Press Releases

NOJA Power Switchgear Pty Ltd specialises in the research and development, manufacture, marketing, sales and service of medium voltage pole mounted switchgear products. We also design and assemble low voltage switchboards and motor control centres.

NOVEMBER 2009

PRESS RELEASE

NOJA Power Winner of The 2009 PRIME MINISTER’S AUSTRALIAN EXPORTER OF THE YEAR AWARD

NOJA Power has been named the Prime Minister’s Australian Exporter of the Year at a National Award Ceremony in Canberra on 20 November.

The 12 Australian Export Award winners are impressive examples of companies that have achieved sustainable export growth through innovation and good management.

Congratulating the National Winners, the Minister for Trade, the Hon. Simon Crean said that collectively, these 12 companies had earned more than $1.5 billion in export sales during the last financial year and employed nearly 2,500 people.

Hon. Simon Crean Minister for Trade and Neil O’Sullivan NOJA Power Managing Director

An exemplary model of exporting success, NOJA Power is an Australian company that has not only achieved a remarkable growth in just seven years, but has a robust business model that should see it sustain this success in the long-term.

NOJA Power designs and manufactures low and medium voltage switchgear products that are considered to be leading edge technology, and are subject to a number of patents. The company conducts an aggressive research and development program that involves extensive market research to identify changing customer needs and the regulatory environment, which allows it to be responsive to new export growth opportunities.

The environmental benefits of NOJA Power’s products represent a unique selling point for the company. It has developed a range of products that completely eliminate the need for the oil or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) typically used in the industry as insulants. Both of these have negative environmental implications – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change considers SF6 to be the most harmful greenhouse gas it has evaluated.

Founded by Neil O’Sullivan, Oleg Samarski, Jay Manne, Quynh Anh Le and Tony Stacey in 2002 (the company’s name is derived by the first letter of each first name), NOJA Power has grown to 80 employees and every one of those jobs can be directly attributable to export growth.

Now exporting to 72 countries, NOJA Power is rightly proud of the high level of repeat business that it generates – a testimony to the quality and reliability of its products.

The senior management team, which comprises all four company founders, regularly travels to export markets, not only to explore new opportunities but to ensure existing markets are being serviced correctly. This level of commitment, along with a very clear financial model for reinvesting profits, has been critical in building the company. This trend is likely to continue due to the differentiated products, prudent financial management and a strong presence in markets with substantial growth potential.

Another example of the company’s growth has been the need to build a $7 million purpose-built facility to provide additional production capacity. NOJA Power also intends to hire additional production staff in order to meet demand over the next year.

Overall, NOJA Power’s extraordinary export performance has resulted in it being selected as the most outstanding exporter of the year, and winner of the most prestigious export award in Australia, the Prime Minister’s Australian Exporter of the Year.

###

October 2009

PRESS RELEASE

NOJA Power Winner of the 2009 Premier of Queensland's Exporter of the Year Award

Trade Minister Stephen Robertson has congratulated NOJA Power Switchgear, based at Murarrie in Brisbane’s East, as the winner of the 2009 Queensland Exporter of the Year Award at the gala presentation of the 20th annual Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards.

NOJA Power Receiving the Premier of Queensland Exporter of the Year Award

Mr Robertson said that NOJA Power Switchgear was an excellent example of a Queensland business that had found success through going global, and that he had already opened the company’s new premises at Murarrie this week as part of Queensland Export Week activities.

“NOJA Power is a Queensland company of electrical engineers and contractors that research and develop, design, manufacture and supply low and medium voltage electrical switchgear,” Mr Robertson said.

The company exports its products globally from its manufacturing headquarters in Brisbane and has products in service in 70 countries on every continent of the world.

“NOJA Power’s products are used by electricity utility providers to increase the reliability of electricity supply. With the assistance of Trade Queensland, NOJA Power participated in a Trade Mission to Latin America in the first quarter of 2009 which resulted in new contracts of supply in 4 different countries.

“Drawing comparisons with the current NRL Premiers, NOJA can now legitimately claim to have won the top prize in both 2007 and 2009,” Mr Robertson said.

NOJA Power Staff & Global Representatives with the Premier of Queensland

Neil O’Sullivan, NOJA Power Switchgear’s Managing Director, said that the company’s first sale had been an export sale, and that it was proud moment to win the Queensland Exporter of the Year Award for a second time.

“Today more than 90% of our turnover is generated from export revenue and more than 80 jobs have been created in the company that can be directly attributed to our export success,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“A lot of the jobs created in NOJA Power are traineeships and we are particularly proud of the fact that our trainees have gone on to complete Diplomas and Degrees and now hold senior positions in the company.

