Sydney, October 01, 2003
NSW high-voltage electricity carrier TransGrid and Fujitsu Australia have won the Engineering Excellence Award for Control Systems, Network Infrastructure and Telecommunications from Engineers Australia, Sydney Division, for the innovative design and efficient deployment of TransGrid's 1,500km fibre-optic telecommunications network.
In awarding the prize, Steve Finlay, President from Engineers Australia, said: "The joint project between TransGrid and Fujitsu Australia was thoughtfully designed and developed for optimal operation. Engineers Australia was very impressed by the inventive engineering methods used to overcome project challenges."
Chris Fitzgerald, General Manager Engineering, TransGrid, was delighted to receive the industry accolade. "The Optical Power Ground Wire (OPGW) network is a critical part of the infrastructure that supports TransGrid's power network and Australia's National Electricity Market," he said. "Winning this prestigious engineering excellence award caps off what has been a very successful partnership with Fujitsu."
Earlier this year, TransGrid signed a three-year, multimillion-dollar agreement with Fujitsu Australia for the supply and deployment of SDH fibre-optic networking equipment. The OPGW project involved upgrading the main backbone of TransGrid's telecommunications network from microwave technology to a high-capacity fibre-optic system.
Stretching some 1,500km across New South Wales, the TransGrid network is used to monitor and control the high voltage transmission lines and substations that transport power from power generators in the National Electricity Market to power distributors in NSW.
Rigorous reliability and performance requirements were met through Fujitsu's unique 'ladder' network architecture,which enables traffic to find the fastest route across the network. The Fujitsu system can also transmit data between substations over distances of up to 182km using specialised optical repeater technology developed for submarine network applications.
The field-proven products deployed by Fujitsu for the TransGrid network are widely used in other networks in Australia, China, Colombia, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the UAE and Zimbabwe.
Brian Murphy, General Manager Telecommunications, Fujitsu Australia, said the company was elated to receive the award. "This was a significant project for Fujitsu which presented unique challenges that pushed the boundaries of the engineering skills and the capabilities of the product. The resolution of these challenges proves the strong working relationship between the TransGrid and Fujitsu engineering teams involved."
This article features in the October 2003 issue of interaction, Fujitsu's electronic customer magazine. Also in this issue:
From the CEO - Customers are our business
Fujitsu research labs help shape the nanotech revolution
Big returns hidden in 'defensive' IT
Fujitsu halves the cost of legacy transformation with Australian-made automation technology
LSI reaps the rewards of integrated .NET and COBOL development
Information security: are you worried enough?
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