Energy Magazine September 2022

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Well, what a difference a few months makes!

Since the last issue of Energy, we’ve seen Labor unseat the Coalition Federal Government, announcing new ministers, policies, and climate targets. In short succession, the new Federal Government has had to grapple with a complex, unfolding energy crisis that’s left experts scrambling to find a solution while gas and electricity prices skyrocket.

monkeymedia.com.au

Lauren DeLorenzo

Stephanie Nestor

Alejandro Molano Designers

Luke Martin

Rima Munafo

It’s a topic that’s top-of-mind for the industry, and likely will be for some time to come, with no real “silver bullet” answer, as new Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, said (check out our profile of our new Federal Energy Ministry on page 10). That being said, our industry is tenaciously exploring options and solutions, many of which we’ve unpacked in this issue.

One thing that we know for sure is that with rising energy prices comes a set of unique challenges that will need to be addressed, with households and businesses expected to be heavily impacted by hefty bills. This is something the CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council, Luke Menzel, is passionately pursuing a solution to through the promotion of targeted policy and public awareness surrounding energy efficient buildings. Because of Australia’s historically cheap energy prices, a lot of our buildings aren’t up to scratch when it comes to thermal performance – this is something that will need to change through smart incentive programs so that renters and vulnerable Australians aren’t left out in the cold.

management to support the rapid growth of rooftop solar, while South Australia is pioneering distributed energy resource integration through its ‘flexible grid’.

Another thing I’m excited to see is the evolution of consumers to prosumers, and the collective action the community is taking when it comes to cleaner, greener energy. We know that the energy transition is going to take a serious amount of investment, and it turns out that investment might come straight from consumers as crowdfunded energy projects begin to take shape.

Jackson Barnes

On a positive note, all around the country, networks and utilities are preparing for an injection of renewable generation, with lots of different takes on what the ‘future grid’ looks like. In Central Australia, the brains trust behind Alice Springs Future Grid is reconfiguring the system to support a higher penetration of renewables through both technical and philosophical thinking. In our southern states, Victoria is focusing on voltage

And, just as the broader industry is undergoing a lot of change, some changes are happening here at the Energy team too. It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that I’ve made the difficult decision to move on from Energy magazine to pursue a different challenge. I started with the magazine as a journalist nearly three years ago, and stepped into the Editor’s chair in June last year after discovering my passion for the incredible industry that it is. Although I’m sad to be moving on, I’m excited about the next challenge, and look forward to seeing where the amazing Energy team takes the magazine from here. A big thanks to the Energy readers and contributors for bringing us the news on the ground and supporting our publication –

$236M TRANSMISSION UPGRADE COMPLETED FOR NSW, QLD

The critical upgrade of the Queensland to New South Wales Interconnector (QNI) has been completed, with the $236 million project allowing more energy to transfer reliably between the two states and the ACT as required, as well as helping to reduce energy costs for households.

The project, completed by Transgrid, is part of Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated System Plan (ISP) and is set to reduce constraints on the New South Wales transmission network which has suffered from energy shortfalls and rising energy costs.

The upgraded QNI allows 460MW more power to be transferred into Queensland and 190MW more into New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory when needed.

Transgrid CEO, Brett Redman, said the interconnector upgrade has come in on time and on budget and will now make a significant difference to the National Electricity Market.

“QNI is the first ISP project we have delivered and it is a critical piece of infrastructure to support Australia’s energy transition,” Mr Redman said.

“Transgrid is leaning into the acceleration of the energy transition by building the major projects which will enable the integration of renewables, increase competition among generators, drive down electricity prices and support the decarbonisation of Australia’s economy.

“I’d like to thank the New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments for their support in delivering this crucial project, which will form part of the backbone of the future energy system.”

The QNI upgrade involved a range of works including:

» Upgrading 300km of transmission lines

» Replacing 58 towers between Tamworth, Muswellbrook and Liddell power stations

» Upgrading substations at Armidale, Dumaresq, Muswellbrook and Tamworth

As part of construction new taller pole structures were put in place to enable the transmission of more energy as new generation comes online.

Technology was also installed at multiple substations to strengthen the transmission network including new capacitor banks, Static Volt Amp Reactive compensators (SVC), transformers and 330kV switch bays. The capacitor banks provide additional reactive power, while the SVC regulates the reactive power on the grid to keep it stable.

Approximately 150 jobs were created during the project and Transgrid provided community grants to support the work of local not-for-profit groups along the project route.

Transgrid CEO Brett Redman and NSW Treasurer and Minister for Energy Matt Kean.

$0 TARIFF TO ENCOURAGE OFF-PEAK ENERGY USE

Consuming energy during the middle of the day could become free for Victorians, as CitiPower and Powercor trial time-based price incentives encouraging customers to shift their demand.

