Utilligent Using Fugro ROAMES™ Digitizes Power Network Management in New Zealand

IRVINE, CALIF., April 27, 2022 — Utilligent leveraging Fugro ROAMESTM has delivered a digitized power network management system to Waipa Networks (Waipa) in New Zealand, improving safety and reliability across their entire distribution network. Waipa, assisted by Utilligent, chose Fugro to modernize their asset management framework based on the enhanced network insights Fugro’s technology could provide. Fugro’s ROAMES™ technology, a network risk model, is now allowing Waipa to visualize and mitigate ground clearance threats, vegetation encroachment issues, structural safety distances risks, dangerous pole leans, and any asset defects.

The project was completed in three phases. Firstly, Utilligent helped Waipa select Fugro and the ROAMES™ product suite to develop a 3D virtual world asset model to collect and store lidar and pole top imagery Geo-data. Next, Fugro and Utilligent worked closely to develop a Business Intelligence (BI) tool, which was used to prioritize and mitigate issues, risks, and defects. Finally, although GPS coordinates existed for each asset, this project served as a great opportunity to update anomalies and create a “Record of Truth” for Waipa. This new level of accuracy gives them the tools and insight to expedite work orders and supports Waipa’s mission to provide cost-effective and reliable systems for electricity and other services.

Peter Armstrong, Waipa’s Network Asset Manager, said: “The aerial survey program and the associated data analytic tools have given us a comprehensive view on our overhead network data and condition that we have never had before. Meanwhile, the Fugro ROAMES™ analytic outcomes are driving actional reporting, which will greatly assist in our ongoing management of the assets.”

Jay Reseigh, Utilligent’s Vice President, Data and Analytics, said: “This type of project has transformed the industry. Gone are the days of walking the lines and taking photographs of poles from the ground, which often takes years. The spatial analytics provided by Fugro ROAMES™ dramatically reduce the time required to inspect the network, allowing Waipa to quickly identify hazardous scenarios, and set the foundation for utilities’ ADMS programs. The business case speaks for itself.”

About Waipa Networks

Waipa Networks is a Te Awamutu-based electricity lines business that supplies over 28,000 customer connections in Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Kawhia and surrounding areas. It is owned by the Waipa Networks Trust on behalf of the electricity customers it supplies and has a history in the local community dating back over a century with the forming of the Te Awamutu and Cambridge Electric Power Boards.

About Utilligent

Utilligent is an operations and technology consulting firm guiding some of the world’s largest utilities from strategy through implementation with extensive expertise in the electric, gas, and water industries.

Formed by a veteran team of utility executives and consultants, Utilligent brings leading-edge thinking in smart metering/grid, meter data management, network communications, data integration and security, with a coordinated approach to program management that can help utilities improve distribution efficiency and optimize energy usage.

Areas of expertise include: Strategy and Business Transformation; Customer Engagement; Utility Operations; Technology and the Digital Utility; Smart Infrastructure; Data and Analytics; and Program Execution. A global company, go to utilligent.com for more.

About Fugro

Fugro is the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, collecting and analyzing comprehensive information about the Earth and the structures built upon it. Adopting an integrated approach that incorporates acquisition and analysis of Geo-data and related advice, Fugro provides solutions. With expertise in site characterization and asset integrity, clients are supported in the safe, sustainable, and efficient design, construction and operation of their assets throughout the full lifecycle.

Employing approximately 9000 talented people in 59 countries, Fugro serves clients around the globe, predominantly in the energy, infrastructure, and water industries, both offshore and onshore. In 2021, revenue amounted to EUR 1.5 billion. Fugro is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

When

IRVINE, CALIF.

April 27, 2022

EXPERIENCE. INSIGHT. STRATEGY. GRIT.

Utilligent Using Fugro ROAMES™ Digitizes Power Network Management in New Zealand