or surges, can signal a burst pipe, valve closure or hydrant use. When these are combined with consumption patterns from digital meters, utilities can quickly distinguish between unusual demand and genuine leaks. is enables rapid eld response, minimising disruption and water loss.

The next step in e ciency

For Taggle, pressure monitoring and management is a natural extension of its digital metering technology. With pressure sensors embedded in digital meters, utilities gain access to a wealth of new data that goes beyond consumption alone.

Pressure monitoring throughout the network, enriched by digital meter data, enables utilities to reduce losses by identifying leaks early, improve customer experience by ensuring stable supply, cut operating costs through e cient pumping and demand management and extend asset life by reducing stress on pipes and infrastructure.

is capability marks another step forward in the water e ciency journey that digital metering supports. By turning raw data into actionable intelligence, Taggle helps utilities move from reactive problem-solving to proactive network management.

e future of water management lies in making every drop, and every unit of pressure count when saving water for a sustainable future. U

For more information, visit taggle.com

Controlling networks pressure helps utilities to reduce water leakage, extend the life of assets and create a more resilient and e cient system. Image: Taggle

A connected future starts today

For utilities, it’s no longer a question of if they digitise, it’s about when and how. But, in a world that’s evolving faster than ever, the sector needs connectivity that can grow alongside it.

In a time where skilled personnel are in short supply, technology and digitisation are essential to meeting these expectations – but these solutions only work as well as your connectivity does.

According to Ericsson Senior Engineer Consultant, Jodie Favolo, most utilities already see the value that 5G connectivity and digitisation will have for reliability and operational e ciency – but for many the barriers to adoption were too high.

So, Ericsson is determined to tear them down.

Going the distance

As technology evolves, utilities have an increasing need for faster speeds and lower latency to enable real-time monitoring and support emerging AI applications.

But with all this clever innovation it’s easy to forget the most important thing that telecommunication networks do – they let people communicate.

If you couldn’t talk to your team at all, would you be able to do your job?

Ms Favolo, said that this is the reality for many eld technicians that travel to remote sites.

“When you’ve got workers out in regional areas they [o en] have to drive back into a town make the call to [update] head o ce on a job, get [permission or parts] then drive back out to the job site, complete the job, and then drive back into town again to let [head o ce] know that the job has been completed,” she said.

Sometimes, these workers can be travelling hundreds of kilometres in a day – which means they’re o en spending more time behind the wheel than in the eld.

Advancements in 5G cellular and satellite connectivity o er a promising way forward, but Ms Favolo explained that every utility needs a tailored approach.

“It’s not just [about making] sure that whatever we deliver is what [utilities] need today, they need to make sure that [there is room] for the solution to expand, change and incorporate [tomorrow’s] technologies,” she said.

Weighing the costs

Ericsson is the technology behind most of Australia’s cellular networks. e company built our rst public telephone system in 1959, and it deployed our rst 2G and 3G networks.

As

technology evolves, utilities need faster connectivity to support new innovations. Image: pkproject/stock.adobe.com

It partnered with Telstra to bring 4G to Australia, and in 2019 the two companies teamed up once again to launch our 5G network.

For more than 130 years, the company has been shaping how Australia, and the world, communicates – and it does that by listening to people and industry voices, and then responding to their needs.

e company’s 2025 State of Enterprise Connectivity survey found that more than 47 per cent of respondents from the manufacturing and utility sectors lack the skills and personnel required to deploy and manage their network – and nearly 39 per cent said that navigating the complexity of a network upgrade was a major hurdle for their organisation.

Cyber security is also a major concern for the sector, particularly when it comes to critical infrastructure, and Ms Favolo said utilities o en ask her for solutions that enable their critical assets to reap the bene ts of digitisation without compromising their integrity.

Another key challenge, particularly for utilities that operate in regional or remote areas, is nding a reliable connectivity solution where cellular coverage is patchy.

I encourage utilities to ensure their chosen solution not only supports connectivity needs today but embraces whatever comes tomorrow

For those organisations, more than 46 per cent said they don’t use satellite because it’s too expensive, and the perception that it will not work with their existing connectivity solutions was also cited as a key inhibitor.

In fact, the main barrier for more than 50 per cent of utilities was shown be the perceived cost of deployment and maintenance of 5G wireless network connectivity.

However, Ms Favolo said that almost half of the respondents also reported that unreliable connectivity led to operational ine ciencies and increased operational costs – and about one-third also reported an increase in waste and reputational damage or loss of earnings as a consequence of poor connectivity.

It almost seems like a rock and a hard place, but Ms Favolo said the solution is in the way that you upgrade –and what you upgrade to.

Getting it right

All internet connections are either wired or wireless. Wired connections physically connect a site to the internet with some kind of hardware, such as bre optic. ese networks o er a high level of security, however, they also require extensive planning, take a month or three or deploy and are typically less adaptable to change and evolving technology. Because they’re inherently tied to a physical location the distance they can span is also limited and IoT devices on this type of network need to be connected via cables.

On the other side, utilities typically have the option of a xed wireless network, which connects to a speci c location via a receiver that can’t be moved, or a mobile connection such as satellite or cellular.

Mobile networks are inherently more exible and faster to deploy – as they can change locations without interrupting service. is means they can be used in remote locations, deployed in vehicles and can connect IoT devices across vast geographical areas.

So, what should utilities use? According to Ms Favolo, the answer is o en all of the above – but cellular is the key component that links everything together.

Next generation

e rollout of 5G brought higher speeds, low latency and massive device connectivity. But 5G is not just a performance upgrade, it’s poised to reshape the digital landscape like never before.

Where previous generations were focused primarily on broad consumer needs, 5G is designed to serve diverse sectors, including time-critical applications and large-scale IoT networks.

“Utilities need a solution that covers a variety of connection options,” Ms Favolo said.

“Every iteration of cellular provides bigger bandwidth and greater reliability, but each generation also shortens the radio frequency length,”

“3G had smaller bandwidth, and it worked really well for IoT applications and it supported voice calls. It wasn’t great for data – but it travelled a long way.

“4G provided that access to data, but the radio frequency lengths got shorter, and then 5G gets shorter again.

“So, we get high bandwidth and high performance from 5G – but we need more cell sites to provide that cellular coverage.”

Very remote areas typically don’t have access to that cellular coverage, so Ms Favolo explained that utilities that operate in those areas would then connect to satellite.

From Ericsson’s perspective, Ms Favolo said the company specialises in routers that are designed to provide stability and reliability on the cellular network as well as xed networks and satellite networks.

“In the utility sector, a lot of workers are out in remote areas with harsh [climates], so a lot of our devices are ruggedised and designed to withstand those environments,” she said.

“We want to provide a reliable and stable connection for those workers, so we also need to make sure that the tech inside our routers support connectivity to all those di erent types of networks.

“For example, when our Cradlepoint routers are installed in a vehicle and that user goes from a metropolitan area with cellular coverage to a regional area with satellite, it needs to be a seamless experience for those users, and they need to be able to maintain connectivity to critical applications as they switch.”

In order to do this, Ericsson writes speci c drivers to sit on those routers, rather than using a generic driver, which monitors the connection and adapts to network changes so the router can continue to provide a stable, highperformance connection.

A concern for many respondents to Ericsson’s 2025 survey was that satellite connectivity was costly and that it wouldn’t integrate well with existing technologies –however, Ms Favolo encourages utilities to examine this a little more closely.

For her, it’s not about one technology being better than another, it’s about using the best tool for the job.