The ‘Daytime Saver’ trial, limited to 27,000 customers and available between 1 July 2022 and June 2026, could save customers an estimated $100 on energy bills per year.

The tariff encourages customers to set timers or use major appliances between 10am and 3pm, when the network charge offered is $0. These appliances include pool pumps, heating or air conditioning, dishwashers and washing machines.

Electric vehicle owners without rooftop solar could also benefit, with savings predicted of up to $132 a year when at least one third of the vehicle’s charging is shifted from between 3pm and 9pm to between 10am and 3pm. That’s on top of the savings available by shifting use of their household appliances to daytime hours.

CitiPower and Powercor General Manager Regulation, Renate Vogt, said one of the biggest challenges associated with the transition to greater renewable energy generation is to educate customers about the benefits of using more power in daylight hours when energy is abundant and lower cost, instead of during traditional evening peaks.

“This type of tariff is an important way of ensuring all customers have equal access to the benefits of renewables,” Ms Vogt said.

“Customers without rooftop solar are actually expected to be the ones this tariff trial could suit best.”

The Daytime Saver network tariff has been made available for energy retailers to offer to customers as part of their electricity price plans.

The Electric Vehicle Council’s Head of Energy and Infrastructure, Ross De Rango, said the trial presented a huge opportunity for EV owners, especially those without solar at home.

“Many EV owners have solar at home already and charge their cars during the day when they can, but not everyone can put solar on their roof as easily as they can buy an EV,” Mr De Rango said.

“This program will encourage EV drivers without solar to help the networks maintain stability, while reducing emissions and saving money – a triple win.

“One of the key long-term challenges in transitioning the vehicle fleet to electric is managing the impact on energy networks.

“Incentivising EV drivers to charge their cars in the middle of the day when there’s generally plenty of solar, or the middle of the night when there’s generally plenty of spare network capacity, is a pathway to improved network performance and reduced energy costs for everyone.”

The potential for Daytime Saver to be extended post 2026 will be assessed as part of CitiPower and Powercor’s Electricity Distribution Price Review process for the 2026-2031 period.

Sam Barbaro has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at Western Power.

Mr Barbaro had been acting CEO for five months, and has played an extensive role in the transformation of the energy sector during the 15 years he has worked at the utility.

With more than 20 years’ experience across legal, commercial and operations, he brings a wealth of strategic knowledge and capability in leading one of the state’s most essential service providers.

Mr Barbaro has been an executive team member since 2014 in the roles of General Counsel, Executive Manager of Governance and Assurance, and Executive Manager of Asset Operations.

He joined Western Power in 2007 from the corporate sector, and has played a pivotal role in Western Power’s service to the community.

Mr Barbaro is also a non-executive director of the Fiona Wood Foundation and Leadership WA.

Western Power is owned by the people of Western Australia and is responsible for building, maintaining and operating an electricity network, which connects 2.3 million customers.

Western Australian Energy Minister, Bill Johnston, welcomed the new appointment.

“I’m very pleased that Sam Barbaro has been appointed as Western Power’s Chief Executive Officer during a significant and transformative time for Western Australia’s

energy sector,” Mr Johnston said.

“Mr Barbaro has proven himself to be extremely capable in steering the organisation into a renewable energy future and I congratulate him on his appointment.

“The past few years have seen a marked shift in decarbonisation and I’m confident Mr Barbaro’s experience in leading the organisation’s recovery efforts during Cyclone Seroja and the Wooroloo bushfire has put him in great stead.

“Western Australia’s energy sector is facing an exciting and challenging time and I’m sure he will be able to continue Western Power’s important role as we progress towards net zero emissions by 2050.”

NEW CEO ANNOUNCED FOR WESTERN POWER NEOEN SIGNS 40MW PURCHASE AGREEMENT

Renewable energy producer

Neoen will deliver 40MW of energy to electricity provider Flow Power in a ten-year power purchase agreement between the two companies.

Under the ten-year agreement, Flow Power will purchase close to 10 per cent of the generation capacity of the Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm currently being constructed at Neoen’s Goyder Renewable Zone in South Australia.

This will enable Flow Power to provide South Australian commercial and industrial electricity users with access to affordable local clean energy following completion of the project in 2024.

Neoen Australia’s Managing Director, Louis de Sambucy, said the agreement would enable Flow Power to continue delivering competitive renewable energy to Australian households.

“We are delighted to sign our first PPA with Flow Power, who deliver competitively priced renewable energy and emissions reductions to a wide range of Australian businesses,” Mr de Sambucy said.

“Goyder South is not only an extremely competitive project: it also unlocks exceptional regional economic and local community outcomes.”

Flow Power CEO, Matthew van der Linden, said his company was proud to support the project.

“Flow Power is proud to be supporting Neoen’s Goyder South Stage 1 project with our long-term PPA commitment,” Mr van der Linden said.

