Project Case Study: Barossa Council Backup Power Solution
Date: September 2012
Solutions: Backup Power Diesel Generator, Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
Location: Nuriootpa, South Australia
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The Barossa Council offices are situated in Nuriootpa, with an extensive team that exceeds well over a hundred staff. The Barossa Council exists to serve local residents, businesses and support local industries helping the area and community to thrive.
The Barossa Council’s crucial computer networks run off the mains power, meaning when power failure occurs most of the key office and administration departments are unable to access their computers and servers. This limits communication and job effectiveness, particularly in times of need.
With no previous backup power system, The Barossa Council was in a tenuous position which culminated when they experienced an outage and suffered data loss. This highlighted their vulnerability and the need for an effective and capable solution.
‘Until you experience the major inconvenience of disruptive power loss and what it means to your business, I don’t think a lot of people truly understand the impact.’
– Chris Horsell,
Manager for Knowledge and Technology Services, Barossa Council.
CSS installed a three phase backup diesel generator and 15kVA UPS, over the course of a few months in 2012, which has enabled The Barossa Council to run effectively, without the fear of data loss or impediment to their work processes. That’s a comfort that you cannot put a price tag on.
The generator has a 300L fuel tank, offering 30 continuous hours of power at a 75% load.
With the backup diesel generator, even if power goes out employees at selected work stations retain the ability to work and access systems while staff working remotely can continue to access remote applications providing they have power. This ensures The Barossa Council still operates to an effective level and can perform critical tasks when needed.
In emergency situations this helps mitigate the impacts on technical operations that have previously been experienced, such as during the 2015 Pinery fire when power failure interrupted operational capacity. Yet, the successful install of the generator meant that power supply kept the servers operational, meaning The Barossa Council were available to play a contributory and communicative role during the response effort.
While the recent wave of statewide power outages has presented challenges, the installation of the generator has lessened the extent and severity of the impact on operations and management.
With a consistent and reliable backup power supply available when they need it, they are able to focus on the job at hand with confidence, ensuring that operations are never compromised. Having a backup power supply also prevents data loss and interruptions to their IT department.
For further peace of mind, CSS continue to provide ongoing preventative maintenance since installation, as well as repairs should The Barossa Council ever need them.
Looking forward, The Barossa Council are confident that CSS will help them expand with additional power to create public services, such as keeping much needed air conditioning operational at the library, during times of extreme heat and other similar community focussed facilities.
‘Our experience with CSS was invaluable, not just from a solutions point of view but in liaising with the helpful and informative staff, who really know their stuff and provided expert advice on what our needs were and the best product to accommodate them.
The support that we have received from CSS has been hugely beneficial,’ – Horsell.
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