Increasing the capacity of renewables in the Northern Territory
The Solar Connect VPP delivered as part of the Alice Springs Future Grid project, is the Northern Territory’s first Virtual Power Plant (VPP). With the completion of the trial fast approaching, knowledge-sharing outcomes will be drawn, which present opportunities to better leverage solar and battery assets for the benefit of NT communities.
Alice Springs enjoys access to abundant solar resources, an advantage that underpins the community’s participation in the clean energy transition. The Alice Springs power system currently averages about 10 per cent solar input and the Northern Territory Government has a target of 50 per cent renewable energy consumption by 2030.
The Alice Springs Future Grid project brought together multiple project partners to identify and overcome barriers to further renewable energy penetration in the Alice Springs electricity system. SwitchDin was appointed to deliver the technology that links solar and battery systems across Alice Springs to create the Solar Connect Virtual Power Plant trial. The trial aimed to test how a VPP can help to keep the grid stable while increasing the amount of clean energy in the local power system.
SwitchDin’s Stormcloud platform allows trial participants to gain a deeper understanding of their energy generation, consumption and storage through a live data feed from the Solar Connect VPP Trial. A public dashboard provides an aggregated summary of the performance of the whole VPP and showcases the collective impact of the VPP in real-time and historically.
SwitchDin founder, Dr Andrew Mears notes that the data and outcomes of the VPP in this trial are critical to inform the transition of small isolated grids to more renewables and optimise the return on investment for residential rooftop solar and batteries.
“SwitchDin has worked with major energy retailers across Australia to create VPPs using Stormcloud. What we’re doing with the Solar Connect VPP is another example of how our technology is being used to inform the optimisation of rooftop solar and home batteries for the benefit of the grid, households and communities that are connected to the grid,” Dr Mears said.
“The Solar Connect VPP once again demonstrates how we can work in regional locations such as Alice Springs, and this may reduce the need for more investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure to send energy from centralised electricity generators.”
Being the first VPP in NT, the Solar Connect VPP will provide insights into changes that can be made in the electricity system to integrate more renewable energy sources. Through this, we can demonstrate how innovative solutions can help deliver a reliable energy transition.
See the live Stormcloud dashboard from the Solar Connect VPP Trial here: