Neara Physics-Enabled Grid Digital Twin

Neara is an infrastructure software company whose press releases are datelined Sydney, Australia. It builds a physics-enabled digital twin for electric utilities that combines network assets, their surroundings and workflows in one model, helping utilities plan, harden and operate the grid as demand, extreme weather and renewable connections grow.

The platform builds a 3D spatial model from existing LiDAR, imagery, GIS and asset records, then simulates how poles, lines and structures behave under wind, ice, heat, flood and vegetation conditions and how failures propagate across spans and feeders. Modules cover resiliency and reliability, wildfire mitigation, asset management, risk and value optimisation, and design and construction. With the 2026 acquisition of Zepben it adds CIM-based electrical network modelling for constraint forecasting and capacity maps. Customers include SA Power Networks, Endeavour Energy, ESB Networks, CenterPoint Energy and Xcel Energy.

• Spatial digital twin: builds a 3D network model from LiDAR, imagery, GIS and asset records.
• Physics simulation: models loading, clearance and sag under wind, ice, thermal and flood scenarios.
• Failure propagation: traces how a failure spreads across spans, poles and feeders.
• Wildfire and vegetation risk: models clearances and ignition risk to prioritise work.
• Design and construction: tests new builds and reconductoring before field work.
• Electrical network modelling: CIM-based models for constraint forecasting and capacity maps.

Transmission and distribution companies in Vietnam could model typhoon wind loading on lines in central coastal provinces to prioritise hardening. Grid planners could assess existing line capacity before approving new solar, wind or industrial connections. Engineering consultants could design new lines and reconductoring projects in a shared 3D model.

Risk-based planning cuts unnecessary capital work: one US utility reduced planned pole replacements from 25,000 to 4,000. Span-by-span modelling found about twice the line capacity Essential Energy had previously estimated. SA Power Networks re-energised lines within 5 days instead of an expected 3 weeks, and Endeavour Energy eliminated 300 hours of inspection time.

Utilities face rising capital needs from renewable and data center connections while extreme weather increases outage risk, which drives demand for digital twins and risk-based asset management. In Vietnam and Southeast Asia, typhoons, rapid load growth and new transmission programmes make accurate network models and capacity assessment increasingly important.

Neara raised a 90 million AUD Series D led by TCV in February 2026, with Partners Group, EQT, Square Peg Capital and Skip Capital returning, bringing total funding to about 180 million AUD after a 45 million AUD Series C in late 2024. In October 2026 it acquired Zepben, an Australian CIM network modelling company. It reports modelling over 15 million assets across four continents.