“We see that a hybrid approach of both cellular and satellite is o en the most cost-e ective solution for use cases where devices move from cellular-service areas to cellular blackspots and back,” she said.

However you slice it

With the rollout of 5G comes the power of true real-time data and monitoring. When IoT devices like sensors and smart meters are connected on the ‘local’ side of the router, Ms Favolo said that shi ing the application workload and computing to the network’s edge signi cantly lowers the latency.

“It means you can make smart decisions about what information is transmitted and cut out the noise [created by data overload],” she said.

Another incredible leap forward in enterprise connectivity that comes with 5G is network slicing. is involves creating a virtual network, or slice, that operates on top of shared 5G infrastructure. e latency, speed, reliability and security of each slice is then tailored to meet the needs of a speci c application.

For long-life IoT devices, utilities could have one slice of the network that is designed to just transmit small data volumes, similar to the function of narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). en, they could have and then another that has reliable, secure high-bandwidth connectivity for calls or remote monitoring systems.

5G connectivity empowers utilities to remotely monitor assets in real-time. Image: axel/stock.adobe.com

“As more users connect to the same network it becomes congested, [which] takes up [more] of the bandwidth and the performance lowers,” Ms Favolo said.

“But if I have a guaranteed slice of the network, then even if it’s overloaded I can still make video calls.”

Secure connection

Ericsson’s Cradlepoint routers are built to be enterprise grade devices, which means they need to be secure.

A local area network (LAN) connects devices within a single facility or a small area, and these networks can be set up to either bypass the public internet entirely, or only connect via a single, secure access point.

By not connecting to the public internet, utilities can easily ensure that their assets meet the requirements of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI). However, if they can’t send data outside their private LAN, then their ability to bene t from digital innovation is limited.

A wide area network (WAN) connects multiple LANs to allow devices to communicate over a long distance – and by leveraging 5G and satellite connectivity utilities can create a private, secure wireless WAN (WWAN).

Ms Favolo explained that the key to a truly secure network is to take a zero-trust approach.

“In older VPN networks, if I’m connected with that VPN then I’d be able to connect to everyone on that same network. Our VPN is zero-trust, which means that closes the network down and only allows certain people to talk over the network,” she said.

Designed for scalability, Ericsson’s Secure Connect VPN can be deployed in minutes and is available as either a customer-hosted deployment or as a cloud-delivered service through NetCloud SASE, which enables Cradlepoint routers to securely access applications and data in the cloud. is approach drastically reduces the potential attack surface. It also uses name-based routing to make the network, applications and data invisible to unauthorised devices.

Laying the foundations

For utilities that want full control of their own system, Ericsson o ers NetCloud Manager, which is a single paneof-glass remote management system that incorporates innovative AI to monitor and optimise network performance, as well as power usage for connected devices.

However, if they don’t have the in-house capability to take on that workload, then Ms Favolo said Ericsson and its partners can provide a fully managed solution.

“In a lot of cases, [a managed solution is] actually more cost e ective,” Ms Favolo said.

“A great example is SA Power Networks, just six week a er we did the rollout, they worked out they had a $5 million return on that investment.

“Because [workers in remote areas didn’t have to drive back and forth to make calls, they were saving time, which also meant that the job timeline resolution for issues was a lot shorter and they didn’t have to pay rebates.”

Ms Favolo said it’s also important to look at the value of network uptime, and compare that to impact of downtime and unreliability on both your budget and your business reputation.

“It’s not just the cost of connectivity [they need to] consider, but how much not investing is actually costing their business,” she said.

Ms Favolo said that 5G WWAN allows utilities to create networks that can be easily controlled and scaled up accommodate their business needs as well as emerging technologies.

“ ings are changing really fast, and from a solution perspective, we need to make sure that you’re up to date with what’s happening in the market and we can support those predictive requirements in the future,” she said.

“I encourage utilities to ensure their chosen solution not only supports connectivity needs today but embraces whatever comes tomorrow.” U

Ericsson built Australia’s fi rst public telephone system in 1959, and now it’s bringing the power of 5G to our enterprises. Image: Framestock/stock.adobe.com

Getting Smart

While industries continue to digitise their automatic valves and processes to streamline data collection, improve maintenance, and reduce costs, manual valves o en remain unmonitored with little to no data.

ese assets are frequently overlooked, despite their large numbers and involvement in critical processes. So why focus only on monitoring automatic valves and not manual ones?

A compelling case

By monitoring manual valve performance and condition, maintenance and repairs can be carried out and planned according to actual needs, rather than by assumption or routine schedules.

is avoids unnecessary parts replacements and interventions, reduces costs and improves overall process control, ensuring smooth and e cient equipment operation without unexpected disruptions.

In addition to reducing unexpected shutdowns, this approach also helps extend equipment lifespan.

rough non-intrusive installations, valves can be regularly monitored without disrupting operations, allowing early detection of the rst signs of wear. By addressing issues before they worsen, equipment can be maintained more e ciently, extending its lifespan and avoiding costly breakdowns or premature replacements.

When valve operation data is stored, it also becomes easier to share information with your team, facilitating performance veri cation and problem identi cation.

is not only speeds up troubleshooting but also improves collaboration and makes training new sta more e ective. By collecting that data today, you lay the groundwork for future technologies, such as AI, which are already entering the industrial sector. e more data you collect now, the more insightful future analyses will be, enabling smarter decision-making and predictive maintenance.

Preparing for tomorrow

For decades, Modec has collaborated across industries to o er versatile portable actuators. By understanding market demands, the company have pioneered a monitoring solution aligned with Industry 4.0 and IoT technologies. is solution is designed for seamless integration, and smart sensors connect to Modec actuators without any modi cations to your installation.

e LTN67 Sensor in Modec Connect measures torque and speed, transmitting real-time data to the mobile app via Bluetooth. Lightweight and compatible with all Modec actuators, it empowers e cient monitoring of manual valve networks.

Modec’s goal is to make data management simple. is solution transmits torque, speed and rotation data via Bluetooth to a secure mobile and web application for e ortless analysis – which means crews can input and access critical valve data anywhere, anytime. It also allows utilities to assign user roles with varying access levels to streamline operations and ensure the security of your data.

Modec Connect has two modes: Free Mode, which enables real-time measurement of torque, speed and revolutions, and Guided Mode, which provides steps for comparative analysis of valve conditions over time. e useability of this system takes the e ort out data collection and analysis, while still providing advanced reporting. is means utilities can export professional PDF reports to share insights and maintain operation records and analyse performance curves with simpli ed visualisations for clear trends.

Field Machine Tools is the Australian distributor partner of Modec Pneumatic Motors & Portable Valve Actuators, and the expert team work closely with asset owners to adapt a solution to the needs of their facility, not the other way around. U

Modec has pioneered a monitoring solution that aligns with Industry 4.0 and IoT technologies. Image:

Enabling evolution

To meet modern demands and deliver a renewable energy future, almost every aspect of the energy sector needs to adapt, but a successful transformation should be a win for everyone involved.

The energy sector has a lot on its plate right now.

Outside of pulling o the biggest transformation in its history, the sector has to nd ways to overcome a skills shortage, and support consumers as their role in the electricity system gets ipped on its head –all while keeping our homes and businesses running.

To manage this burden, they need to digitise – but even then, rolling out new technology is just another workload to add to the pile.

e energy sector is heading down an uncharted path on two fronts, and embracing both physical and digital innovation requires shared learnings and collaboration.

The right people in your corner

Nucleus3 has everything to love about a small business –For N3 Evolve Domain Director, Melainie Reddy, it all about the people.

