How Canberra's grid is being digitally transformed

Canberra’s electricity network is being stretched by rising demand and a growing uptake of customer energy resources (CER) such as rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles.

To address this issue, local distributor Evoenergy has partnered with Schneider Electric to lead a digital transformation of the ACT grid. The resulting program aims to progressively introduce scalable infrastructure and advanced network management capability to handle increasingly complex energy flows — while at the same time maintaining safety, reliability and system resilience.

Schneider Electric has contributed a kiosk-based solution featuring intelligent and remotely accessible components, including KPX kiosks, ring main units (RMU), low-voltage switchgear and on-load tap changers to support improved voltage regulation and overall quality of supply. These connected field assets provide enhanced grid connectivity and support real-time monitoring across the network.

The deployment is integrated with the company’s EcoStruxure Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), providing end-to-end operational visibility and control. This creates a more responsive and data-driven network that supports improved reliability and safety, as well as enabling future smart grid functionality.

Evoenergy supplies more than 225,000 customers across the ACT. “Our priority is to deliver safe, reliable and responsive energy services that meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Tomas Keraitis, Evoenergy’s Group Manager Asset Management.

“As our network supports increasing electrification, new technologies and changing patterns of energy use, we are investing in advanced engineering, digital capability and operational practices which improve visibility, resilience and performance.

“This ensures we can provide dependable supply, enable customer choice and support the ACT’s energy transition.”

The program helps address key challenges facing modern distribution networks, including managing peak demand, improving reliability to reduce the risk of outages, and increasing grid capacity as more CER connect to the system. It also supports Evoenergy’s focus on sustainability and future readiness, enabling advanced capabilities such as fault location, isolation and service restoration (FLISR), distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) and volt/var optimisation (VVO).

“Evoenergy is building a more intelligent and resilient electricity network to support the evolving needs of the Canberra region,” said Thomas Deschler, Vice President Power Systems, Schneider Electric.

“By combining connected infrastructure with advanced digital capabilities, we are helping Evoenergy strengthen operational visibility and enable faster, smarter decision-making across the grid. This is a strong example of how digital infrastructure can support reliability today while preparing for the energy system of the future.”

Images courtesy of Evoenergy and Schneider Electric.