“This PPA represents a significant contribution to Flow Power’s renewable energy portfolio and will enable us to continue providing Australian energy users access to leading clean energy projects.

“We would like to congratulate the Neoen team for their excellence throughout the PPA process as well as for the significant community benefits they are delivering as part of the project.”

This is the second offtake agreement secured for Goyder South Stage 1, complementing the 14-year contract for 100MW with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government, which was announced in September 2020.

Goyder Renewables Zone leverages the exceptional wind and solar renewable resources of the area and will deliver a significant economic boost to the region.

Goyder South Stage 1 promises over 400 construction jobs and 12 full time permanent positions, and will share substantial ongoing economic benefits with the local community and Traditional Owners, the Ngadjuri.

VIC BANS EMBEDDED NETWORKS

Embedded networks have been banned in Victoria, a decision the Victorian State Government claims will offer more choice for consumers and drive down household energy bills.

Embedded networks are private electricity networks that serve multiple customer premises in a building or self-contained site – preventing households from sourcing competing offers.

They are commonly used to supply power to consumers in apartment blocks, retirement villages, social housing, and caravan parks.

The ban on embedded networks in new residential apartment buildings begins in January 2023, with limited exemptions for buildings that run on 100 per cent renewable energy to the benefit of their residents.

A second phase of the review process, which will involve further consultation with industry and consumer groups, will determine the details of a licensing regime that is intended to ensure greater choice and protections.

IVictorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio said embedded networks will be banned in new residential apartment buildings and existing networks will be reformed to ensure Victorians can access more competitive deals and save on their energy bills.

“We’re banning embedded networks because all Victorians deserve to get the same competitive energy deals and have the same protections, driving down the cost of living when people need it most,” Minister D’Ambrosio said.

“We’ve already delivered energy market reforms, banned doorto-door sales and cold calling, and increased penalties for retailers who engage in dodgy behaviour. This is delivering a better deal for all Victorians.”

An expert panel heard from hundreds of frustrated Victorians feeling ‘trapped’ in embedded networks prior to the change of rules.

More than 140,000 Victorians living in residential embedded networks will be affected by the reform.

SA APPROVES BATTERY-POWERED GRID INERTIA SERVICES

n a world-first, South Australia’s 150/193.5MW/h battery storage facility at Hornsbury Power Reserve (HPR) will deliver grid-scale inertia services, following approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

The project is a joint venture between renewable energy producer, Neoen, electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla, and the State and Federal governments and will ensure greater stability to the SA grid.

Located in a critical part of the network, HPR will automatically provide the necessary stability to the South Australian grid, which has reached 64 per cent renewable penetration over the last 12 months.

HPR now has the capacity to contribute an estimated 2,000MW of equivalent inertia, or around 15 per cent of the predicted shortfall in the state’s network, which serves over 1.7 million people and 150,000 businesses.

Neoen Australia’s Managing Director, Louis de Sambucy, said the project would reinforce the company's investment in, and support of, SA’s 100 per cent renewable target.

“We are delighted to announce the successful deployment of inertia at Hornsdale Power Reserve,“ Mr de Sambucy said.

“This achievement was forged through outstanding teamwork: I’d like to acknowledge the dedication of our team and our long-term partners at Tesla, as well as our trusted counterparts at AEMO and ElectraNet.

“It was made possible through the support of the South Australian Government, and of the Australian Government via ARENA and CEFC.

“In pioneering the delivery of grid-scale inertia, Neoen continues to lead the way in battery storage innovation, reinforcing its contribution and commitment to South Australia’s 100 per cent renewable energy target.”

A minimum level of inertia, in conjunction with frequency control services, is needed both during normal operation of the electricity

network and after major disturbances. Inertia has traditionally been provided by gas or coal fired generators.

The closing of thermal power plants and increasing volumes of renewable energy are resulting in inertia shortfalls in the grid, a serious network issue that batteries are now able to overcome.

The solution received support from the SA Government, which committed $15 million over five years through their Grid Scale Storage Fund, and from ARENA which contributed $8 million as part of their Advancing Renewables Program.

HPR had also been supported by a long-term debt facility from the CEFC, its first investment in a standalone grid-scale battery.

SA Minister for Energy and Mining, Tom Koutsantonis, said the HPR project, first commissioned in 2017, continues to be a pioneer in the industry.

“The Hornsdale Power Reserve was revolutionary when we commissioned it back in 2017 and continues its pioneering role,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“It is leading the innovation of inverter-based technologies –paving the way for more, much needed large scale storage projects both in Australia and beyond.

“Expanding the capabilities of the Hornsdale Power Reserve by activating Virtual Machine Mode, a first for the world, further demonstrates South Australia’s commitment to global leadership in the adoption and integration of renewable energy to improve grid stability and energy reliability, while bringing power prices down for all South Australians.”