“I get my energy from spending time with people and I’m a problem solver, so I love hearing about a customer’s challenge and being able to roll up my sleeves and help them solve it,” she said.

Nucleus3 has everything we love about a small business – it’s genuine, its services are exible and personalised, and the team engage with empathy and meet you where you are.

So, when you nd out the company has more than 120 employees across four business units, it almost blows your mind.

“We try and bring people on the journey, so everybody’s invested and [also] so that we can be our authentic selves,” Ms Reddy said.

“We’re all working hard, but the o ce banter is high, and there’s lot of laughs. It’s been so refreshing, and when I was about one week in [to the job] I turned to [the Evolve General Manager] and said, ‘where have you guys been all my life?’

“And that connection is real, it’s not just something we put on a presentation, it’s very genuine and when you get you my age you recognise that you don’t get this everywhere.

“It’s like the world’s best-kept secret.”

When Nucleus3’s four business units (N3Z, N3Evolve, N3Edge and InteliEON) come together, they can empower the utility sector in all aspects of their digital transformation – from hardware right through to change management.

N3Evolve is the dedicated business strategy arm, which operates somewhat like a consulting rm and provides delivery enablement and optimisation solutions speci cally for the utility sector.

And the team are very excited to be part of the enormous change that’s happening in energy.

N3 Evolve General Manager, Neil Dickson, explained that their role is to work with utilities to address their challenges that they have and enable them to transition from where they are to where they need to be.

“We’re a very human-centred business, which I think is o en lost in the language that big consultancies put forward,” he said.

“ ere’s o en a lot of focus on IP or content, but the founding principle of any business is just having really great people, and those great people will help establish great connections, and those relationships and will create amazing solutions.”

Mr Dickson explained that N3 Evolve believes in taking each customer on face value.

“You will never see us taking an overarching cookie cutter proposal, then rebranding and repositioning it to suit to a di erent customer. We spend time with each customer to understand intrinsic points of di erence for them and their unique pain points,

“We don’t use the commonality as the starting point, we look at the di erences and then look at where there might be able to leverage past experience – but we’ll put something in place that’s unique for each customer.”

For Mr Dickson and his team, they’re keen to break away from the conventional ‘consultant’ typecast.

“We’re very cognisant of the fact that consultants have a reputation for being presumptive in positioning themselves as thought-leaders and having a level of arrogance with that. So, then when they come to customers, they dictate without taking the time to understand their environment,” he said.

“By doing that pre-work to really intrinsically understand the customer needs, yes it frees us from being labelled, but the customer gets better buy in, because they feel it’s theirs.”

At the end of the day, Mr Dickson said N3Evolve’s goal is to leave the customer.

“We don’t want to embed ourselves with a customer forever – if we’re there forever, our view is that we haven’t done our job.

“We want to get in, enable customers to be successful, and then engineer at an exit point where we will reconnect. But that point of connection is just to make sure that when we’ve taken the training wheels o , they haven’t fallen over.”

Embracing change

Essential services, and particularly the energy sector, are navigating an intricate web of compounding challenges, and Mr Dickson said that retaining and sharing knowledge is the key navigating this dynamic environment.

“When you actually peel back the layers, a lot of the problems [the industry] faces fundamentally boils down to [identifying] who owns the knowledge that’s going to enable the change, how much capacity they have and what supporting structures you need to enable that change,” he said.

We’re not a win at all costs business. If we’re successful, then utilities should be successfu l “

“Up until very recently, the structure of the [energy] industry has been very static in terms of how we generate, consume and transmit power – but with the amount of variables coming driven by the energy transition, a lot of [utilities’] heads are spinning at the moment with the sheer volume of change.

“And we’re just trying to help them navigate that and hold their hand through that process. It’s challenging, but it’s hugely rewarding too.”

For the Evolve team, and Nucleus3 as a whole, their goal is to be an enabler of change and innovation by nding a solution to the problem in front of them.

“When Neil and I rst started in the utility industry, a lot the legacy systems that were built then are still [in use],” Ms Reddy said.

“And with energy being as static as it has been, some of these platforms have not needed to change – if you don’t need to invest in it, why would you?

However, now that the energy system as a whole is undergoing a major upheaval, Ms Reddy explained that utilities are nding more and more that their current technology isn’t designed to keep up with the change.

“Many of the people with the knowledge and the IP around those systems are also [either] retired or close to retirement,” she said.

“And inevitably [there’s] a gap between then and now that they’re needing to address, and the cost and expense and risk to their businesses are exponentially higher, because it’s the IP isn’t there to make changes to these platforms, so where do [they] begin?

“And [our role] is about creating an atmosphere of learning and development.”

“For many utilities, this is their rst rodeo, but it’s certainly not ours, and it’s something that we feel that we can help with. And our way of working also helps marry in with that strategy work and accelerate the delivery.

“Because we’re not emotionally tied, we can come in with fresh eyes and say: this is everything you need to deliver, here are the common touch points on this system and this is how can we sequence this in order to help drive that change in a more e cient way.”

All of Nucleus3’s o erings are speci cally tailored to the utility sector, and Evolve is no exception.

Evolve has a vast network of consultant that specialise in this space, and Mr Dickson said that being able to tap into their expertise and legacy knowledge base allows them to be creative and agile with their solutions.

“ ere’s never been so many di erent, varying challenging facing the industry,” he said

“And because we have that legacy knowledge base, as well as some enough very capable people in the younger generation, we’re tapped into the future direction of technology and we can work with utilities to transition them from where they are to where they need to be.

“And one of our foundational o erings is taking a more holistic delivery enablement, view – it’s that old cliche of if you give a man a sh, you’ll feed his family for a day, but if you give them the ability to catch sh, then they’re self-su cient.

“So, we’re continuously trying to leave customers with is structures, processes and ways of working that will engineer in exibility and give them the tools to adapt to change moving forward.”

Getting it right

At its core, Nucleus3 is all about solving the problem, not marketing a solution.

“ ere needs to be a symbiosis,” Mr Dickson said.

“We’ve been doing this a while, and we’ve seen in very commercial approaches, there’s always a point in a customer-vendor relationship where you need to make some sort of sacri ce from a commercial perspective.

“We’re technology agnostic and we don’t mind if a customer is wedded to a particular application or tool –we’re there to solve the challenge.

“We’re invested in sharing knowledge across the industry, and working with our customers to talk about what we’re doing in other places and educate them. And our hope is [by doing that] the conversation becomes about enabling them, rather than about cost.”

e lessons learned by international utilities can really help guide Australia through this time of unprecidented change, but at the same time, Ms Reddy said that the Australian landscape is quite unique.

“Because we’re vendor agnostic we can work with major international partners to translate their products into the unique Australian marketplace, and advise them on what is and isn’t going to work and what they need to change,” she said.

“While they’re not always doing the same thing concurrently and there’s unique geographical variances, for the most part, the work they’re doing is very similar – the foundational elements are the same.”

Ms Reddy explained that Nucleus3 takes the lessons learned in di erent countries, utility sectors and industries and shares that information to help enable change and growth across all parties.

“When you encapsulate the full o ering and take it from the advisory space to digital architecture and roadmap design, and then onto the eld deployment of smart meters and the ongoing management as well the supply chain logistics elements, there’s no break in the o ering,” she said.

“Yes, we are professional services, but you won’t nd a consultancy that is married to a to an IoT water metering business, both here and in New Zealand.

