The Challenge
Basslink operates the electricity interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria, supporting Tasmania’s participation in the National Electricity Market (NEM). When power flows between two states and financial bids must reach the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on time, every time. System failure isn’t an option.
Basslink needed a purpose built bidding system that could:
- Automatically create and submit financial bids based on predefined schedules
- Self correct before submission in the event of unscheduled cable downtime
- Maintain 99.9999% uptime: less than five minutes of downtime per year
- Monitor waveforms with configurable alarms via SMS and email notifications
- Withstand pressure: operators bid during high stress market conditions
Evocate had been working with Basslink for over five years. This was the kind of project where failure would be measured in dollars lost per second.
The Solution
Evocate designed and built BassBid (Evo AEMO Bidding System), a custom SharePoint 2013 application comprising web parts, timer jobs, and lists that correspond to financial bids.
The infrastructure was built for resilience:
- 4-server geo collocated farm for geographic redundancy
- SQL 2012 High Availability Groups for database failover
- Microsoft DFS for response file synchronisation across sites
- Configurable waveform based alarms with SMS and email alerts
Key capabilities delivered:
- Automated bid creation and submission to AEMO
- Pre submission self correction for unscheduled cable outages
- Simplified bidding interface for high stress trading situations
- Full audit log of every bid change
- Configurable notification rules based on waveform analysis
The Results
| Metric | Outcome |
|---|---|
| System uptime | 99.9999%: under 5 minutes downtime per year |
| Bid accuracy | Automated creation eliminates human error |
| Infrastructure | 4-server geo redundant farm |
| Delivery timeline | 6 months |
| Ongoing relationship | 5+ years of continuous engagement |
Basslink now operates a strong, high availability bidding platform that automatically manages electricity trading between Tasmania and Victoria, with a reliability standard most mission critical systems aspire to.