The landmark achievement concludes two years of trials and intensive collaboration between Neoen and battery technology provider Tesla, working closely with AEMO and ElectraNet, South Australia’s network operator.

WORKING TOGETHER TO MANAGE WIND FARM NOISE

When the manufacturer of wind turbines for a large Wind Farm in New South Wales noticed yaw noise coming from two of their turbines, they went straight to brake manufacturer and service partner Altra Motion for a quick and effective solution.

The 134MW Wind Farm in New South Wales recently became fully operational and provides renewable electricity for the development's three corporate partners.

During the construction and commissioning of the large number of wind turbines that make up the project, the turbine's manufacturer noticed yaw noise coming from two of the turbines on site. Yaw noise can be created by the contact between the yaw brake pads and the disc during nacelle adjustment into the wind.

The wind turbine OEM reached out directly to Altra Motion Australia to address the yaw noise issue and reduce the noise from the project site.

Altra Motion brand Svendborg Brakes initially supplied the brakes on the turbines, and the team were only too happy to head out to the site to diagnose what was going on.

A thorough site investigation

Altra Motion sent its NSW service team to the site, led by NSW Service Manager Craig Kelly and NSW Service Technician Michal Duraj. Craig and Michal met with the turbine manufacturer and their service partner, with all parties working collaboratively to rectify the issue.

During the initial site visit, Craig and Michal gathered a great deal of data to identify what was happening on the turbines – this included detail from the visual inspection to data from a logger.

They also ran through a detailed set of diagnostic tests to comprehensively understand what was happening with the turbine and the brake pads. This process allowed for the elimination of a range of possible causes for the noise and to clearly and concisely diagnose what the actual issue was.

course of action. Following this, the team prepared a detailed set of recommendations for the client to minimise the yaw noise.

Craig, Michal and the turbine manufacturer and service partner teams then met to review the report and discuss the recommendations. Representatives from Altra Motion brand Svendborg Brakes also attended this meeting, ensuring that the client had access to the factory representatives to get to the heart of the issue and understand the best course of action to rectify it.

Resolving the issue

The core finding from all the diagnostic testing and data logging was that the yaw noise was primarily because, through the course of operating the wind turbines, the brake pads and yaw disc surface had become glazed.

"In effect, we've got glazing, and it's creating friction between two shiny services going against each other and creating noise and vibration," said Craig.

"We have a data logger that measures all pressures and flows for a piece of equipment, which we can then check against our operating manuals to assess what is and isn't working within tolerance.

"These tests allowed us to eliminate potential causes for the noise, so we moved to pressure tests at the power unit itself, initialising each test on each brake. Each turbine has five yaw brakes, and we tested and took data from each brake to fully understand why we were experiencing yaw noise."

After performing these tests and gathering this information, Craig and Michal met virtually with their international team members at Svendborg Brakes to review the findings and decide on the best

"Our recommendation was to remove the originally specified brake pads, which has been done, and replace them with new, genuine Svendborg brake pads. These have been ordered and are on their way to the wind farm."

Following the detailed assessment on-site, analysis of what was causing the issue and subsequent rectification of the problem, the response from the client has been overwhelmingly positive.

"This job has been a reminder that being methodical in process, using the correct tools and starting with the basics in diagnostic testing is the best – and only – way to get to the bottom of any issues that may arise with machinery as complex as wind turbines," said Craig.

"After our initial meeting with the service partner and OEM, they said to us, 'Why didn't we get you guys out in the first place?'" said Michal.

Pleasingly, this is the start of an ongoing relationship between the wind turbine manufacturer, Altra Motion Australia, the original equipment manufacturer and service partner.

"We have several additional suggestions that have been made to the manufacturer which will continue to enhance the operation of their machinery, and we're looking forward to continuing to work with them in the future," said Craig.

For more information about Altra Motion-Svendborg Brakes and their genuine spare parts and service capabilities, head to www.altramotionaustralia.com

GETTING TO KNOW THE NEW FEDERAL ENERGY MINISTRY

by Imogen Hartmann, Editor, Energy magazine

Australians took to the voting stands at the end of May 2022 and made it clear that time was up on climate change inaction, with Labor unseating the Coalition to form our new Federal Government. Amongst other things, Labor made a clear commitment to boosting renewable energy and cutting emissions, and subsequently appointed a new ministry to do so on 1 June. Here, we take a look at what our new energy ministry looks like, as well as the progress they’ve made so far.

Upon handing down his ministerial appointments,

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asserted that the new Government would promote a transition to clean and renewable energy, encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, and tackle surging energy costs.

“This is a team with people who are absolutely committed to making a difference as Ministers and Assistant Ministers in my Government,” Mr Albanese said.

Chris Bowen was appointed as Minister for Climate Change and Energy, with Jenny McAllister as Assistant Minister. The appointments marked the first time since 2013 that Australia has had a Minister for Climate Change at the federal level.