“And there’s very few that have the full end-to-end o ering within Australia, and tick all of those boxes without being a multinational conglomerate that’s lost its [ability to be exible] and unique.”

e challenges that utilities face are mounting, and o en they’re le to brave uncharted digital territory with limited or no in-house capabilities – and the Evolve team said that they just want the sector to know that they’re here to help.

But, it’s equally important to them that the success of their business doesn’t leave any orphans.

“Fundamentally, we want to work with great people, and we want to be part of great solutions, but we’re not a win at all costs business,” Mr Dickson said.

“Let’s be honest, we are commercial entity. But if we’re looking at our customers purely from a commercial lens then we’ve already lost.

“Success for us should be a win-win scenario. If we’re successful, then [the utility sector] should be successful, and by extension our people should be successful.

“It’s a message that’s put in place from the very rst time we talk to our sta , and it’s reinforced over the journey.

“It’s great working around good people, but it’s more rewarding to be part of a team that’s coming up with something impressive or challenging to deliver.

“So, when we talk about winning the right way, that’s what we mean.” U

N3Evolve provides delivery enablement solutions specifically for the utility sector.

Collect data anywhere,

Next generation cloud powered

At the World Water-Tech Innovation Summit on 26 February 2025, Grundfos FutureLab Chief Intrapreneur, Chengzi Chew, led a game changing roundtable that explored the importance of building trust in real-time controls systems for sewer networks.

e roundtable was titled Overcoming trust issues: what does it take to adopt real-time control systems for sewer networks? But whose trust was Mr Chew talking about?

Mr Chew said that there are several levels of stakeholder, and the rst is the regulators.

“If some kind of automated system is controlling this network, from a regulatory perspective, is there anything that would convince the regulators that there is a particular path for operations to go down?” Mr Chew said.

“Of course, better control of the networks can help water companies regain trust of their customers too. It will take more work on that front, but showing how real-time control works on di erent scenarios and events could have an impact.”

But what about the impact on operators? For Mr Chew, it’s equally as important to ensure they can trust in new technologies and approaches.

“Operations is done by operators, of course, so technology changes can have an impact on their role and they will have concerns around how their jobs will change. I see real-time control systems for sewer networks as being like autopilot for aeroplanes – it can be used for a lot of things, but a plane still needs a pilot,” he said.

“In the future, real-time control will help run sewer networks better, so that much more can be done with them.

Once this technology is proven to work, it could really help operators within these utilities manage wastewater much better, but they will still be needed to run and oversee the systems.”

At his roundtable, Mr Chew also discussed how far the water sector is presently on the road to real-time control of sewerage from a technology perspective, as well as his vision for the future.

“At present, Grundfos, including our stand-alone data and telemetry division – Metasphere, can carry out the analytics and identify where incidents are occurring in the network,” he said.

“At World Water-Tech, we looked at the next step: now that you know what is happening in the network, what could you do with that information?

“One of the pathways could be more real-time control. We need more collaborative research and innovation, rather than simply continuing with existing technologies. Feedback from water companies will help determine precisely where this should be applied.”

Mr Chew explained that the Grundfos FutureLab’s purpose is to nurture innovation.

“ e role of FutureLab is to explore new business opportunities in the water space for Grundfos.

We have an innovation process for this work, and we are looking at ideas that could have a big impact on sustainability and resilience and would also make good business sense,” he said.

“At FutureLab, we have created a structured innovation process with three distinct phases, typically starting with an idea and desktop studies to nd out whether it has potential.”

Once that becomes more concrete, Mr Chew said the idea moves to the concept phase of the project, where the team spend more time with customers to better understand the landscape and the problems they are facing, and what could be an ideal solution for them.

“At the same time, we might work on some prototypes to see what we can build to address that market,” he said.

“If we can get some good evidence to say this particular business idea could be good, direction for a product could be good, we move that to an incubation phase where we create a minimum viable product.

“So, you can picture those three phases as looking like an internal start-up within Grundfos, which is exactly what we seek to do – hence my role as ‘chief intrapreneur’.”

Across the globe, Mr Chew said that the UK is showing a lead when it comes to advancing this area of innovation.

“ e regulatory environment, in terms of nes for combined stormwater and sewage spills into surface waters, is more advanced than in other European countries,” he said.

If a particular system can reduce a certain number of over ow events, that could directly impact the number of nes, which gives you direct payback “

“While utilities mostly recognise that they have a vital role in protecting the environment and improving river health, the payback for new technologies is more evident when there are nes. If a system can reduce a certain number of over ow events, that could directly impact the number of nes, which gives you direct payback.”

According to Mr Chew, there are currently several ongoing projects in the UK, including at Northumbrian Water, which he said is doing some really interesting work in this space.

“[And over in the] US, utilities and municipalities invest in automated control to help reduce the investment needed to overcome over ow problems,” he said

“Say a site requires three additional storage tanks, but with a real-time control system in place, it only needs two tanks, or three smaller tanks. at represents a signi cant saving on overall investment.”

is conversation doesn’t end with Mr Chew’s roundable, and exploring the trust issues that hinder implementation, the technological advancements that can address these concerns and the collaborative e orts needed to build con dence in these systems, is the rst step towards implementation.

“I would very much like water companies to join in the conversation and share experiences,” he said.

“I would also like regulators to be part of that conversation and of course we would like some technology providers to share experiences in this space. “ U

For more information, visit metasphere.co.uk

Dismantling the trust issues that hinder implementation, is the fi rst step towards embracing innovation.

A radical change

A utility’s most precious asset is its people, and to ensure everyone is safe on the job this company is calling to abolish unsafe infrastructure access.

In 2019 a comprehensive analysis of Australia’s ageing infrastructure highlighted the risks workers face when accessing these assets, now six years on, a Queenslandbased access specialist is calling for radical change in the way workers interact with enclosed assets to save lives.

Mass CEO, Paul Harazim, said Infrastructure Australia’s Australian Infrastructure Audit 2019 had been a call to action for many infrastructure operators such as water and sewerage utilities.

“Much of Australia’s water and sewerage pipes, pump stations, valve pits, reservoirs and treatment plants was built before the 1970s, and the assets were only designed to last about 50 years,” Mr Harazim said.

“ e Infrastructure Audit and industry focus on how to deal with ageing assets has prompted many utilities to program extensive asset renewal and maintenance programs.

“While improvements are great, around 80 per cent of water and sewerage assets are underground and challenging – if not downright dangerous – to get into and work on.”

According to Mr Harazim, crews have to li access lids that can weigh up to 60kg, posing a risk for injury if not done correctly – and on top of that pump wells can also be up to 18m deep, which means harnesses have to be worn.

He also highlighted that con ned spaces in sewers are full of toxic gases, so it’s essential that maintenance crews wear respirators to keep themselves safe.

e high-risk nature of these sites also means more paperwork for utilities that are already faced with a skills shortage.

“If you are servicing a pump station twice a year, which is what many utilities do, this is a couple of days of completing safety paperwork and then following detailed on-site safety procedures like installing li ing gear and getting workers into harnesses. at’s an expensive process if you have a portfolio of hundreds of pump stations and lots of crew members to train,” he said.

However, Mr Harazim explained that safety risks and administrative controls could be eliminated by standardising the way workers access infrastructure.

“Removing the physical risk means that administrative controls like procedures and permits are no longer required,” he said.

“It turns hundreds of sites into one because you only need one set of controls.”

Something had to change

Mr Harazim said that he was concerned that accessing assets was contributing to deaths and serious injury and illness claims across the country.

