Powering on: integrating distributed energy into Australia’s networks & markets

Our founder, Dr Andrew Mears joined an impressive panel at the recent Australian Clean Energy Summit to discuss the challenges and opportunities of integrating distributed energy into Australia’s networks & markets.

Rooftop solar and batteries are driving a dramatic change in Australia's energy system and electricity grid. The session explored the implications of the growing deployment of rooftop solar, household batteries and new energy technologies and explored ways to accelerate their deployment and modernise the grid to leverage exciting solutions, ensuring consumers can fully participate in the energy evolution.

Predictions in AEMO's Integrated Systems Plan forecast that by 2032, over half of the homes on Australia’s east coast and southern states (energy from the NEM) will likely have rooftop PV systems, rising to 65% with 69 GW capacity by 2050.

This will make distributed energy resources (DER) , the largest source of electricity generation in the NEM and will require almost 30GW of distributed storage and flexible demand to ensure a smooth transition. It will become critical that transmission and distribution network planners and operators make the most of these DER assets.

Australia lacks a clear framework for how best to integrate DER into our system. Dr Mears called for a focus on distributed flexibility, along the lines of Ofgem’s strategy for distributed flexibility markets in the UK, enabled by a common digital energy infrastructure. A ‘flexibility-centric’ energy industry that is smart and digitalised will accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy at the least overall cost to all consumers.

A technical regulator is required to ensure the consistency of DER technologies and services across the NEM and greater data privacy and cyber security needs to be considered in the new role of DER in our energy system.