“Queensland provides a tremendous platform from which to export particularly for technology based companies with the local engineering capability that exists in Queensland through the education systems that we have.

“Our key export markets include Africa and the Middle East, Asia, China, Europe, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Pacific/Oceania, the UK and Ireland,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

NOJA Power Switchgear, as a winner in the Large Advanced Manufacturer category of the Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards, now progresses to the Australian Export Awards to be held in Canberra on 20 November.

###

SEPTEMBER 2009

PRESS RELEASE

Trade Queensland International Business Cadetship Successfully Completed

NOJA Power Switchgear has been a proud sponsor of the Trade Queensland International Cadetship Program in 2009. Recently completing the cadetship program is Arabella Ramsay, who was engaged at the Trade Queensland America’s office, based in Los Angeles for 6 Months.

Trade Queensland International Business Cadetship Program 2009 Sponsor

Tony Stacey, NOJA Power’s Sales Director said, “The IBC program provided NOJA Power with a novel approach to research export markets,  and provides a valuable experience for the cadet” Arabella Ramsay, Trade Queensland International Business Cadet, said of the program, “The IBC program is an incredible opportunity to gain real experience in the global business environment. Working as a member of Trade Queensland in Los Angeles, as well as in assisting my sponsor company in their export goals, I gained exposure to a diverse range of industry sectors and developed some excellent insights into the relationship between Queensland and the USA from a business perspective”.

NOJA Power Switchgear offer a vote of thanks to the America’s office team, led by Trade Commissioner Peter Beattie, for their assistance and hospitality during the cadetship, and the professional manner in which the IBC program was delivered.

###

AUGUST 2009

PRESS RELEASE

Kanban & Lean Manufacturing Improve Productivity

Due to the larger scale of the newly acquired NOJA Power Factory at Murarrie a new workplace production system has been implemented in order to significantly improve productivity and workflow.

Lean Manufacturing and the Kanban Production Line

The production line uses a system with elements of Lean Manufacturing and the Kanban concept to control the release of materials into production. Parts are replenished via a two-bin system in which inventory is carried in two bins. A replenishment quantity is ordered when the first bin is empty and during the replenishment lead time, material is used from the second bin. The idea is to minimise worker movements and thus increase their productivity. Periodic replenishment of the workstation storage areas from the main store, which also runs a two bin Kanban system, ensure that parts flow to production is maintained at all times.

The system exhibits a competitive advantage when it comes to speed, accuracy, agility, and low operating costs coupled with lean inventories.

Engineering Director, Jay Manne said the idea came about from a review of Lean Manufacturing principles which prompted key production staff to attend a Queensland Manufacturing Institute Training Day to further their knowledge.

Mr Manne initiated an analysis of the existing layout in order to improve efficiency and to understand what changes would benefit workflow at our new factory.

High Voltage Test Area

“Analysis of the existing workspace showed that it was restricted by the shape of the factory and the design of the fixed workstations. Space was cluttered, and as staff ran out of parts, workflow was interrupted.

“Surprisingly staff would walk up to two kilometres per day to and from their workstation to the nearby parts storage. Since we only had one High Voltage test area important R&D testing has potential to interrupt the through flow of production”. Mr Manne said.

Mr Manne said the new factory including two high voltage test bays, allow us to make better use of our staff and their time.

“System implementation was driven by wanting maximum efficiency out of our existing arrangements. Once we went through the analysis exercise and achieved some improvements it became apparent that we could only go so far with our existing layout.” he said.

The new building at 16 Archimedes Place allows assembly of OSM reclosers to customer requirements. The OSM recloser and corresponding RC cubicle feed directly via conveyor arrangements into one of two independent test cages. One of these cages is also accessible by an exterior forklift to allow R&D testing and bulk testing of other production parts.

Mr Manne also stressed that a very important reason for the implementation was the direct benefit for our customers.

“The improved efficiencies will act to reduce our production lead times resulting in improved delivery times for our customers.” he said.

Kan is Japanese for "visual”, Ban is Japanese for “signal”.

###

AUGUST 2009

PRESS RELEASE

NOJA Power OSM27 Type Tested at KEMA

NOJA Power has recently completed the successful re-type testing of the OSM27 recloser at KEMA in the Netherlands.

KEMA Type Test Certificates for Dielectric, Interrupting & Temperature-Rise Performance

The original product was designed and released in 2002 and as many customers require type testing to be re-validated every 5 years, NOJA Power took the opportunity to completely re-type test the OSM27 product.

