The winners of the 2022 Energy Networks Industry Awards were announced at the Energy Networks Australia Annual Dinner in Melbourne, with three major categories recognising exceptional contributions to the network sector, leadership in the development of new innovations and outstanding initiatives in consumer engagement.
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Industry Contribution Award
The 2022 Industry Contribution Award was won by Laurie Curro from Horizon Power in Western Australia. Curro was recognised for his contribution and commitment to the energy industry, in particular power transmission and distribution in Western Australia for over 30 years.
Energy Networks Australia CEO Andrew Dillon said Laurie was well recognised as an industry leader in operational and control centre management.
“Laurie was a member of ENA’s Asset Management Committee for many years and has made a significant contribution to smart grids development, standards, distributed generation, network management, safety and asset management.
“Laurie’s passion and industry leadership extends to promotion of STEM and young engineer development through collaborations with academia, Engineers Australia, the Electric Energy Society and the Western Australian community more broadly.
“His retirement this year represents a major loss to the sector. It is a most appropriate recognition of his many years’ service for him to be the 2022 Industry Contribution Award winner.”
Industry Innovation Award
New South Wales electricity distributor Endeavour Energy has won the Energy Network Industry Innovation Award 2022 for its application ‘Using a Network Digital Twin for Digital Emergency Response and Resilience’.
The Digital Twin is a 3D digital model of Endeavour Energy’s footprint including topography and network assets, along with flood modelling capabilities. This allows for near real time information in the event of a major incident such as flood or fire and for longer term planning of the grid such as infrastructure builds and vegetation management.
ENA CEO Andrew Dillon said while all the submissions were of an incredibly high calibre this year, Endeavour Energy’s application stood out as an Australian-first initiative.
“Australia’s energy networks are world leaders in innovation and Endeavour has demonstrated this in creating a platform that increases network reliability and resilience in the event of a natural disaster,” he said.
“The Digital Twin and other digital tools will help design a more resilient network in the face of large weather events, which is increasingly important to address climate change impacts.”
Consumer Engagement Award
AusNet Services, Australian Gas Networks (AGN) and Multinet Gas Networks (MGN), have won the 2022 Energy Networks Industry Consumer Engagement Award. AGN and MGN are part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG)
The accolade was for the Victorian gas networks’ joint submission ‘Three businesses, one plan to deliver better outcomes for Victorian customers’.
Run jointly by ENA and Energy Consumers Australia, the award recognises an Australian energy network that demonstrates best practice consumer engagement.
AusNet Services, Australian Gas Networks and Multinet Gas Networks came together to design and deliver a single, integrated, consumer and stakeholder engagement program for their regulatory reset engagement plans for the Australian Energy Regulator.
By involving all three gas distribution businesses, a clear and consistent engagement plan was able to be produced, providing a single forum to discuss issues of importance to the sector.
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Energy Consumers Australia CEO Lynne Gallagher said the judging panel was impressed with all nominations this year, but this collaboration between the three businesses stood out.
“Allowing stakeholders to engage with all the networks at the same time, on the same issues deepened the quality of engagement ahead of the regulatory reset,” she said.
