Collaborating with the energy sector to protect communities

Researchers and representatives of the Australian energy sector met in May to collaborate on new research into the risks posed by catastrophic bushfires.

Project IGNIS (formally the Quantifying catastrophic bushfire consequence project) developed a nationally consistent approach for assessing the real costs of catastrophic bushfires for the energy sector. This research was funded by Energy Networks Australia (ENA) and conducted by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC in partnership with the University of Melbourne, the University of Western Australia and several key energy networks.

CRC Research Director Dr John Bates said the CRC networks saw the benefits of a being able to draw on the CRC’s knowledge network to help collaboratively resolve specific industry problems – in this case, how to quantify the real cost of bushfires.

“Project IGNIS started because there was no accepted energy network approach to quantifying the consequences or benefits of investing in bushfire mitigation,” Dr Bates said.

“With Project IGNIS, we’ve developed an evidence-based methodology that was co-designed with the energy sector to help measure tangible and intangible impacts of bushfires. This will be a great help to the energy sector when deciding on where and how much to invest in bushfire mitigation that keeps communities safe.”

The invite-only workshop was hosted by the CRC and ENA in Melbourne in May 2021, bringing experts together to discuss ways that research can help energy networks better understand the impacts they may face from major bushfires.

At the workshop, Dr John Bates (CRC) and Dr Brett Cirulis (University of Melbourne) explained the principles and methodology of Project IGNIS, including the specific fire simulations and the application of Bayesian networks that are used to model bushfire risk and impact. Dr Veronique Florec (University of Western Australia) described methods to incorporate economic analysis in assessments of true costs of natural hazards, including tangible and intangible costs (such as life).

The workshop was facilitated by the CRC and included group discussions, led by Dr Jill Cainey (ENA), Frank Crisci (SA Power Networks), Dene Ward (Powercor), Victoria Hogg (Essential Energy) and Stephen Martin (Powerlink), on the integration of Project IGNIS principles and methodologies – including fire simulations and economic modelling – into energy network knowledge and practice. This was especially helpful for networks not directly involved in the research, with representatives joining from ENA membership organisations across the country.

Project IGNIS and the workshop demonstrate the important collaboration taking place between natural hazard researchers and industry. Here, researchers worked with the energy sector to reinforce the understanding of the costs of natural hazards, to better inform broader risk mitigation and risk reduction activities that protect communities from devastating bushfires.

You can learn more about this research by visiting the Quantifying catastrophic bushfire consequence project page.