Asset monitoring is widening network visibilitySponsored
How intelligent infrastructure is reshaping energy networks worldwide, and what it means for New Zealand
Everyone assumes the lights will come on and the heating will work, but it's getting harder for utilities to keep that promise. Climate change, ageing assets and the energy transition are reshaping networks faster than they were built to change, and the industry is struggling to keep up. Against that backdrop, real-time insight into asset condition has become central to running a resilient network.
Overseas, operators are already showing what that looks like in practice: infrastructure that is safer, smarter and more resilient, delivered through cost-effective monitoring rather than wholesale replacement. Two networks - one electricity, one gas - show how it works for them in partnership with nxzen, a global technology, engineering and consulting company. That same capability is available here in New Zealand, through Neura.
Endeavour Energy: resilience when extreme weather hits
Endeavour Energy distributes electricity to 2.8 million customers across parts of New South Wales, where more than 85 per cent of the network sits in bushfire-prone areas. Every event tests how fast a technician can find a fault, restore power and keep communities safe. The same is true of storms and floods: early warning is the difference between a dangerous situation and a managed one.
Like many large distribution networks, Endeavour was managing a sprawling asset base with limited visibility between inspection cycles and no single view of asset condition. That meant working reactively - exactly where no network wants to be when extreme weather arrives.
Working with nxzen, Endeavour has brought its asset data into a single operational view. With clear visibility of condition across the network, the team now identifies significantly more defects ahead of bushfire season, which means faster restoration, fewer and shorter outages, and safer communities.
"With more than 85 per cent of our network in bushfire-prone areas, understanding asset condition ahead of the summer bushfire season is critical," said Melissa Irwin, Chief Data, People and Sustainability Officer, Endeavour Energy.
Cadent Gas: continuous monitoring across the UK's largest gas network
Cadent operates the UK's largest gas distribution network, serving about half of all UK customers. It surveys the entire network every year to find and fix problems before they become failures.
It does that with low-power battery sensors connected over a LoRaWAN communications network, feeding into nxzen's n-hub platform as a single view of asset performance. Vibration data from an asset can be tracked over time to show whether it is behaving normally or needs intervention, so crews act on evidence rather than on a schedule. Monitoring continuously also removes much of the disruptive, expensive work that was once the only way to find out what was happening in the ground.
The same capability, built for New Zealand conditions
Endeavour and Cadent were both dealing with invisible assets, fragmented data and reactive operations.
New Zealand's electricity and gas networks face the same challenges: assets that generate little real-time data between inspection cycles; faults found by customer calls, not condition monitoring; maintenance driven by schedules rather than insight; and growing regulatory pressure to demonstrate performance backed by data.
Neura delivers that visibility through fully managed, end-to-end monitoring that combines sensors, communications and data intelligence into a single operational solution, powered by n-hub.
As a technology-agnostic data and device management platform, n-hub feeds data streams directly into the operational systems EDBs already run. Neura manages the solution and makes sure the data arrives in a form operators can use. The operator then owns the insight, and the ability to act on it.
Neura is the New Zealand face of nxzen, a global technology, engineering and consulting company specialising in intelligent infrastructure. New Zealand energy networks get the same platforms, operational expertise and deployment methodology proven at Endeavour and Cadent, delivered by a local team that understands New Zealand's regulatory environment, geography and the practical constraints of monitoring distributed, hard-to-reach assets.
"Energy networks are becoming more complex, more interconnected and harder to manage. Climate risk, ageing assets, distributed generation and electrification are all reshaping the way networks behave," said Simon Reid, Group CEO of nxzen.
"Intelligent infrastructure gives operators the visibility they need to understand how their assets behave in the real world - so they can anticipate problems, reduce risk and make better decisions before disruption occurs. That capability is becoming essential, not optional."
Endeavour and Cadent have proved the benefits of asset monitoring at scale. For New Zealand energy companies that capability isn't offshore or years away. It is running locally now, through Neura.
Find out more about Neura's energy solutions
View the Endeavour Energy and Cadent Gas case study and video here.
About Neura
Neura delivers real-time asset monitoring solutions for utilities and infrastructure operators across New Zealand. As an nxzen company, Neura brings proven global capability to local conditions, providing fully managed, end-to-end monitoring that combines sensors, communications and data intelligence into a single operational solution. Neura distributes PowerPilot across New Zealand and operates a managed LoRaWAN network engineered for the demands of critical infrastructure.
