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What is Happening?
Essential Energy’s Biannual ASP engagement forum will be held on 1 May 2024 via Zoom. In this round, we’ll be covering a range of topics including:
- Safety
- Overhead Standards Essential Connections Portal, including the Construction rollout
- Details of surveyor’s advice, asset location survey plan
- Network Assurance update, including Level 1 ASP aged defects and Level 2 ASP process assessments
- Contestable Network Solutions, contestable projects which include working with neighbours and the planning report
- Ancillary Network Service fees
- Dedicated question time.
We encourage you to participate in this forum. You’ll have the opportunity to discuss our plans and initiatives, and to ask questions or raise issues with Essential Energy team members.
Registration
The forum will be held on Wednesday 1 May 2024 from 10.00am to 12.00 noon – please click here to register.
What do you need to do?
Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What has changed?
Contestable Planning have introduced new Connections Planning Design Information Assessment Reports. These reports will contain project information, along with the technical assessment criteria and results. It will be presented in a way that can be shared with the Applicant.
Why change?
- To deliver a consistent format of assessment response for each project.
- To consolidate the technical planning assessment into an easily digestible report.
- To inform the ASP & Customer of the connection requirements and justification for augmentation.
What does this mean?
- Our future planning responses will be presented in this new format.
- The Design and Certification officer will be including the assessment into the Design Information Package where applicable. The information will be combined into the one PDF.
What do you need to do?
- Look for and read the new Connections Planning Assessment document which is attached to the Design Information Package where applicable.
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Communicate the information to your clients as required and relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is Happening?
Following identification of a potential safety issue, Essential Energy will no longer accept Type 3 pillars installed at the end of a staged LV circuit without both cables terminated.
Our pillars are internally designed to meet IP2X with the lid removed, primarily to protect our own internal employees and ASPs from inadvertent contact with live points while working within the pillar.
Without a second circuit into a Type 3 pillar, the IP rating is lowered and accidental contact between metallic tools or earthed conductors and exposed live points could occur when performing service installations or other maintenance work.
What do you need to do?
To ensure network safety, any designs you submit after today must include the correct pillar type and you must install a Type 6 pillar at the end of cable routes, even if a future stage is planned to be connected at the pillar location.
If a future stage of an underground subdivision requires the pillar to be changed from a Type 6 to a Type 3, design for the next stage will need to specify item 4 (CEOM7202.05 Catalogue no. 400612). When the additional cable is installed, the distribution block within the pillar can be changed from a 3x3 to a 6x3 arrangement.
What do you need to do?
- Review and comply with this requirement.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
We’ve made updates to the main model in Neara to include multiple LiDAR point clouds to make use of the best LiDAR available. We have also improved conductor-LiDAR fit and included more urban LiDAR (there are now 71 towns within Essential Energy’s footprint).
The map below shows the different point clouds and where urban LiDAR has been added to increase data coverage.
What changes?
We’ve selected specific point cloud datasets that apply the best fit for the model. For example, criteria such as temperature at the time LiDAR was flown are important for accurate line sag when building digital twin models.
In an area where LiDAR point clouds meet, the model will automatically select the best point cloud and trim overlapping LiDAR by changing the feature code into ‘noise’.
What does this mean for me?
If you’re starting a new design, the main model will automatically update.
To take advantage of the updates for an existing design created before 15 January 2024, we recommend you start a new design.
What do you need to do?
Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
We’ve updated CEOM7001 – Construction Plan Requirements to Issue 8, with changes including;
- updated Construction Schedule column names.
- requirement for Site Numbers (peg numbers) where any work is being completed.
- guidance for Level 2 works shown on plans.
- updates to examples in annexures to align with the latest requirements.
Please review your construction plans and ensure they are compliant with these changes from 29 January 2024.
Next steps
In 2024, we’ll develop CAD templates that will include symbols, line layers or levels and other aids to creating plans. We’ll aim to align GIS line styles and colours to CEOM7001 where possible.
What do you need to do?
- Please commence updating your construction plans in line with the current changes.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
As an interim solution to a current supply shortage of 22kV surge arrestors, Essential Energy has approved an alternative arrestor that has the same system voltage, but a slightly higher rating and length.
Due to its longer in length, there is potential to confuse this alternative arrestor with a 33kV arrestor. To clearly identify the alternative 22kV arrestor, we’re attaching a black and yellow label to it.
Availability of standard 22kV arrestors should return to normal around mid-2024.
What do you need to do?
- Please ensure you use the correct system voltage arrestors when working on Essential Energy’s network.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is Happening?
We’ve uploaded a copy of our November 2023 ASP Zoom Forums slide presentation to Essential Engagement for those of you who weren’t able to attend.
To access the presentation, click here to view now, or go to Essential Engagement and click on the Forum heading on the right-hand side.
What do you need to do?
Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is Happening?
Essential Energy is sharing the Standard Luminaire files and they are now available for download on the Document Library by searching for Photometric.
The Photometric zip file contains the CIE and IES extension files of all Essential Energy Standard Luminaires, including the new LED Luminaires detailed in our Construction News CN23-12 Change to LED Wattages.
What do you need to do?
- Download Photometric zip file from the Document Library. (Note: chrome will not download zip files, please use another browser).
- Unzip the file.
- Upload the appropriate CIE or IES extension files to your organisation’s Streetlighting design software.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
We’re making the following improvements available in Neara from Monday 4 December 2023.
If a transformer is included in a design without a corresponding pole substation, a new flag will appear above the pole in the perspective view, prompting the designer to add an appropriate pole substation as a construction to the pole.
Similarly, if a pole substation is added without a corresponding transformer, a flag will appear to prompt the designer to add the appropriate transformer.
These flags will help designers be compliant with manuals CEOM7104.01, CEOM7104.02, CEOM7104.03, CEOM7104.04, CEOM7104.05, CEOM7104.06 or CEOM7104.10 (available to download from the Document Library).
What do you need to do?
Please update any unsubmitted designs you have commenced prior to Monday 4 December 2023 to the most recent master model. The guides below will help you do this:
What do you need to do?
Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What's Happening?
Essential Connections Portal is now in full swing with Construction phase expected to Go Live in 2024.
To enable the transition of Construction projects from the current process to the new Essential Connections Portal all Designs must be submitted with the Construction Schedule in the format mandated in 2023.
To support our updated design standards, we have created a Microsoft Excel template file to standardise design construction schedules located on our support page Construction Schedule Template. The structure of this template is similar to our existing formatting requirements, with two additional columns – Status and Asset Type. Our Design Submission policy CEOM7001 is updated to reflect this new format.
Neara users
A new step-by-step guide is available for Level 3 ASPs using NEARA and Essential Energy’s Network Model. This includes handy tips on how to use the Overhead Construction Report.
For example, if you use ‘Material Statuses’ in Neara, it populates the Overhead Construction Schedule for you. This saves you time, provides consistency in terminology and enables data integration between Neara and other Essential Energy systems.
We have also made it easy to convert the construction schedule in the template to a visually suitable format for inclusion on a construction plan with an ‘Export to Construction Plan’ button within the template. The Status and Asset type will auto populate from the Standard Drawing Number where possible, or users can select from dropdown menus.
If you use Neara and access our LiDAR and standards libraries, we recommend that you use the Overhead Construction Report Builder within Neara.
What do you need to do?
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
Neara General Information
Using Neara - Session 1 for ASPs - Introduction and Navigation (1). (5.52 MB) (pdf)