https://ift.tt/xia5eR1
National grid owner and system operator Transpower has selected Spark to undertake a refresh of its TransGO network and provide services and support for the infrastructure.
The critical network enables Transpower to protect, monitor and control grid assets and run the wholesale electricity market in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Transpower deferred the investment in 2018, but revived it again in early 2023.
While no costings for the project were released today, according to an August regulatory document from the Commerce Commission Transpower’s average annual forecast ICT capex over the next five years would be $21 million without the TransGO Refresh project.
Including the refresh, that lifts to $39.7 million a year making the project’s five year capex cost $93.5 million.
Spark will work with Nokia to provide IP and optical networking solutions to help deliver a scalable, high-performance foundation for future growth and innovation.
TransGO is a fully converged fibre optic telecommunications network, connecting substations and sites with critical services including protection signalling, SCADA control system architecture and communication technology services.
“We already support Transpower with security, data centre and managed services expertise, and we look forward to applying our proven technical depth and capability to this significant and complex project,” said Mark Beder, Spark’s enterprise and government director.
Beder said Spark’s proposed network architecture was based on the telco’s own network design and would be deployed and managed by the same team that will support the TransGO refresh programme.
Transpower executive general manager of information services Cobus Nel said TransGO was a critical tool for Transpower to be able to move power from where it was generated to where it was needed, as well as to run the market systems to match supply and demand in real time.
“To enable reliable power at the flick of a switch TransGO must be able to perform in scenarios where other commercial telecommunications or internet services are not able to keep running,” he said.
The network refresh would boost digitisation and enhance mobility and cloud services, he added.
“Faster connectivity speeds will enable closer to real-time information, helping to ensure Transpower can continue to meet the changing needs of energy consumers across Aotearoa.”
The programme begins this month and is now expected to conclude in 2028, around two years later than proposed in 2023.