By: Bridget Sheehan
Falling powerlines are a serious fire hazard. When a powerline breaks and falls, any surrounding dry grass and branches can quickly catch fire through electrification.
In regional and outer suburban areas this presents a serious risk, particularly as our bushfire seasons become longer and more intense. And broken conductors have been identified as a cause of some fires that contributed to catastrophic events in our state’s recent history, including Black Saturday.
Since 2018, Victoria University researchers Dr Douglas Gomes and Associate Professor Cagil Ozansoy have been researching fire mitigation in relation to powerlines and vegetation.
In recent years Dr Gomes, Associate Professor Ozanzoy, and team at VU Footscray Park Campus have developed an innovative device to mitigate this risk.
The device is designed to remotely detect a powerline breakage and cut off electricity supply to the line before it falls and can spark a fire. It works on Single-Wire Earth Return (SWER) lines, which make up around 30,000 km of power lines in Victoria and 300,000 km across Australia.
Proof-of-concept tests, run in partnership with United Energy, Powercor and AusNet Services, have been successful, showing that the device can remotely detect a powerline breakage and remove power to the line. The group is also working on an additional benefit to increase network reliability: the ability to detect the location of the broken conductor, so that crews can travel to the exact location, address the issue quickly, and restore the service more efficiently. Currently, this relies on visual inspections.
In July the research team was awarded a $900,000 Department of Education’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) Innovate grant to accelerate the development and rollout of the device at scale.
The funding, which is awarded as part of an overall grant of approximately $2million, will enable the team to advance the technology from its current prototype stage to a commercial-ready product, including rigorous field testing and refinement of the system’s capabilities.
Dr Gomes was born in Brazil and has seen the risks of fire through the contact of vegetation with powerlines. As well as here locally, he sees potential to develop applications of this technology for his home country as well as in New Zealand and India.
“I have been fortunate to lead and collaborate on transformative projects that address critical industry challenges, such as developing innovative technologies. This work continues to push the boundaries in the field, along with preventing life-threatening natural disasters.
“This funding will enable us to advance our technology through the critical proof-of-scale stage, a journey we are undertaking together over the next 24 months, which will bring our devices close to market and ready for rollout at scale,” Dr Gomes said.