“Unsafe access to pits, pipes, pump station wells and reservoirs is closely related to falls from heights, manual handling injuries and slips and trips incidents,” he said.

Some have called us water industry disruptors and that’s ne with us “

Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia published by Safe Work Australia in 2024 showed that falling from a height was the second highest contributor to all worker deaths in 2023 (15 per cent or 29 deaths).

Of the more than 138,000 serious work-related injury and illness claims in 2023, body stressing (body strains), and falls, trips and slips were the top two contributors to claims (32.7 per cent and 21.8 per cent respectively).

Armed with this information, Mr Harazim knew something had to change.

“We realised we need to implement a standard method of access to protect all workers,” he said.

“Mass is so focused on improving safety in the water and sewerage industry that we started the rst annual water industry safety forum across the country in 2022.

“We have also updated the South East Queensland Design Code with standard drawings for aluminium access covers and the City of Logan’s and City of Gold Coast’s sewage pump station standard drawings.”

Mr Harazim said this work builds on the pioneering safety access work that Sunshine Coast company McBerns has done – as well as feedback from customers and colleagues.

For Mass, standardisation has meant auditing access arrangements at customers’ assets, designing access improvements, prioritising improvements and manufacturing and installing standard, safe covers, grates, rails and lids.

“We supported one major Queensland utility to upgrade about 600 assets over three years. is meant replacing time-consuming and unproductive administrative controls for each site with a standard work method and installing safer lids, grates, rails and hatches,” Mr Harazim said.

“Now, this utility can use two people, and not a whole team, to li a couple of pumps from a deep pump station well, clean and check them, replace them and drive away before the neighbouring utility can even ll out their safety checklist.”

As a result, Mr Harazim said utilities were seeing that safer access to assets was encouraging maintenance while containing costs.

“It’s making maintenance less of a chore. We estimate that standard access to underground assets results in a 50 per cent time saving and a 90 per cent cost saving associated with routine maintenance,” he said.

“For an urban utility, that’s millions of dollars saved each year in operating costs”.

But, Mr Harazim has no intention of stopping at Queensland, and he said that Mass plans to expand its safe access consulting services in 2025 –26 around Australia.

“Some have called us water industry disruptors and that’s ne with us. Major change is overdue to protect workers and enhance productivity in the infrastructure sector.” U

For more information, visit massproducts.com.au

Around 80 per cent of water and sewerage assets are underground and challenging to get into. Image: Kazakov/stock.adobe.com

Disrupting domestic violence

How Australia’s energy and water sectors can help prevent domestic and financial abuse through smarter design, stronger safeguards, and a shift in safety culture.

Energy and water are essential to life. But for many Australians experiencing domestic and nancial abuse, these services can become tools of control, coercion, and harm.

From unauthorised account access to the accumulation of debt, the misuse of essential services is a growing concern. Perpetrators exploit billing systems, digital platforms, and customer service processes to monitor, manipulate, and nancially entrap victim-survivors. And too o en, the systems designed to serve and protect all customers fall short.

e latest discussion paper in the Designed to Disrupt® series, authored by Catherine Fitzpatrick and commissioned by the Essential Services Commission Victoria, shines a spotlight on this issue – and o ers a roadmap for change.

How utilities can help

Domestic and nancial abuse is a national crisis. In 2024 alone, Australia saw a devastating toll of genderbased violence, prompting national protests and urgent government action.

Coercive control – including nancial and technologyfacilitated abuse – is now recognised as a criminal o ence in several states.

Utilities are not immune. In fact, they are uniquely positioned at the intersection of home, nance, and identity – making them both vulnerable to misuse and powerful agents of prevention.

Victim-survivors report a range of tactics used by abusers, including refusing to pay bills or running up debt in the victim’s name, using account access to track locations or intercept communications, threatening disconnection as a form of control, an manipulating joint accounts to maintain nancial dominance.

ese are not isolated incidents. ey are systemic risks – and they demand systemic solutions.

The cost of inaction

e consequences of nancial abuse are profound. Victimsurvivors face ruined credit scores, mounting debt, and barriers to independence. Many are le to navigate complex systems alone, o en while recovering from trauma and managing parenting responsibilities.

“ Because essential services should be just that –essential, not exploitative. Safe, not weaponised. Supportive, not silent

e report reveals:

• 98 per cent of construction projects in Australia experience cost or schedule overruns – a symptom of broader productivity challenges

• Financial abuse costs victim-survivors an estimated $5.7 billion annually

• In 2023–24, three energy retailers reported $1.85 million in unpaid bills from customers a ected by domestic abuse

• Water providers, while generally more responsive, also face challenges in protecting tenant customers and managing joint liabilities

e report calls for a shi in mindset – from reactive compliance to proactive prevention. It introduces the concept of Essential Safety by Design, a framework adapted from the eSafety Commissioner’s model for the tech sector. At its core, it asks three key questions:

• Are our systems safe for people in unsafe situations?

• Are we designing products and services that can’t be weaponised?

• Are we holding perpetrators accountable – not just supporting survivors?

To answer these, the report outlines a three-step implementation process:

• Risk identi cation: review all customer touchpoints, systems, and policies through the lens of domestic and nancial abuse.

• Control and mitigation: prioritise and implement safeguards, such as account ags, privacy protections, and exible billing.

• Setting standards: clearly communicate zero tolerance for misuse and embed expectations into terms and conditions.

Some providers are already leading the way, and AGL, Coliban Water, South East Water, Wannon Water, and Yarra Valley Water – have joined the #RespectAndProtect campaign, committing to zero tolerance for nancial abuse, automatic hardship support for a ected customers, and stronger privacy and account security measures. ese rst movers are demonstrating how essential services can be part of the solution.

e report also highlights better practice responses, such as o ering debt waivers or exible payment

plans, using trauma-informed customer service, training all sta – including eld operators – to recognise and respond to abuse, ensuring victim-survivors don’t have to repeatedly disclose their trauma.

The role of regulation

While some progress has been made, the regulatory landscape remains fragmented. Protections vary by state, and many customers fall through the cracks – especially those in embedded networks, rental properties, or regional areas.

e report calls for nationally consistent minimum protections across all jurisdictions, mandatory data collection on disclosures and outcomes, expanded oversight to include all utility providers, a crosssector regulatory forum to share intelligence and coordinate responses.

It also proposes a shared debt relief mechanism, allowing providers to waive debts incurred through abuse without bearing the full nancial burden – similar to proposals in the UK and recommendations from Australia’s own Energy Regulator.

e report includes a detailed table of potential design interventions across the customer journey – from account setup to billing and disconnection. ese include:

• Multi-factor authentication and fraud detection at sign-up

• Privacy ags and restricted access for at-risk customers

• Flexible billing and account separation options

• Clear terms and conditions outlining consequences for misuse Automated alerts for unusual usage patterns or account changes

Crucially, it emphasises the need for consent and survivor agency. Safety features must

empower, not disempower, those they are designed to protect.

e report also challenges the legal construct of joint and several liability – which o en leaves victim-survivors solely responsible for debts incurred by perpetrators.

It asks: is it time to rethink this model?

e report suggests:

• Ending joint liability when a victim-survivor leaves the property

• Creating separate accounts without requiring perpetrator consent

• Waiving debts where abuse is evident

• Exploring industry-funded compensation schemes

• Because no one should be punished nancially for escaping violence.

e report concludes with a clear message: the time for awareness is over. We have the evidence. Now we need action.

It says that all stakeholders centre lived experience shoudl be included in design and decision-making, and recommends that every provider commit to zero tolerance for abuse, and calls on industry bodies to develop shared standards and data indicators, and government to explore funding mechanisms for debt relief.

