An international research team has successfully tested their fault location technology in Switzerland, with more trials to come on Australian power lines.

The "time reversal" technology requires one measurement point installed at a substation which can identify a precise fault in the power line, to within 10 metres, in a few seconds to minutes, the study finds.

"This technology offers the hope that faults can be pinpointed quickly, reliably and safely, to, above all, reduce the impact on customers in very high stress conditions," Monash University electrical and computer science engineering department's Reza Razzaghi said on Monday.

Monash University has filed a patent for the technology and there's Australian industry interest to test it on rural powerline networks.

Victoria uses technology in the high-risk rural power network to limit energy supply when a fault occurs to prevent the risk of bushfires.

But this cannot precisely determine where the fault is, and restoration crews can take hours to find it before fixing it.

The latest technology involves three steps; measuring fault signals, defining fault locations before time-reversed signals are put into a computer model of the network to find the location.

"This radical new technology has the potential to save lives and ensure Australia is best prepared to prevent and tackle any catastrophic incidents that might arise as our country continues to get warmer and drier," Monash University's research associate Tony Marxsen said.

The study is a collaboration between Monash University, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Monash GRID Innovation Hub, AusNet Services and IND Technology.

Australian Associated Press