AWARDS FINALIST: WEL Networks – Pioneering positive change
WEL Networks is at the forefront of a transformation in New Zealand's energy landscape, from the traditional one-way electricity distribution model to a multi-directional one.
During the past 18 months, WEL has achieved several NZ "first-to-market" initiatives, benefitting energy consumers across the country.
These include Rotohiko, NZ’s first utility-scale battery energy storage system. The 35MWh BESS will enhance energy security for the North Island grid, particularly during grid emergencies, help maximise the benefits of solar energy and support electric vehicle charging capacity.
TradeWEL – the country’s first demand response aggregation system offer by an electricity distributor – is also the first such programme available to small businesses.
It enables such businesses – for example, cold-storage facilities – to participate in the reserves market, providing them with financial incentives to reduce their electricity load during peak times.
TradeWEL leverages advanced digital twin technology to forecast behaviour and predict outcomes. WEL pays for the capital equipment and carries out installation at the customer site. Customers receive payment for making their electricity load available to the instantaneous reserves market.
Earlier this year, the company’s We.EV business started offering smart chargers across the country, in partnership with Lithuania-based Teltonika, along with a Waitomo Fuels partnership for public charger deployment.
WEL is leading the charge on utilisation of meter data for efficient customer connections, network power quality management and numerous safety resolutions. From detecting customer loose neutral connections to identifying and correcting network issues before they result in costly outages, the future is very data focused.
Sustainability
WEL Networks is dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint and supporting the country’s wider net zero 2050 goals.
Last full reporting year, it reduced emissions across its fleet by 34.4 tonnes of CO2, despite an 8.4-per cent increase in distance travelled as it serviced more customers.
Some 60 per cent of that reduction was due to smart upgrades to WEL’s truck fleet – all eight of its bucket trucks are now hybrid, fully electric or ePTOs – electric power take off systems which operate auxiliary systems using batteries, without having to run the diesel engine.
Wellbeing
WEL Networks says it is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees and the broader community.
It harnessed the front-line expertise and skills of its field workers to develop the LV Works Management programme, providing simplified, user-friendly safe working procedures.
That on-the-ground knowledge enabled the company to translate the Electricity Engineers’ Association best-practice guide on low-voltage work into standard procedures, with accompanying photos for each step and concise explanations.
The company expects that all work on its low-voltage network will require permits from late 2024, and that everyone can be confident that safety measures are in place before work commences.
WEL is now actively offering to share the procedures with the entire industry.
The Energy Distributor of the Year category is sponsored by Axos Systems.