It also highlights the role of regulators harmonising protections and enforcing compliance

Because essential services should be just that –essential, not exploitative. Safe, not weaponised. Supportive, not silent.

By embedding safety into the very fabric of their systems, energy and water providers can help build a future where essential services are never used as tools of harm – but as platforms for healing, independence, and dignity. U

Not only do eld workers need to move quickly, they o en have to travel out great distances to service remote assets and navigate harsh climates.

Utilities need to ensure their vehicles are compliant and can withstand the journey without incident, but they also need to ensure that eld technicians are safe behind the wheel.

A modern solution

According to the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), driver fatigue contributes to around 20 per cent of all road incidents in Victoria alone. And in an environment where skills are in short supply there’s a mounting pressure to increase productivity, and do more with less.

e work that utilities do is incredibly important, but so too are the people on the ground. e solution is to build a safety- rst culture that prevents collisions before they occur. But what does that look like in practice?

For utilities, it means taking a more strategic, preventative approach to risk management – and the sector is increasingly turning to AI-driven, analyticsbased approaches to managing eet safety.

Modern eet technologies can monitor driver behaviour, identify emerging safety concerns, and benchmark performance over time – improving safety while also unlocking operational e ciencies.

Geotab’s Safety Centre is designed to help eet managers shi from reactive to preventative safety measures. is AI-driven platform provides real-time visibility into vehicle and driver performance, alongside actionable insights that can reduce incident rates and create a culture of accountability.

Geotab Business Development Manager, Alkan Ci ci, said that the platform gives users the ability to benchmark their vehicles and drivers against similar eets.

“It generates a predictive collision risk – or PCR – score based on driving patterns, allowing eet managers to

managers can identify which areas require training, understand the types of risks their drivers face, and use real-world evidence to justify investment in safety initiatives.

By shi ing from a reactive to a proactive model of eet safety, utilities can see measurable improvements – not just in reducing collision risks, but in operational costs as well. AI-driven safety platforms can enhance driver wellbeing, improve service delivery, and demonstrate strong governance. When combined with advanced analytics, easy-to-use dashboards and predictive insights, utilities are empowered to deliver reliable services to communities and keep their people safe behind the wheel. U

The cost of waste

Embracing circular economy principles is about more than just turning trash into treasure – it’s also about maximising the lifespan of all your resources.

Across Australia, councils and utilities are grappling with an era of growth amidst rising costs, ageing infrastructure and mounting environmental pressures.

Customers expect faster, more personalised services, but at the same time, it’s paramount that services and rates remain a ordable and our ecosystems remain protected.

For Bucher General Manager Engineering and Technical Services, Andrew Mitchell, the key to doing this is in looking at your business as a whole and embedding a long-term commitment to get the most of all your resources. integrated monitoring solutions.

What goes around

Circular economy principles o er a transformative approach to resource management by shi ing away from a more traditional take, make, dispose model and instead promoting the continual use and regeneration of materials. is philosophy is increasingly being embraced by local government and water authorities across Australia, as they seek to deliver more sustainable and cost-e ective services to their communities.

is means integrating circular economy strategies into waste management, procurement and infrastructure planning via initiatives like reuse and repair programs, and purchasing recycled materials.

By engaging with the community and developing circular projects, councils can reduce land ll dependency and stimulate local economies. ere’s plenty of opportunities in the water sector too, with water reuse, nutrient recovery and biosolid transformation set to play a key part in not only reducing environmental impact but also lowering operational costs and improving resilience against climate and supply chain disruptions.

At its core, the circular economy aims to design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use for as long as possible, and regenerate natural systems, however, Mr Mitchell explained that this philosophy of maximising a product’s lifespan can be put into practice in just about every decision you make across your entire business.

“For me, it’s about looking at more than just how much something costs up front,” he said.

“[When you’re making an equipment purchase decision, for example], you need to consider the whole package from performance, to productivity, running costs, and maintenance expenses – the total cost from start to nish needs to be considered.”

In for the long haul

When investing in high-value equipment, such as refuse trucks or vacuum jetters, rather than focusing solely on the upfront purchase price, Mr Mitchell said it’s important to look at the total cost of ownership, which encompasses all costs incurred throughout the equipment’s lifecycle – including acquisition, operation, maintenance, and eventual disposal.

By taking a holistic view, councils and utilities can make more informed procurement decisions. Ensuring that the equipment delivers long-term value, not only supports sustainability from an environmental perspective, but also the sustainability and longevity of the business too.

Mr Mitchell has spent almost three decades engineering and manufacturing products for the waste industry in Australia, and he explained that there are a large number of factors that impact the total cost of a product’s ownership and they all interlink with each other. is is where purposeful engineering becomes essential.

“ ere are many pillars that we look at, [in the development of all Bucher’s solutions],” he said.

“We’re looking at innovation, compliance, customer performance requirements, productivity, initial cost of purchase and the technology.

“[And when we’re developing our solutions] it’s about how we can give the customer the best possible operational performance, as well the best possible cost of ownership in terms of maintenance.”

While Mr Mitchell is the expert when it comes to waste management solutions, each sector that Bucher services is supported by a team of specialised engineers right here in Australia – and this holistic design philosophy is embraced company-wide.

“It’s about having a product that we can support customers with,” he said.

“Listening to what they want, and what their requirements and their pain points are is key. We need to really understand our customers if we’re developing a product [for them].

“And that also means incorporating that feedback across our range of products, and commonising components, concepts, control systems and the support spectrum, and using the same component wherever we can.”

Keeping up with the times

As you grow, your equipment needs to evolve too, and from Bucher’s perspective, innovation doesn’t have an endpoint.

For example, Mr Mitchell highlighted the company’s Sport (single-person-operated refuse truck) side loader.

Since it was rst released to the Australian market in 1991, Bucher has continuously improved its design to not only keep up with, but exceed councils’ needs.

Today, it o ers the one of the fastest and highest bin li ing capacities in the Australian market, but Mr Mitchell explained that it’s not about innovation for the sake of setting a record, it’s about purposefully aligning with what customers need.

“We’re looking at our side loader from a customer perspective – we’re [designing] for highest productivity, lowest cost of ownership and the best experience in operating,” he said.

“An example of what I mean by that is trying to position the big li er as close to the cabin as possible and enabling the truck to be closer to the kerb, which then speeds up operation.

“ e other side of that is we want our li er to be smooth, [one to make it] as fast as possible but also for the operator – if it’s not smooth they get rocked around all day and that’s wearing on the operator,” he said.

In many cases, the operational and maintenance costs of major equipment like refuse trucks will exceed the initial investment over time. And Mr Mitchell said something that is not o en factored into the equation is the costs of downtime and low productivity.

“From an operator perspective, it’s about how simple it is to use and feel,” he said.

“And it’s important for [councils and utilities] to look at it from a point of view of what their productivity [is like], what their running costs are, and also the cost to service and maintain the vehicle.

“We need to look at how they can meet their performance requirements through, safety and speed.

at also means looking at how the bins presented a er they’re collected – are they scattered all over the road? Or are they standing with the leads closed, which is what [communities] want.

So [when we’re designing our vehicles] we’re looking at how we can ensure councils can achieve that level of service as quickly as possible.”

Ageing gracefully

In theory, keeping a vehicle in service for as long as possible should lower both the total cost of ownership and the environmental impact – but in practice, this means choosing a vehicle that can be kept in service for as long as possible.

