ABB has announced that its Network Manager SCADA system has been placed into operation at Australia’s Ergon Energy. The SCADA upgrade is part of a larger project the regionally Queensland-based Ergon Energy undertook to build a new control center, and consolidates six formerly separate systems into one with a common database and user interface.

“The consolidation will pay dividends in several areas,” said Ian McLeod, Ergon Energy acting chief executive. “The Network Manager system is more secure, more reliable and easier to maintain than our previous configuration.”

The new system provides a new level of reliability thanks to a fully redundant back-up control center and communication channels. The system also features a special “split mode” in which the control centers can each take over for the other in the event of a failure. Both control centers can operate their respective portions of the network independently, or manage the entire grid. The system is highly secure, with access available only to authorized personnel located in the control rooms.

Ergon Energy finished site acceptance testing of the Network Manager system in May, and on Aug. 30 completed a 2160-hour final test. The utility is also currently running a pilot program to evaluate ABB’s distribution management system, Network Manager DMS.