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How Voltex uses ETAP NetPM to manage dynamic power networks in Australia鈥檚 natural gas industry

The technical aspect of launching ETAP wasn't a significant problem because you installed a server or had a server installed with NetPM, loaded your models, granted people access, ensured the proper permissions, and were up and running.
By Raúl Barrera, Lead Engineer, Voltex Power Engineers

In the Western Downs region of Queensland, natural gas companies operate hundreds of wells spread across tens of thousands of square kilometers. With constantly changing well production cycles, evolving electrical loads, and multiple engineering firms contributing models and updates over many years, keeping an accurate and consistent electrical network model became increasingly difficult. Voltex Power Engineers turned to ETAP NetPM鈩�, a centralized, secure, collaborative environment designed to unify engineering data, eliminate version conflicts, and streamline coordination across all stakeholders.

Voltex Power Engineers (VPE) specializes in High Voltage Power, from Design to End-of-Life. They manage electrical risk and improve plant reliability through design, protection, commissioning, auditing, maintenance, and asset management. Their familiarity with industry compliance requirements, legislative standards (e.g., AS, IEC, IEEE, ANSI), mining regulations, hazardous areas, and HSE systems enables customers to avoid design issues, performance shortfalls, budget overruns, legislative impediments, and industrial or environmental difficulties. As specialists in high-voltage power and protection system projects, audits, and asset management, with a deep understanding of the industry, they offer world-class project continuity from design to commissioning.

Location: Brisbane, Australia

Year: 2023

Maintain electrical data for the electrical installations of the wells in the large area

Challenges

A continuously evolving operational environment

  • Wells regularly enter, leave, or pause production
  • Electrical loads change as wells recover or are replaced
  • Water extraction and treatment cycles introduce further variability

Maintaining a single, accurate model across hundreds of assets becomes nearly impossible.

Fragmented engineering workflows

  • Multiple design teams work simultaneously on the same network under different contracts
  • Each firm delivers models in different formats (email, shared drives, even USB sticks)
  • Over time, dozens of models accumulate - often with identical file names but different contents

Loss of information due to turnover

  • Spreadsheets stored locally on personal computers disappear when staff leave or equipment is replaced
  • Knowledge fades as teams change, causing gaps in documentation and inconsistent model updates

Human - not technical - resistance

  • Although the installation of NetPM is straightforward, organizations are slow to adopt until they experience its benefits

Cybersecurity concerns

  • As with any new project collaboration system, IT teams require reassurances and proper audits

Which solutions did they choose?

Selected applications

Voltex adopted ETAP Network Project Manager (NetPM) to centralize engineering data, enforce version control, and coordinate all design changes in a structured, traceable workflow.

NetPM provides:

  • A single source of truth for the entire electrical network model
  • Automatic synchronization of design changes submitted by consultants
  • Manager review processes to accept, reject, or comment on modifications
  • A secure, auditable environment aligned with corporate IT policies
Using the ETAP mobile application, etapAPP™, field staff can update real-world changes directly from any project site, dramatically reducing data errors and ensuring the master model reflects the latest network conditions.

Why do they use ETAP?

Main customer benefits

  • Elimination of version conflicts across multiple consulting engineering firms and internal teams
  • Accurate, up-to-date models, even in a continuously changing operational environment
  • Automatic synchronization of changes from field to master model via etapAPP
  • Fewer human errors by removing manual file sharing and duplicated work
  • Secure, structured collaboration with full traceability of all updates
  • Faster engineering workflows, improving efficiency for both consultants and asset owners
  • Future-proof data governance, protecting institutional knowledge against turnover

 

Conclusion

Voltex’s adoption of ETAP NetPM transformed a highly fragmented, error-prone engineering process into a unified, secure, and efficient digital workflow. While organizational change requires time and support, the long-term benefits - data integrity, streamlined collaboration, and reliable network models - make NetPM a crucial tool for modern natural gas power systems.

The implementation continues to expand as Voltex and their clients embrace smarter, safer, and more coordinated engineering practices across Queensland’s vast energy infrastructure.

What do they think about ETAP?

Customer perspective

Our biggest challenges were organizational - not technical. NetPM solved the versioning disaster we faced with multiple consultants and shifting teams.
— Raúl Barrera, Lead Engineer, Voltex Power Engineers



Videos

Explore our innovative solution utilizing ETAP to manage the challenges of power distribution networks in Queensland's Western Downs region, where dynamic infrastructure and evolving gas well lifecycles necessitate robust data collection, network monitoring, and reliable studies, bolstered by stringent cybersecurity measures and a collaborative master model shared among subcontracted consultancies to ensure reliability and efficiency.


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