WINTER EDITION ENGINE ROOM 19 What was once a three bedroom house on a quarter acre block now supports multiple level townhouses or units with a tenfold demand for energy and services for residents. And the demand on Australia’s water utilities for freshwater supply and sewerage removal has increased rapidly. Climate change and weather events have also increased the pressure on our utilities Grid supply shortage and weather challenges in the last few years have seen multiple incidents of mains power outages, especially across eastern and southern Australia. Moving and storing water requires pumps and energy, no matter the weather Fresh water to sewerage water is essential, yet much of Australia’s infrastructure is just no longer adequate to service our growing population. Upgrades to larger or more intelligent pumps and reservoir capacity has seen a shift with many facilities implementing or upgrading their standby power systems to cope with this demand. Connecting these assets for 24/7 status monitoring is crucial for utilities to guarantee supply to customers. EPSA is taking a leading role in the supply of these power systems When it comes to reliability and uninterrupted power supply, EPSA provides industry leading Cat® diesel generators to all aspects of the water and sewerage treatment facilities. During times of unexpected outages, dependability is crucial, whether it’s a fixed installation at a local storage reservoir, or mobile trailer mounted sets for emergency deployment. Many facilities are located in close proximity to residential housing across suburban Australia. As a result, this requires site compliance and noise attenuation to eliminate the impact on residents. Aspects like 48-hour fuel storage, attenuation, exhaust discharge, security, aesthetics on the site, plus noise from the generating set at the boundary fence are critical considerations. Each location is evaluated to ensure customer needs are wholly met while minimising these impacts – both on the local environment and on neighbours sharing a boundary. Product support is critical; the level of engineering support varies from a standard Cat® genset to complex structures that are built onsite with full output connectivity to customer monitoring. EPSA can provide monitoring of the facility 24/7. Vandal and tamper proof designs are readily available plus common keyed barrels This ensures continuity across multiple plant assets. Tamper proofing the package prevents diesel fuel loss from theft as does securing the control panel functionality and generator status given most sites are unmanned. Additional security can be engaged with the use of door reed switches back to monitoring devices for notification. Advancements in soft starter VSD for pump motor start is complemented by the quality of power with Cat® Integrated Voltage Regulators (IVR) fitted to most models with permanent magnet excitation (PMG) to assist electric motor starting. Generators can be set up with remote outputs via Modbus, SCADA or via onboard modems to fixed or mobile devices for status monitoring of key information crucial to the facility. STANDBYPOWER GENERATIONISCRITICAL FOROPERATIONALSUCCESS. CAT® GENERATORSUP TO715KVACOMEWITH A WARRANTYOFFOUR YEARS OR2,000HOURS, ALONG WITHOUTAGE SUPPORT WITHRENTAL ANDTHE CAT® DEALERNETWORK. Jason Martin is a Segment Manager – Electric Power Retail for EPSA in Victoria. Australia’s fast-growing population is putting increasing demand on our utilities and services especially due to the urban sprawl commanding new housing developments and high density inner city living.