Mr Bowen replaced Angus Taylor who was Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, while Ms McAllister replaced Tim Wilson who lost his seat of Goldstein to independent Zoe Daniel. So, what do we know about Mr Bowen and Ms McAllister?

Chis Bowen –Member for McMahon (New South Wales)

Mr Bowen resides in Smithfield, Western Sydney, where he grew up and attended Smithfield Public School and St Johns Park High School. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics, and he also holds a Masters Degree in International Relations and a Diploma in Modern Languages (Bahasa Indonesia).

Joining the Labor Party in 1988, he was elected to Fairfield Council in 1995, where he then served as Mayor of Fairfield from 1998-1999. He also served as President of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils from 2000 to 2002.

Mr Bowen entered Federal Parliament in 2004 and has held a wide range of portfolios including serving as Treasurer, Minister for Human Services, Minister for Immigration and Minister for Small Business.

Upon Labor’s election win, Mr Bowen emphasised the importance of renewable investments in driving down energy bills.

“Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy,” Mr Bowen said.

“The good news is that Australia now has a Government that will bring on more renewable energy through our investment in the grid. The good news is that the Australian Government will now have a policy to see power prices fall through investments in renewable energy, the cheapest form of energy, that's the better news for the Australian people.”

However, Mr Bowen also criticised the outgoing Liberal Government for its “denial and delay” of clean energy transition strategies.

Jenny McAllister –Senator for New South Wales

Ms McAllister grew up on the north coast of New South Wales and attended the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney.

A member of the Labor Party since 1992, Ms McAllister has served as National President of the ALP and as a member of the ALP National Policy Committee.

With a strong focus on climate change and environmental management, Ms McAllister is the Co-Founder of the Labor Environmental Activist Network (LEAN) with Kristina Keneally, a former Premier of New South Wales.

Ms McAllister is “passionate about managing the economy to achieve social justice and social inclusion, and better outcomes for climate and sustainability”, with interests in gender equality, marriage equality and new opportunities for community participation in politics.

New emissions reduction pledge

Since taking office, Mr Albanese and Mr Bowen have announced Australia’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement to the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This formalised Australia’s pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, putting Australia on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The Government’s set of policies also includes:

» $20 billion investment in Australia’s electricity grid to accelerate the decarbonisation of the grid

» An additional $300 million to deliver community batteries and solar banks across Australia

» Up to $3 billion investment in the new National Reconstruction Fund to support renewables manufacturing and low emissions technologies

» Powering the Regions Fund to support the development of new clean energy industries and the decarbonisation priorities of existing industry

» A further $100 million to train 10,000 new energy apprentices in the jobs of the future

» $10 million New Energy Skills Program to provide additional training pathways

» The introduction of declining emission baselines for Australia’s major emitters, under the existing Safeguard Mechanism

» Australia’s first National Electric Vehicle Strategy, to reduce emissions and accelerate the uptake of electric vehicle

» Doubling the existing investment in electric vehicle charging and establishing hydrogen refuelling infrastructure to $500 million

» The application of new standardised and internationallyaligned reporting requirements for climate risks and opportunities for large businesses

» A commitment to reduce the emissions of Commonwealth Government agencies to net zero by 2030

» Restoring the role of the Climate Change Authority, while keeping decision-making and accountability with Government and introducing new annual Parliamentary reporting by the Minister

A jointly-issued statement said, “We will support the transition to renewable energy by investing in the transmission and storage needed to balance the grid, which will lower energy prices and support economic growth.

“Our plan will create more than 604,000 jobs, with five out of six new jobs to be created in the regions, and will spur $76 billion of investment.

“Australia’s abundant renewable energy resources mean we’re well placed to become a clean energy superpower.”

A tumultuous start

The new Federal Energy Ministry has its work cut out, with an unfolding energy crisis coinciding with its takeover.

Supply issues and the war in Ukraine have resulted in skyrocketing electricity and gas prices, with governments and industry bodies scrambling to get a handle on things.

Following a historic convention of the federal, state and territory energy ministers, Mr Bowen announced a unified decision to back renewables and storage as part of a new National Transition Plan to protect Australians into the future. We cover the gas supply crisis and the National Transition plan in depth in our article

More demand than supply: where Australia’s gas went wrong on page 56.

If the last couple of months is anything to go by, Mr Bowen and Ms McAllister will have their hands full with challenging circumstances that will require smart policies, decisive action, and ongoing collaboration with the industry and community.

Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Member for McMahon. Image Credit: www.chrisbowen.net.

Jenny McAllister, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator for New South Wales. Image credit: www.jennymcallister.com.au.

