Logica Australia has partnered with Cisco to upgrade the communications network at Tasmania’s King Island power station. The upgrade is a key component of Hydro Tasmania’s $46 million King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project (KIREIP).
The King Island project will see 65% of the island’s energy needs supplied from renewable sources. It will combine wind, solar, storage technology and smart grid management systems while also trialling biodiesel. If the biodiesel trial is successful, CO2 emissions will be reduced by up to 95%.
As part of the communications network upgrade, Logica installed thirteen Cisco 2520 Connected Grid switches and two Cisco 2010 Connected Grid routers, which are specially designed for use in transmission and distribution power substations. Electrical contractors replaced copper wire with fibre optic cabling. Network routers and switches have recently been tested and installed.
Wayne Usher, Project Manager Logica, explained: “We’re helping Hydro Tasmania integrate new technologies into their network, with the intelligence needed to provide a reliable, stable and renewable electricity supply."
The new secure network enables two-way communication for substation automation.
Sara Adams, director of the Partner Business Group for Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said: “Purpose-built for utility substations to improve grid reliability and cost savings, the solution is highly secure and compliant with regulatory mandates and industry standards such as IEC 61850 and IEEE 1613.”
David Brown, Project Manager Hydro Tasmania, explains: “We selected Logica and Cisco because they offered a robust, reliable communications system for a very complex power station operating in harsh environmental conditions, combined with a good commercial outcome.”
The Cisco Connected Grid range of products is specifically designed for the energy utility industry as part of an end-to-end smart grid strategy that envisions a ubiquitous IP data network to meet the growing requirements in the energy utility sector.
Logica was the first Cisco partner in Australia to achieve Cisco Substation Automation ATP specialisation.