The type testing was witnessed by representatives from NOJA Power and CEMIG from Minas Gerais in Brazil. CEMIG and NOJA Power have a supply contract in which the type testing was required.

NOJA Power took the opportunity to contract KEMA to certify the equipment to IEC62271-111 as well as IEEE C37.60.

Three new type test certificates have been issued as the result of the successful testing to confirm compliance with interruption performance, dielectric performance and temperature rise performance of the equipment.

###

AUGUST 2009

PRESS RELEASE

NOJA Power New Corporate Office and Factory

NOJA Power has recently acquired a new facility located at 16 Archimedes Place, Murarrie to house its corporate office and factory.

All staff are operational in the new facility with a staged moving process over the last 3 months.

The new facility

provides 4011M² (one acre under roof) on a 7500M² site.

NOJA Power New Corporate Office and Factory

The building which is located within the Metroplex on Gateway Estate includes modern free standing office, warehouse and production facility made from tilt slab construction including a partitioned air conditioned clean room production lines and high clearance warehouse.

NOJA Power’s Managing Director, Neil O’Sullivan said the new facility will consolidate NOJA Power’s operations under one roof and provide the company with expanded production capacity to service existing supply contracts with our electricity utility and infrastructure customers globally.

Metroplex on Gateway is the largest business and industrial park ever built in Brisbane.

It breaks from the general tradition of an industrial estate with usual operations in a somewhat isolated environment due to the location.  The 62 hectare site has river frontage, convenient shopping and extensive environment wetlands park.

Mr. O’Sullivan said We selected the Metroplex Complex because in our view it is the premier industrial complex in Brisbane providing good access to the seaport and airport and is also very close to our existing facilities which did not affect our staffs’ travel to work.

###

March 2009

PRESS RELEASE

NOJA Power Reclosers to Increase Distribution Network Reliability in Brazil

Companhia Enérgetica de Minas Gerais (CEMIG) has awarded NOJA Power a contract to supply the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with 179 OSM27 Reclosers. NOJA Power will supply the recloser units – complete with RC01ES control and communications cubicles – as the result of an international tender with an exhaustive technical and commercial evaluation process.

CEMIG Headquarters, Brazil

CEMIG’s reputation on the international market is considerable. Not only are they the only Latin American electricity supplier to be listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, but this year is the ninth consecutive year that CEMIG has been listed. CEMIG achieves this through its commitment to its customers and its ability to provide sustainable employment for over 10,000 employees.

CEMIG is one of Brazil’s most important energy suppliers, both in terms of size, connections served, and technical expertise. CEMIG’s distribution network covers 96.7% of the state of Minas Gerais, an area roughly the size of France, with a total network length of over 350,000 kilometres and 55 power plants. In their continuing effort to supply over 17 million people, CEMIG employs one of the most broad and ambitious modernisation programs in Latin America.

CEMIG’s primary energy matrix is hydroelectric power, making efficient use of the Minas Gerais region’s abundance of fast-running rivers. CEMIG’s commitment to sustainable energy also sees them make significant investment in developing practical applications for solar, solar thermal, and wind alternative energy sources. Many of CEMIG’s renewable energy initiatives are actively supplying significant energy into the distribution network.

NOJA Power’s contract with CEMIG comes as part of CEMIG’s ongoing Master Technology Plan, an annual initiative to modernise the state’s power network and to invest in new technology, with a focus on improving the safety and reliability of their network.  NOJA Power’s reclosers will be used to increase the reliability of the medium-voltage overhead network especially in remote and rural areas. The OSM units will allow for automation and remote control over various communications mediums, including radio modem, GSM modem, and fibre optics. These remote mediums will allow CEMIG to manage and maintain power directly from the CEMIG master SCADA, via the DNP3 communications protocols.

Prior to awarding NOJA Power the contract, CEMIG sent an inspector to the NOJA Power factory in Brisbane, Australia, to perform a comprehensive audit of the company’s manufacturing and quality processes.

The success of the contract will be supported by FEST, NOJA Power’s exclusive representative in Brazil. Bruno Kimura, the Brazilian engineer who completed an internship with NOJA Power in 2006, will provide exceptional first-hand local system integration and technical support.

###

February 2009

PRESS RELEASE

Powerco Successfully Commissions Automatic Backfeed Restoration Scheme

Powerco, New Zealand, has commissioned its Pohangina Apiti automatic backfeed restoration scheme, utilising the NOJA Power OSM15 recloser units already deployed throughout their network. Powerco previously relied on a SCADA system for manually determining the direction of a fault, but moving to an automated back feed restoration system will significantly reduce SAIDI minutes in the Powerco network.

