Expert Lightning Protection & Earthing Engineering

Aetheric is a dedicated consulting practice focused exclusively on lightning protection and earthing engineering for critical infrastructure. We don't do general electrical consulting. We don't offer a broad menu of engineering disciplines with lightning protection as an add-on. This is all we do, and that singular focus is what allows us to deliver the depth of expertise, analytical precision, and standards fluency that critical infrastructure demands.

We work with data centres, energy and renewable assets, critical infrastructure, and oil and gas facilities across our home market of New Zealand and out into APAC, the Middle East and West Africa, delivering services that span the full protection lifecycle from risk assessment and system design through testing, modelling, audit, and ongoing management.

Plenty of firms can design a lightning protection system, often a cut-and-paste from their last project. The difference is in the analytical rigour, the standards depth across jurisdictions, and the tools that let us model, predict, and optimise rather than relying on rules of thumb.

Dedicated Focus

Lightning protection and earthing engineering rewards depth over breadth. The physics of lightning attachment, transient currents in complex earthing networks, multi-stage surge coordination, none of these are solved with general electrical engineering knowledge. They need dedicated training, purpose-built analytical tools, and continuous engagement with evolving standards. Aetheric exists because critical infrastructure deserves that level of focus.

Multi-Jurisdictional Standards Expertise

Our clients operate across multiple regulatory environments, each with its own standards landscape:

• New Zealand & Australia: AS/NZS 1768:2021, AS/NZS 61643
• International: IEC 62305 (all parts), IEC 61643
• North American reference: IEEE 81, IEEE 998, NFPA 780
• Industry-specific: API RP 2003, IEC 61400-24, EN 50600

We maintain current knowledge of standard revisions and regional variations across all operating regions. When a standard updates, we know what it means for our clients' facilities.

Full Lifecycle Capability

Most clients don't need one service in isolation. They need a partner across the full arc, risk assessment, design, audit of existing systems, earthing testing and modelling, and long-term management through RaaS. Aetheric covers the entire lifecycle: continuity of knowledge, consistent standards application, no gaps between engagements.

Construction-Ready Deliverables

Our deliverables are built to be built from. Construction drawings in AutoCAD with Revit, Navisworks, Civil 3D, MicroStation, and EPLAN compatibility. Specifications contractors can price against. SPD coordination studies electricians can install from. Testing reports that satisfy auditors. The gap between analysis and implementation is where protection fails, our deliverables close it.

The quality of lightning protection engineering is limited by the analytical tools behind it. Aetheric invests in platforms that deliver precision, repeatability, and depth manual methods can't match.

File exchange in DWG, DXF, RVT, IFC, and other standard formats ensures seamless integration with architectural, structural, and electrical design teams regardless of their platform preferences.

Aetheric is New Zealand-based and provides consulting services across APAC, the Middle East, and West Africa, each region with its own standards landscape, lightning climate, and regulatory environment. See where we work for the regional detail.

Every Aetheric engagement is guided by a consistent set of principles: standards first then engineering judgment, right-sized protection, buildable solutions, and transparency in analysis. Read our approach for how each one plays out in practice.

Aetheric was co-founded by two serial entrepreneurs with complementary expertise across the lightning protection and critical infrastructure sectors. Together they bring more than five decades of combined experience in lightning protection science and technology, energy-sector asset management, and the commercial relationships that define successful project delivery across our operating regions.

The Broader Team

Beyond our co-founders, Aetheric's team combines deep technical expertise in lightning protection and earthing engineering with practical project delivery experience across our target sectors. Our people hold relevant qualifications in electrical engineering and maintain current knowledge of the standards, tools, and techniques that define best practice in lightning protection.

We invest in continuous professional development, staying current with standard revisions, attending industry conferences, and maintaining proficiency with our analytical platforms. When a new edition of IEC 62305 or AS/NZS 1768 is published, our team doesn't wait for a client project to learn what changed.

Our consulting services cover every stage of the lightning protection lifecycle:

• Risk Assessment Studies: quantitative risk analysis using Skytree Scientific
• Lightning Protection Systems: integrated external and internal protection design
• Ground/Earthing Testing: soil resistivity, earth resistance, bonding verification, and earthing system modelling
• RSM Modelling: 3D protection zone analysis
• Site Audits: independent compliance assessment
• Design Services: construction-ready documentation
• Lightning Resiliency Planning: enterprise resilience strategy

For organisations needing ongoing protection management, our Resiliency as a Service (RaaS) subscription model provides continuous monitoring, testing, and compliance verification.