Schneider Electric has made major play into Australia's energy industry through the acquisition of asset management provider Aurtra.
Founded in Brisbane by Terry Woodcroft and Steve McRae, Aurtra has developed its own IP centred on sensors and software to monitor, analyse and provide actionable insights for oil transformers.
Developed and trialled at The University of Queensland campus, Aurtra's power management solution was first commercialised in 2017. Two years later, it released HealthSense, a multi-function sensor.
Aurtra's solutions also focus on maintenance, end of life and replacement, plus extended asset life and improved risk management.
Today, Aurtra's solutions are distributed through channel partners to customers in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America.
According to Schneider Electric, the investment strengthens its position as the reference digital provider of services across the full electrical distribution value chain.
“With this technology, we help customers avoid catastrophic and expensive transformer failures, optimise their operating expenses on individual or transformer fleets and ultimately extend transformer life”, said Pedro Robredo, VP of digital transformer services at Schneider Electric.
Aurtra’s HealthSense will now form part of the Schneider Electric services portfolio, with the latter claiming it will extend its sales and support channels to cover the former's customer base.
“The team is excited to join the Schneider Electric family and drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies to realise full efficiency and sustainability opportunities,” said Woodcroft, Aurtra co-founder and CEO, and now Schneider’s digital transformer services offer management, support and marketing lead.
Earlier this year, UK-based industrial software vendor Aveva chose Schneider Electric as its first ‘Aveva Select’ distributor in the Pacific region.
The distribution deal between the two companies covers Australia and New Zealand, giving Schneider access to the full portfolio of Aveva’s industrial software solutions.
