Local network operators have a fine line to balance when it comes to upgrading a network to serve local residents and businesses. We’ve seen frustration surface in communities when new rooftop solar connections have been refused or curtailed in the name of protecting the grid. Instead of creating restrictions or making additional capital investments, the way to reduce our investment in the electricity grid is to co-ordinate on-site generation and consumption, and the export of energy to the grid as part of a virtual power plant (VPP).

Virtual power plants can help to reduce energy bills for rural and regional Australia. Households and businesses can take more control over how they use their electricity with a VPP. Instead of making a new infrastructure investment, network operators and retailers can make use of existing rooftop solar, home batteries and electric vehicle assets to give customers access to the energy market.

With VPPs, businesses can negotiate for better power purchase agreements (PPAs) by leveraging renewable generation assets within their networks. VPPs will also complement the planned rollout of Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) across Australia by reducing the need for additional electricity transmission infrastructure and utility-scale energy storage by leveraging network assets within a REZ.

In a recent submission that was made to the Australian Government, SwitchDin expressed our support for the development of ﬂexible services platforms that will help businesses access lower cost renewable PPAs by optimising off-take agreements with the needs and capabilities of customers in mind. This would reduce the need for generators to provide ﬁrming capacity, lower the cost of PPAs and ease the cost of a network upgrade.

Rural and regional businesses can further beneﬁt from taking advantage of untapped opportunities through flexible services platforms. There are attractive revenue opportunities for irrigators, managers of shopping centres or data centres, sewerage and water authorities, commercial precincts and many other rural and regional businesses who can access untapped load flexibility

SwitchDin is calling on the government to develop a technology investment program that will ensure that customer and network assets incorporate the latest communications protocols and technologies to create ﬂexible platforms and deliver better VPPs. By embedding intelligence into rooftop solar, batteries, home energy systems and electricity distribution networks, we can make VPPs more flexible and responsive. Building a better VPP would further enhance the skills for electrical tradespersons and improve their employment opportunities. It would provide environments for energy technology vendors to test and scale ways to use more clean energy and move us towards a future grid faster.

VPPs using ﬂexible generation and loads will improve the performance of Australia’s energy industry in many ways. This includes:

Optimising customer loads, generation and behind the meter storage assets
Harnessing multiple batteries to act together
Enabling the provision of market services by using ﬂexible loads
Facilitating the development of lower cost PPAs by tapping into the latent value of ﬂexibility in generation and loads
Supporting the interoperability and integration of customer and network assets
Connecting community batteries with networks and customers

With the government’s support for platforms and technologies to deliver more effective VPPs, households and businesses stand to benefit from accessing the untapped value of their renewable energy generation and flexible loads to make the most out of their locally generated solar energy.

Deriving value from existing assets to build a better virtual power plant