Genesis backed up

By ADAM GIFFORD

Genesis Power has upgraded its wide area network, to increase redundancy, so if any element on the network fails a backup is immediately available.

The company runs the Tokaanu and Waikaremoana hydro stations with a combined output of 400MW, and the 1000MW Huntly thermal power station.

Service provider Axon, which implemented the upgrade, and Genesis teams have developed a system with no single point of failure.

"If, for example, a digger cuts one of the Telecom cables used in the network, the redundant links and automatic fail-over technology will ensure seamless operation for the plant management teams," said Grant Olliff, an Axon director.

Part of the project was to maintain complete separation between the business and control networks, so business data traffic did not affect electricity production.

Olliff said the system was tested on Huntly's business and control networks.

"We achieved complete recovery after five to 10 seconds following a series of system failure scenarios," said Olliff. System recovery required no human action, important for unmanned power stations.