System warns of powerline faults to prevent blackouts and bushfires

An early fault detection (EFD) system invented at RMIT University is helping to prevent bushfires and blackouts in North America, Europe and Australia.

SDGs

Key points

Innovative technology detects powerline faults before they occur
Blackouts and bushfires prevented by early fault detection
Research and technology into early fault detection is having global impact

Research summary

The Early Fault Detection (EFD) technology allows network owners to monitor every network asset, every second, 24/7 including during extreme weather when asset failures are most likely to appear.

It has now been tested and used successfully in countries including Canada, USA, Australia, and Malaysia.

By early 2024, 2,500 units had been installed worldwide, with the technology monitoring over 12,500 kms of powerlines and preventing more than 750 failures and potentially saved lives.

Professor Alan Wong, who led the development of the technology at RMIT University and is now CEO of IND Technology, said it would enable more proactive and cost-effective management of electricity network assets.

The most exciting part is this technology’s success in identifying faults that are about to happen through deterioration before they even happen – which solves the problem of reactive network maintenance once damage is already done.

Wong said the system was unlike anything else in the market due to its patented sensing method and data processing algorithm, which can even identify the precise location of expected faults down to a 10-meter section of a powerline stretching many kilometres.

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IND Technology CEO Dr Alan Wong (RMIT) and COO Andrew Walsh inspect a version of their powerlines fault detection system.

Research impact

In the past, electrical assets such as powerlines could only be inspected every few years due to the human resources required and associated costs. Now crews can be sent out immediately to fix issues on the networks and prevent the risk of fire and help maintain a reliable power supply.

To date, there have been more than 500 “use cases” recorded globally, meaning that the technology has stopped a potential fire from starting or prevented power blackouts more than 500 times.

Wong said that given the goal for zero emissions by 2050 and move to electrification across the world, our ability to increase power reliability is vital, in addition to fire prevention.

“If power blackouts occur, businesses suffer with reduced productivity, and there are safety risks if power lines drop onto the ground,” he said.

The Early Fault Detection system can tell you exactly where things are failing, so issues can be fixed and repaired upfront.

Local trials highlight technology’s value

A trial project supported by the Victoria Government in 2021 involved approximately 1,100km of powerlines being monitored by the EFD system in rural Victoria high-risk fire areas. In the first few months of operations, the system had proven their effectiveness in finding powerline defects capable of causing fire risk.

The EFD system developed by Wong’s team identified a failing conductor on Michael Thorne’s property in Victoria’s Porcupine Ridge.

“When I’m driving around the property, I’m looking at the stock or at the pasture, I’m not looking up at the powerline which is well above me, and it would be pretty hard to spot a broken strand even if you were paying a reasonable amount of attention,” Thorne said.

“The risk is that the power line breaks, drops to the ground and starts a grass fire. Grass fires can move very quickly, faster than a bush fire typically because the wind is not interrupted as it flows across the grass and the fire could have swept up to the house, through the sheds and then beyond to adjacent farms very rapidly.

“In addition to the houses lost in a major fire, there’s the lives lost and lives disrupted. Fire can rip apart communities, it can destroy so much that matters.

“The idea of a fire ripping through my community is obviously deeply distressing and something that I’m keen to celebrate any tools that we have that can help reduce the risk of the kind of devastation we have seen across towns like Marysville and others in Victoria.”

Wong was thrilled when his team discovered the failing conductor on Thorne’s property that the EFD system had detected.

We always tell people that this technology can potentially save lives and prevent fires. I think in Michael’s example it captured all this essence. It has prevented a potentially catastrophic fire.

Global reach of the technology’s impact

In 2020, following impressive results at early sites in Australia and the US, IND Technology scaled up the system to deliver it more broadly after signing a commercialisation agreement with RMIT.

Pathway to impact highlights to date include:

IND.T are running more than 30 projects globally, including eight states across the US.
Customers include those in Canada, USA, Australia, Malaysia, Portugal and New Zealand.
The three large utility companies in California, Alberta and Pennsylvania are in the process of rolling out the EFD system across their networks.
In 2022, installation of the system commenced in Western Canada, covering 750km of powerlines.
In Australia, IND Technology is working with companies including, Rio Tinto and Aurizon in Queensland, and running pilots with energy companies in Victoria, Western Australia and NSW.

Professor Wong says future hopes include transforming the industry with smart technology and helping customers across the globe to improve their networks’ efficiency, reliability and safety.

Key contacts

Professor Alan Wong

School of Engineering | STEM College RMIT

CEO and founder of IND Technology

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