Fugro Supports Ergon Energy's Response to Cyclone

Fugro’s disaster support services contributed to a fast recovery from the effects of tropical cyclone Marcia which left more than 67,700 households without power when it made landfall in February in Queensland, Australia. Power distribution company, Ergon Energy, utilised its on-line subscription to the Fugro Roames asset management system to quickly assess damage over a 5,000 km² area in the Rockhampton region and coordinate recovery plans.

Within 24 hours of the cyclone’s landfall, Fugro deployed its airborne system, Roames, detecting and modelling damage to assets including downed poles and wires. Utilising Roames’ highly automated acquisition and cloud processing, Fugro successfully delivered centimetre-accurate 3D virtual models of assets within a few hours of surveying. This allowed Ergon Energy to allocate field resources more effectively and contributed to a fast recovery - power was restored to all households affected by the cyclone within 10 days of the disaster.

Fugro monitors Ergon Energy’s one million spans of network on a yearly cycle allowing clear pre- and post-disaster differentiation. Roames has been deployed to support five natural disasters in Australia since the establishment of the technology in 2009, including flood, fires and storms.

With Fugro’s Roames service also available in Europe and the USA, plans are underway to make the service available in Asia later in 2015.