Throughout Australia, NOJA Power’s OSM Recloser is used for bushfire mitigation technology. Collaboration between the Brisbane based manufacturer and Australian utilities has culminated in a suite of protection and automation functionality deployed to resolve the challenges of Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season.
After the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Disaster, thousands of NOJA Power Reclosers have been deployed to solve and mitigate bushfire risk.
Nine years have passed, and the system is achieving its goal, according to NOJA Power.
Driven by the findings of the Royal Commission into the 2009 Victorian Bushfire disaster in Australia, NOJA Power has developed a suite of functionality to address the recommendations of the report.
The key to bushfire mitigation strategy in reclosers relies on:
- Enclosing the insulation system completely in an IP66 rated enclosure
- Secure communications and control of the auto-reclosing sequence
- Advanced sensors and protection functionality designed to monitor and act on high-impedance earth faults
- Any form of reclosing is not the solution to Wildfire or Bushfire Mitigation. Reclosers must be used in single shot mode on fire risk days.
Reclosing is an important, but small part of an overall bushfire mitigation strategy. Utilities need to consider fault detection techniques to detect high impedance faults in the first place. NOJA Power has worked diligently together with Australian utilities to provide a suite of functionality in the OSM Recloser to provide the tools necessary to detect fire-starting scenarios.