ALICE SPRINGS FUTURE GRID: LESSONS FOR THE NEM OF TOMORROW

by Andrea Johnston, Alice Springs Future Grid

At the height of the winter energy crisis on the East Coast, a community in the heart of our wide brown land was watching on, contemplating how it may soon have some useful secrets to share. In recent years the isolated Alice Springs electricity system has been trending towards negative demand and grappling with how to use more solar energy while also maintaining the grid; prompting action to address the challenges and harness opportunities of the renewable energy transition – long before the issues were front of mind for most Australians. The collective action is called the Alice Springs Future Grid project.

The iconic Northern Territory town lies exactly halfway between Adelaide and Darwin, both 1,500km away. Arid, remote, and sometimes extremely hot, Central Australia experiences more than 300 sunny days each year. These environmental factors, combined with an unusually progressive population, have caused the uptake of rooftop solar to be particularly strong. Pleasant temperatures in the shoulder seasons, leading to low consumer power use, high solar generation and high selfconsumption mean demand can come close to being too low for what the local generators are regulated, to supply.

While the threat of negative demand on the Alice Springs grid was somewhat halted by the planned connection of a new industrial load, the vagaries of the clean energy transition remain. The traditional assumption that power is generated at a power station and flows to the consumer has been disrupted by rooftop solar, with ‘generators’ now ubiquitous across the grid in the form of homes and businesses. This situation was, until recently, encouraged by one of the highest solar feed-in tariffs in the country. Additional immediate technical issues caused by this extra generation, such as increased voltage, need to be managed. Meanwhile, increasing the amount of solar energy in the system while maintaining system stability presents challenges with inertia. With no significant bodies of water and a yet-to-be-established business case for wind power, solar remains the only commercially viable renewable energy resource in Central Australia.

Location, environment, economics, politics, the role of consumers, demographics, and technical challenges are all factors to be considered in the Alice Springs energy transition, set against a backdrop of regulatory requirements designed for the grid of yesterday. As such, the Alice Springs grid can be viewed as a microcosm of the National Electricity Market (NEM) where interventions can be trialled and tested, with relatively quick and

measurable results. The Alice Springs grid is said to be “small enough to manage, but big enough to matter”. A fact not lost on the diverse group of stakeholders who have come together to create an extraordinary project.

The grid of tomorrow

Combining the brains of the Territory’s energy industry and community leaders, with input from national energy experts, Alice Springs Future Grid was born. Supported by the Northern Territory Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Australian Government through its Microgrids program, Future Grid investigates ways the existing electricity system can be configured to support a much higher fraction of renewable energy. This sounds like a technical challenge; but is in reality, largely philosophical. Relationships and knowledge sharing are found at the core of Future Grid, while ‘place’ defines all thinking.

Future Grid is a whole-of-system project considering how Alice Springs can achieve 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030. The project recognises that in the future the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in the electricity system will be different from those in place today. Future Grid is seeking to map out what these potential roles, responsibilities and technical capabilities will be.

The $12.5 million project is led by the Intyalheme Centre for Future Energy on behalf of Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA) and brings together almost 20 stakeholder organisations. These include all the Northern Territory Government-owned corporations involved in energy generation and supply (Territory Generation, Power and Water Corporation, and Jacana Energy) along with Alice Springs environmental advocacy group the Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC), engineering consultancy Ekistica, and the project’s knowledge sharing partner, CSIRO. Future Grid incorporates input from various universities, works with the solar and battery installers of Alice Springs, and brings residents along to take part in its

trials, including the creation of the Northern Territory’s first Virtual Power Plant (VPP), Solar Connect.

Alice Springs and renewables: history informing the future

The story of the project’s existence begins with the Northern Territory Government’s Roadmap to Renewables Report, but the Red Centre’s relationship with renewable energy extends much further back. Alice Springs was once a ‘Solar City’ as per the Australian Government program of 2008 – 2013. This period saw the birth of the DKA Solar Centre, the southern hemisphere’s largest multi-technology solar demonstration facility, now home to more than 40 arrays of all shapes and sizes. There had also been huge early adoption of solar in remote bush communities, in particular through Bushlight, which led the installation of more than 150 new standalone power systems across Northern Australia and conducted maintenance at around 250 sites. It stands

to reason that solar has long been popular in one of the sunniest places on earth. But what happens when solar is the sole renewable energy resource and the economics for enough batteries to support such a small population don’t stack up?

"The Alice Springs grid is said to be small enough to manage, but big enough to matter”.

Some might argue project funding could have been spent on a single technical intervention, but just as we are seeing in the NEM, there is no silver bullet. The system within which the generation and delivery of energy operates in Alice Springs – the technical system, the regulatory system, the commercial framework – has

been tailored to a set of responsibilities and outcomes which are no longer consistent with the likely direction of the future energy system. While many similar projects are underway elsewhere, the eyes of industry, nationally, are on Future Grid. This is both because of the town’s unique size and isolated position, and the way the various trials, models and investigations that comprise the project are designed with interdependencies and will elicit results that can be measured more rapidly and accurately than on larger grids.