Mr Mitchell said that the lifespan of any vehicle ultimately does depend on how you use it, however, if your vehicle requires frequent repairs, uses a lot of fuel and constantly requires new parts, the nancial and environmental cost of continuing to maintain it can work out to be greater than investing in a replacement.

“We always look at optimising the performance equipment from a servicing perspective – as well as things like di erent types of oils for example and their environmental impactful contaminants.

“For example, in the Side Loader, one major innovation was to reduce the number of the frequency of replacement lters and the frequency replacing oil, by optimising the performance of the hydraulic system.”

Once a vehicle reaches the end of its contracted lifecycle, if it’s been well-maintained then it has the opportunity to have a second life. However, if the design of a vehicle makes it di cult and time consuming to maintain, then the savings you might see from and extended lifespan are o en undercut but the cost of maintaining it.

For Mr Mitchell, this means ensuring that the machinery is engineered for durability and reliability. In the context of refuse trucks, this means they need to be tailored to the sort waste they’re collecting – as ‘green’ waste will quickly deteriorate the inside of a loader if it’s not coated properly.

As Australia is home to a broad range of diverse and harsh conditions, this also means that vehicles need to be designed for this environment.

“[Over the entire country] I think we have every

weather condition in the world – so we’re probably lucky in that respect, because our equipment sees all corners of Australia so we’ve had to adapt it to deal with multiple environmental variances,” Mr Mitchell said.

Avoiding surprise expenses

For Mr Mitchell, it’s important that councils and utilities are aware of both the direct and indirect impact that this can have on compliance.

“Compliance adds cost, and one of the things we focus on is around making sure we have a truck that operators can safely use,” he said.

“Everything we put out, we’re making sure its fully compliant to industry standards.”

Equipment that is ine cient, complex to operate, not only leads to unnecessary downtime and failed compliance audits – it can be a safety risk. Poorly designed safety systems or unexpected equipment failure can expose operators to harm, and the more di cult something is to use, the higher the risk for operator error.

Mr Mitchell explained that user-focused design with consistent controls, ergonomic access and automated functions reduces onboarding time and human error.

is means councils and utilities can do more with fewer resources.

Every municipality has its own unique requirements, so it’s important that the solution is tailored to meet those needs. However, anything that’s completely bespoke also comes with the risk of non-compliance, and has less ineld testing.

To provide councils and utilities with the best of both worlds, Mr Mitchell explained the Bucher takes a modular approach.

“ e modularity allows us to adapt to the various customer requirements. So, you have your core product that you can quickly adapt or add in or substitute something that allows them to satisfy their requirements.

“It means when can be exible with delivery timelines, and we can o en make changes last minute.”

Mr Mitchell also said that from a sustainability perspective, this modular approach allows councils and utilities to get a bit of a longer lifespan out of certain components. Where for example, they might only need to replace part of the equipment and continue using the base vehicle so they’re not replacing the entire machine.

“ ey can also repurpose their machines and go from a green waste application to recycling or general waste application,” he said.

Ultimately, Mr Mitchell said it’s important to look at the whole picture.

By maximising all your resources and looking beyond the initial investment to the total cost of ownership of equipment, utilities and councils are empower to deliver better outcomes for the environment, their budgets and the communities they serve. U

Vacuum jetting plays a critical role in maintaining water infrastructure, but there is no consistent national regulation guiding their design.

SA Water delivers new desalination plant

Safe and clean drinking water is owing to SA Water customers in the South Australian outback town of Marree for the rst time following the construction of a new desalination plant.

Marree’s water supply has historically been designated as non-drinking, with local customers responsible for sourcing their own drinking water from private rainwater storage tanks, water carting or bottled products.

Local customers are no longer required to take these steps, with water quality testing con rming the desalinated water is safe to drink and meets the strict requirements under the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

SA Water General Manager of Sustainable Infrastructure, Peter Seltsikas, said this marks a historic milestone.

“Whether it’s irrigating a veggie patch, boiling the kettle or topping up a glass of water straight from the kitchen tap, we are excited to see the positive social and economic bene ts Marree’s desalination plant will deliver for the region,” Mr Seltsikas said.

“With the ability to produce more than 120,000L of safe and clean drinking water each day, the plant sources water from a local bore eld and uses the desalination process of reverse osmosis to remove salt and other impurities commonly found in groundwater sources.

“ e resulting high-quality drinking supply is stored inside an on-site 690kL water storage tank before making its way to our customer’s taps.

“Constructed inside of a shipping container to withstand the harsh summer heat experienced in the region, the plant was fabricated in Adelaide before making the lengthy journey to Marree for installation and testing.”

Mr Seltsikas said a feature of the project included partnering with Birubi Australia, an Aboriginal-owned and operated South Australian company, to deliver the pipe network connecting the desalination plant to the Marree community together with major contract partner, John Holland Guidera O’Connor joint venture.

“ is involved the pipe trenching and construction of approximately 4000m of new PVC and ductile iron cement-lined pipes, 35 re hydrant access points and 85 customer connection points linking homes and businesses in Marree to their new water supply,” Mr Seltsikas said.

“Importantly, the project’s partnership with Birubi provided positive employment and training opportunities, including helping local workers to receive vital training experience on major construction projects.

“Creating ongoing partnerships and investment with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses is a core commitment in our 2024-27 Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan, and we are proud to have since expanded our partnership with Birubi on other projects around the state.”

Marree’s desalination plant was one of three to be constructed by SA Water in South Australia’s Far North and North-East in recent years, with similar-sized facilities delivered at Oodnadatta in 2023 and Marla in 2024. U

The new desalination plant in Marree can produce up to 120000 litres of safe and clean drinking water per day. Image: SA Water

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Join us for a day filled with insightful discussions, networking opportunities, exciting exhibitions, Women of Water Breakfast, M Best asting ap Water Competition, eece Civil + iadux Main apping Competition, and acknowledging excellence at our Awards Ceremonies Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out in the Water industry, this event is perfect for expanding your knowledge and connecting with like-minded individuals.

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Urban Utilities partners for thriving water future

Urban Utilities has awarded three contracts under a new partnership-style model for the planning and delivery of its multibillion-dollar-capital investment program over the next decade.

e partners will drive innovation and e ciencies in the delivery of critical water and wastewater infrastructure to cater for growth and boost network resilience, aimed at providing long-term savings for customers.

Following a highly competitive process, an Integrated Services Provider contract has been awarded to WSP and Aurecon under a joint venture, while two Delivery Group contracts have been awarded to Downer and Stantec, and Fulton Hogan with a joint venture between SMEC and Mott MacDonald.

Urban Utilities Chief Executive O cer, Paul Arnold, said partners would play a key role in shaping a resilient and sustainable water future for south-east Queensland.

“We’re pleased to announce the planning and delivery partners joining us under a new partnership-style model to deliver our multi-billion-dollar capital investment program,” he said.

“By creating stronger foundations for early collaboration, we’re enabling deeper integration between our design and construction partners, generating more opportunities for smart solutions while maintaining a sharp focus on safety.

“ ese organisations share our commitment to enhancing outcomes for customers as we work to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population, while responding to ageing assets and frequent extreme weather events.” e initial contract period awarded to partners is ve years, with the option for a three-year extension, followed by a two-year extension.

Urban Utilities Executive Leader Infrastructure Planning and Delivery, Chris Bulloch, said the collaborative approach forms part of Urban Utilities’ Next Generation for Delivery program, aimed at streamlining processes and enhancing business e ciency.

