TransGrid embarks on key software project

Electricity supplier TransGrid has embarked on a major redevelopment of its outage management system, which plans the maintenance of electricity lines throughout NSW.

The company is designing a new solution with integrator Avanade following an open tender last year. The solution is expected to take about up to 12 months to develop.

TransGrid chief information officer Tony Meehan said demand on the company's electricity network, 12,016 kilometres of transmission lines, had increased so much that outage management had become complex.

"As the load across the high voltage electricity network increases, the "windows" available to carry out maintenance decreases ... so it is essential that all works are co-ordinated in order to maximise the use of outages," he said.

TransGrid provides electricity to homes and businesses in a number of states via electricity retailers.

Adding to the complexity of the problem is the lack of a single application for outage management.

"[Our] current systems are a combination of Access databases, Microsoft and Vax-based programs ... there are always interface problems which are not easily solved," said Meehan.

Staff often had to re-key data across the programs, he said.

Meehan did not know what the solution would look like until the end of the design phase, except that it would probably be a Web-based client.

The new system will be used by approximately 50 staff across NSW. From field engineers and maintenance planners to control room staff that take equipment out of service so work can proceed.

Transgrid and Avanade will jointly design the new application, which will be developed using .NET.