Activities include a wind monitoring study to establish the extent to which there may be a business case for incorporating wind into the Alice Springs energy mix and improved system modelling and forecasting with the use of cloud cameras. Other activities include dynamic export trials for solar from large PV systems previously curtailed with a zero-export limit, and community engagement to help empower the community to advocate for everincreasing renewable energy penetration after the project has wrapped up, and with the nuanced understanding that the solutions to these issues require long term engagement, planning and development.

Leaving no one behind

A low-socioeconomic energy study will help determine how to prevent people from these demographics, of which there are a high number in Alice Springs, from being left behind or penalised by the energy transition. The Alice Springs grid extends to the remote Indigenous communities of Santa Teresa and Hermannsburg, meaning First Nations People make up approximately one-quarter of the grid-connected population. The Future Grid project recognises solar has the effect of enabling those with the financial means to do so to reduce their power bills, while those who would arguably benefit more from a reduction in power bills can be left behind. Many First Nations People in Alice Springs live in town camps, so Future Grid, through the low socio-economic energy study, is working with representative organisations across the town, to consider how they can participate in the future energy system.

The major public-facing activity of the Future Grid project is the Solar Connect VPP trial. It has recently started operating and is a first for the Northern Territory. About 40 households have been recruited to take part in the year-long study, which is trialling variable tariffs for batteries, dynamic exports for solar, and discovering residents’ willingness to involve themselves in the energy system of the future. Although smaller than many other VPPs around Australia, Solar Connect represents one of the most complex integrations of multiple energy technologies in Australia to date.

Alice Springs Future Grid Director, Lyndon Frearson. Image credit: Intyalheme Centre for Future Energy.

It has invited people with multiple types of batteries and inverters to join the VPP, with the unusual additional option of joining on a solar PV-only basis as these represent the majority of home systems currently. By participating in Solar Connect the residents of Alice Springs are helping to discover and design how their town can embrace a clean energy future.

These activities are informing what may need to change in the Alice Springs electricity system to accommodate increasing amounts of renewable energy, while also improving use of the current system. Future Grid is now designing a pathway to achieving the Northern Territory’s 50 per cent by 2030 renewable energy target in Alice Springs, with lessons learned transferable to other grids. These lessons will be captured in the Alice Springs Roadmap to 2030 report, with publication expected next year.

The roadmap will establish decision gateways for implementing change in an uncertain environment and consider how to build engagement with new participant roles. While the combined outcome of these activities will help define the structures required to achieve the probable, Future Grid is ultimately working to determine the boundaries of what is possible.

The 4MW Uterne Solar Farm is one of three commercial power generation sites in Alice Springs. Image credit: Intyalheme Centre for Future Energy.

ONE YEAR IN: INSIGHTS FROM ENERGYAUSTRALIA’S NEWEST MANAGING DIRECTOR

by Imogen Hartmann, Editor, Energy magazine

The first thing you notice about EnergyAustralia Managing Director, Mark Collette, is his shoes. His bright green Converse high tops have been customised so the iconic All Star logo is now EnergyAustralia’s distinctive ‘e’ logo. He’s teamed the shoes with a suit and tie, but most days you’ll find him in the same black branded polo top that’s also worn by hundreds of workers across EnergyAustralia’s power station sites, underneath their high-vis. In what’s been the most challenging time for the energy sector in recent history, Mr Collette’s ability to cut through the political grandstanding and negative commentary is due to his deep history with the company.

The self-described “energy geek’’ started at EnergyAustralia in 2003 and in the years since has led the customer, energy, trading, corporate strategy and development teams. It’s just on 12 months since he took on the role of Managing Director following the retirement of Catherine Tanna.

“I had the ideal apprenticeship, working with passionate people across all of EnergyAustralia’s operations,’’ Mr Collette said.

“Cath was a passionate and genuine managing director who brought together a strong sense of direction with a focus on inclusive leadership, including supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reconciliation and workplace giving. I am incredibly privileged to build on Cath’s achievements.”

Continuing a net zero legacy

Ms Tanna is credited as being one of the first in the industry to commit their business to becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

In 2021, EnergyAustralia released an updated Climate Change Statement, with a pledge to reduce direct carbon dioxide emissions by over 60 per cent on 2019-20 levels in 2028-2029. Further, the gentailer will transition out of coal assets by 2040.

“EnergyAustralia is a purpose-led company, leading and accelerating the energy transition for all,” Mr Collette said.

“Australia’s net zero electricity system is taking shape, with the energy coming from wind and solar and the controllability coming from storage and flexibility capacity.”

A responsible transition

Mr Collette doesn’t underestimate the size of the transition from a coal-dominant system to one based on renewables and large-scale storage. In the past decade, three large coal fired power stations have retired, and 63 per cent of today’s coal-fired power stations are expected to retire by 2040.