An example of a typical Automatic Backfeed Restoration operation on the Apiti Pohangina feeders

Powerco is the second largest energy distributor in New Zealand, supplying over 312,000 connections in the North Island urban centres of Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Wanganui, and Masterton, as well as the surrounding rural areas.

Automated backfeed restoration is the process whereby two feeders are tied by a ‘normally open’ recloser. This recloser monitors voltage using voltage sensors on either side to detect if power is lost on one of the feeders, and if voltage is lost for a certain interval, the tie unit will close, restoring power by backfeeding from the non-faulted feeder.

In order to safely take advantage of automated backfeed restoration, a power utility must conduct a study to determine the correct amount of torque angle to apply during a fault condition, in order to correctly detect the direction of the fault, and thereby apply the correct protection settings. Powerco took advantage of the OSM’s capabilities to calculate polarising voltage, operating angle, and current to accurately determine fault direction.

“Essentially, the OSM reclosers used in this scheme are the same device that has been used elsewhere in the Powerco network. However, additional logic has been enabled that can detect a directional fault or sense a loss of voltage about each of the device’s high voltage terminals,” states the Powerco report on the study.

The OSM15 were ideal for this scheme since they already include the directional and automatic backfeed restoration features in the standard unit, and NOJA Power was able to provide detailed service and support for implementing these features.

The Pohangina and Apiti feeders were selected because their conductors had adequate capacity to support backfeed restoration, and because the very long (180 km) Pohangina feeder would stress test the limiting factor of voltage support. The study concluded that backfeed current would be satisfactory even during periods of very high load, allowing a safe forward current of 120A and a backfeed current of 90A along either feeder.

Since Powerco already uses OSM15 reclosers on their network, the success of this study could open the way to automated back feed, where network configuration, capacities, and devices allow.

###

PRESS RELEASE

NOJA Power Continues to Supply MCCs for Abbot Point Coal Export Upgrade

The site for the Abbot Point X50 Expansion facilities

NOJA Power has been awarded a contract from MiE to design, manufacture, test, and deliver Low Voltage Motor Control Centres for the X50 phase of the Abbot Point Bulk Coal Terminal Upgrade. This contract follows the successful completion of NOJA Power Switchgear’s contract to supply the X25 phase of this ambitious project. The X50 upgrade program will increase the capacity of the Abbot Point coal handling facilities to 50 Mt per annum, effectively doubling the capacity achieved in the X25 upgrade.

MiE is a leading Australian instrumentation and electrical supplier that and is a subsidiary of the Monadelphous Group. MiE is committed to providing innovative and high-quality electrical engineering solutions throughout Australia and the Asia-Pacific Regions, and is awarded the PCQ contract for the HV infrastructure upgrade turnkey works.

NOJA Power is manufacturing Intelligent MCCs, incorporating DOL motor drives and Variable Speed motor drives, interfaced to a plant-wide control and monitoring system. The upgrade is part of the ongoing project at Abbot Point for PCQ, a government-owned corporation, with engineering to the project provided by Connell Hatch.

The MCCs ordered are designed to AS/NZS 3439.1 and pass a comprehensive Factory Acceptance Testing and pre-commissioning process carried out as a joint effort by NOJA Power, Connel Hatch, and MiE. Monitoring and control of the motor drives is by way of Devicenet and Controlnet protocols over a communications bus. Motor drive information is provided by Sprecher and Schuh CEP7 C3 Intelligent Motor Overload units. Variable speed motor control is achieved using Allen Bradley Powerflex drives installed together with Line Reactors, housed in fan cooled enclosures mounted separately from the main MCC.

The NOJA Power MCC is an ideal choice as it provides the designer with flexible options including full depth cable ways utilised to accommodate the control and monitoring hardware without requiring additional tier space.

The safety interface to the control system utilises Silbus equipment, PILZ relays, and Dupline carrier for conveyor safety and control. Each motor drive cell door is fitted with a Voltage Vision device to provide unambiguous indication of an energised motor drive. Earth leakage protection is provided by the new Terasaki ZS range of Tembreak 2 Moulded Case Circuit Breakers. The ZS range MCCB provides standard thermal-magnetic overload functionality but has the advantage of not requiring a separate EL toroid. Terasaki’s Tempower2 ACBs are fitted with AGR-31 over current relays to provide the specified under voltage protection on an individual phase basis.

###