Case Studies

Client: Essential Energy
Application: Emergency telecommunications restoration — rural and remote NSW
Product: V-Trail by Valen Power
Funding: 50% co-funded under the Australian Government’s Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation Program

The challenge

When bushfire or flood brings down a telecommunications tower in rural New South Wales, the consequences extend well beyond a dropped call. These towers carry not just Essential Energy’s network, but the radio communications relied upon by the NSW SES, Fire and Rescue NSW, and other emergency services operating in the field. Every hour offline is an hour those teams are working without reliable communications — in exactly the conditions where that matters most.

Until recently, restoring power to a downed tower meant assembling a convoy: generators, batteries, solar panels, and the personnel to lug it all along remote dirt tracks to sites that were, by definition, hard to reach. The process was slow, labour-intensive, and physically demanding — often at the worst possible time.

Essential Energy needed a better way. The goal was a single, towable, self-contained power system that a standard heavy-duty vehicle could haul to any site in their network. The unit had to be capable, resilient, and — critically — light enough to stay under 3,500 kg so specialist transport wasn’t required.

The solution

Valen Power worked closely with Essential Energy’s team to design a system that balanced the competing demands of power capacity and all-up weight. The engineering challenge was real: diesel generators and traditional battery banks are heavy, and every kilogram added to the system was a kilogram that could push it beyond the towing threshold.

The Valen Power team optimised the integration of solar PV array, battery storage, and generator output — arriving at a configuration that delivered the required standby and runtime capability without exceeding the weight limit. The system was mounted on a purpose-built, dual-suspension trailer designed to handle the corrugated tracks and river crossings that characterise Essential Energy’s more remote sites.

The result is the V-Trail: a fully integrated, trailer-mounted hybrid solar power system that can be on-site and operational in the time it takes to tow it there.

Proving the concept

Prior to delivery, the V-Trail was put through a formal site acceptance test at an Essential Energy site near Young, NSW. The unit performed to specification across the full test regime.

Essential Energy has since procured six V-Trail units, which are now positioned at strategic locations across their network — pre-positioned for rapid deployment the moment they’re needed.

Outcomes

Faster restoration. A network team can now respond to a downed tower with a single tow vehicle and one integrated unit, rather than assembling and transporting multiple pieces of equipment. Time to restore communications is significantly reduced.

Broader emergency impact. Because these towers carry the radio networks of emergency services — not just telecommunications — faster restoration directly supports the ability of SES and fire brigade crews to coordinate in the field during the events most likely to have caused the outage in the first place.

Versatility beyond emergency response. While rapid telecommunications restoration is the primary use case, the V-Trail is not limited to it. The units are equally suited to powering remote construction or development sites — eliminating the need for diesel generators, trenching, and mains connection where grid power is unavailable or impractical.

A platform, not just a product. The six units delivered to Essential Energy represent the beginning of an ongoing relationship. Valen Power remains the systems partner across the operating life of each unit.

---

The V-Trail project was co-funded under the Australian Government’s Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation Program.