“ e e cient delivery of our capital investment program is critical as we work to maintain downward pressure on bills for our customers, which is why we’ll encourage our partners to think beyond their deliverables to ensure we realise maximum value from every dollar we invest.

“We need to ensure con dence and continuity for the communities we serve through dedicated, longterm agreements with reliable partners, particularly as South East Queensland stares down an unprecedented infrastructure boom in the lead up to 2032,” he said.

“With new ideas and shared expertise, together we can address some of the biggest challenges our industry has ever faced, and I look forward to what we can achieve.”

Projects currently being delivered under Urban Utilities’ existing Program Management Approach (PMA) framework will continue, with any new projects set to be delivered under the new partnership- style model. U

Urban Utilities Chief Executive O cer, Paul Arnold (centre front), with representatives from Urban Utilities and NG4D partner organisations. Image: Urban Utilities

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Shaping NSW’s energy future

Endeavour Energy, Ausgrid, Essential Energy and Transgrid have joined forces for the rst time to put women rst and drive change in one of the country’s most male-dominated sectors.

e New South Wales energy distribution and transmission companies hosted the Women from the Field Conference, on Tuesday 9 September 2025, bringing together 250 women working in eld-based roles across the state’s electricity networks.

With the theme: Connect. Energise. rive., the conference will celebrate the growing presence and impact of the many talented women who are making remarkable contributions within the energy sector in New South Wales. ese extraordinary women are ourishing in traditionally male-dominated roles – from apprentices and engineers to senior leaders and eld operators.

As New South Wales transitions to renewable energy, these women are powering change, providing safe and reliable electricity to millions of homes and businesses across the state, and delivering critical infrastructure to support the state’s clean energy future.

e conference explored how women in eldbased roles can drive inclusive collaboration and collectively take steps towards a working environment where everyone can thrive. is includes challenging stereotypes and biases, supporting career development, encouraging male allies, and raising awareness of the bene ts of gender equity, to leave a lasting legacy for the next generations.

Ausgrid Group Executive People and Culture, Celina Cross, said that Ausgrid is focused on unlocking the potential of women across our business, amplifying their voices and creating a genuinely inclusive culture.

“Women now represent 20.2 per cent of Ausgrid’s 3100-strong workforce, with 20.9 per cent of management roles and 28 per cent of our apprentice eld roles held by women,” she said.

“We’re embracing the opportunity Women from the Field presents to foster open conversations and build a more inclusive workplace across the sector. is event is the ideal forum to foster open conversations about issues that truly matter to women.”

Endeavour Energy Chief Data, People & Sustainability O cer, Melissa Irwin, said that this is more than a conference, it’s a movement.

“We’re seeing a powerful shi in the industry, and this event is about amplifying the voices of women who are leading that change,” she said.

“Innovation thrives when people with di erent perspectives feel safe to share ideas and be heard. We’re proud to have achieved at least 50 per cent female representation in our apprentice intakes for the last three years. is event is about creating stronger connections, welcoming di erence, and empowering the diversity of talent in our people.”

Essential Energy said that New South Wales’s main electricity networks are taking real action to promote and encourage more women to enjoy rewarding careers in the state’s rapidly growing energy industry. A gender diverse workforce is linked to better outcomes for both people and businesses, increasing potential for innovation and more e ective decision making, and allowing our people to bring their best selves to work and reach their full potential.

Transgrid Executive General Manager of Delivery, Jennifer Hughes, said Transgrid is delighted to join its distribution network partners to celebrate the remarkable contribution many talented women are making to the state’s energy sector.

“A er 17 years working in the energy sector including as an electrical engineer, I am proud to see the real cultural shi underway in our industry helping women ourish in traditionally male-dominated roles,” she said.

“Transgrid o ers an inclusive, diverse and familyfriendly workplace, with many opportunities for women at all levels across our organisation.

“Women now make up 30 per cent of our workforce and we are working hard to achieve even greater gender equality, with a range of successful initiatives driving further change and more career pathways for women.

“ e biggest challenge of our times – the massive shi to renewable energy in New South Wales – calls for nothing short of full participation by women in all parts of the electricity industry.” U

Image: Women from the Field conference

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Industry movements

Utility rounds up the key appointments, resignations and other sta changes within the sector.

Greater Western Water

Greater Western Water has appointed Craig Dixon as its Acting Managing Director, e ective from 28 July 2025. Mr Dixon brings extensive executive-level experience across utilities, industrial and FMCG sectors. His appointment re ects a focus on delivering improved customer outcomes and leading positive change.

Transgrid

Transgrid will farewell one of the energy industry’s most experienced executives, the utility’s Executive General Manager of Network, Marie Jordan, set to retire at the end of 2025.

Ms Jordan played a pivotal role in Australia’s renewable energy transition and grid reliability and her departure marks the end of a 40-year career in energy.

Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)

Following a distinguished 30-year career, AEMO EGM System Design, Merryn York, has retired and Nicola Falcon has taken up the torch in her former role. Kirsten Rose also joins as AEMO EGM Western Australia & Strategy.

AGL

Matthew Currie has been welcomed as AGL’s new Chief Operations and Construction O cer, leading the Energy Assets business unit; while David Moretto has been appointed as Chief Commercial O cer and will lead the Energy Markets and Development business unit. ey replace outgoing AGL COO, Markus Brokho .

Origin Energy

Origin Energy has appointed former Woodside and Fortescue senior executive, Fiona Hick, and former AGL and Snowy Hydro senior executive, Stephen Mikkelsen, to its Board as independent Non-executive Directors.

Clean Energy Council

Jackie Trad was appointed as the new Clean Energy Council CEO, replacing Kane ornton.

Energy Networks Australia

Energy Networks Australia has promoted Head of Networks, Dominic Adams, to Chief Operations O cer.

Mr Adams has more than a decade of experience working across the energy supply chain, with particular emphasis on policy and regulatory engagement with market bodies.

Hunter Water

Hunter Water has welcomed Elizabeth Crouch as the new Chair to its Board of Directors, following the departure of Geo Crowe in June 2025.

Ms Crouch will remain in the role for a three-year term and brings extensive experience across the public, private and not-for-pro t sectors, with a distinguished career in governance, infrastructure and public policy.

Powerlink Queensland

A er ve years at the helm, Powerlink Queensland Chief Executive, Professor Paul Simshauser, has announced his retirement from the role.

During his ve years at the helm, Prof Simshauser helped return Powerlink to a high growth environment, harnessing its world-class power system planning skills to help guide the market transformation.

Smart Energy Council

Nigel Morris was appointed Chief Strategy O cer on 1 September 2025. David McElrea was appointed Chief Advocacy O cer. ese appointments re ect a strategic shi in leadership.

Snowy Hydro

A er more than 40 years, Snowy Hydro Chief Operating O cer, Roger Whitby, has retired.

Mr Whitby’s journey with the organisation began in 1984 – when it was still known as the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority.

Snowy Hydro said since then he’s been part of the heart and soul of Snowy – and a true legend whose vast technical knowledge, leadership and calm presence have earned him the deepest respect.

South East Water

Following an extensive recruitment process, the South East Water Board has appointed Carla Purcell as its new Managing Director, taking over from outgoing Managing Director, Lara Olsen.

With a proven track record in delivering safe and reliable essential services that put customers rst, the utility said Ms Purcell has the right skills and experience to lead the next phase of South East Water’s evolution as a customer-led digital water utility.

Western Power

Former Western Australia Under Treasurer and current Western Power Deputy Chair, Michael Barnes, has been appointed as the new chair for Western Power. U

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