Mr Collette said that a successful transition means, not only managing the exit of the power stations, but also supporting the workers, their families, and communities.

“This is the work EnergyAustralia is getting on with. We’re not just talking or dreaming about it, we’re actually doing it, with projects already committed in pumped hydro, battery and gas/hydrogen.

“Our flexible capacity projects are enabling more renewables to

enter the system and keep the lights on for our customers.’’

The challenge of transitioning Australia’s energy sector to net zero while ensuring consumers have access to affordable, reliable power came into sharp focus following an early onset of winter temperatures in June.

A challenging time in energy history

For the first time in its history, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) suspended the spot market in all regions of the National Electricity Market (NEM). A perfect storm of high electricity demand, coupled with a large volume of generation unavailable due to maintenance or unplanned events, planned transmission outages and high energy commodity prices thrust EnergyAustralia and its counterparts into the national spotlight.

“This year is the start of a challenging time in energy,’’ Mr Collette said. “I don’t like seeing the performance of our industry leading the nightly news and dinner conversations.

“The energy industry exists to make lives better for all Australians – at home and at work. I’m here to work with governments, market bodies, regulators, the industry and the people of EnergyAustralia to deliver a better energy future.

“In the short term, that means doing everything we can to increase energy security and reliability.”

EnergyAustralia’s gas-fired fleet across Australia, which during June would normally come online to meet a supply shortfall, ran at seven times the volume compared with the same period last year.

“The people at our gas assets – Newport Power Station in Victoria, Hallett in South Australia, and Tallawarra in New South Wales – said it gave them a real buzz to see they were making a difference,” Mr Collette said.

Mr Collette said the energy shock accelerated the national conversation about how to transition to a net zero energy system by 2050 while ensuring stable and affordable energy supplies, providing universal energy access, and enabling robust economic growth.

From consumers to prosumers

In the same week as the NEM suspended the spot market, newly-elected Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, committed Australia to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s intention to reduce emissions by 43 per cent over 2005 levels by 2030.

Mr Collette said EnergyAustralia has already started transforming the way the company provides energy, starting in homes and businesses, supported by the grid.

“The energy grid of the future will undoubtedly feature more consumer-generated energy, with the huge uptake of solar panels by homes and businesses,” Mr Collette said.

Mr Collette said that EnergyAustralia’s Solar Home Bundle offer is one of the ways it’s making the transition easy and affordable for customers. “Our customers told us that they wanted solar and batteries, but selecting equipment and arranging everything was confusing and expensive.

‘’With Solar Home Bundle, a customer signs up to a seven-year, fixed-price contract at competitive rates. We arrange the selection and installation of a solar and battery system at their home, with no upfront cost.

“EnergyAustralia manages the solar and battery in concert with the grid. After seven years, the customer owns the system outright.”

Mr Collette said products such as Solar Home Bundle will never provide all the energy needed by its customers.

“That’s why a planned transition of our generation portfolio is vital so we keep the lights on as we take the emissions out of energy,’’ Mr Collette said.

In 2021, EnergyAustralia announced that its Yallourn Power Station would retire four years earlier than originally planned.

Cleaning up power systems

Tallawarra B, on the shores of Lake Illawarra in New South Wales, is one of several projects EnergyAustralia is developing as it works to provide customers with power that’s not just reliable and affordable, but increasingly clean too.

Scheduled to be completed in time for the 2023/24 summer –just as the coal-fired Liddell Power Station retires – Tallawarra B will be Australia’s first carbon-offset hydrogen and gas power station. Direct carbon emissions from the 316MW project will be offset over its operational life.

At its heart will be a 730T gas turbine, which has set records as being the heaviest piece of cargo to ever arrive at Port Kembla terminal and then one of the biggest ever oversize movements on New South Wales roads.

Being built with the support of the New South Wales Government, Tallawarra B will sit alongside the existing Tallawarra A power station. The open-cycle, hydrogen and gas capable turbine will provide firm capacity on a continuous basis and paves the way for additional cleaner energy sources to enter the system.

‘’What’s particularly exciting is that further engineering studies will see if the amount of green hydrogen can increase, which will further support the Port Kembla Hydrogen Hub,’’ Mr Collette said.

Focusing on people first

Mr Collette said that one of his proudest moments since becoming Managing Director was overseeing the launch of a new parental leave scheme, which provides 20 weeks’ paid parental leave to either parent.

“We’ve now got one of the best parental leave policies going. What we’re providing is completely gender-equal, allowing paid parental leave to be taken flexibly to encourage take-up by men, and even taking aim at the gender super gap with a full-time super benefit paid to part-time parents,” Mr Collette said.

“The war on talent is heating up and I think this policy shows we’re serious about attracting and retaining good people.”

EnergyAustralia’s focus on its people is at the heart of its latest brand campaign with employees the ‘’stars’’ of the TV commercials, billboards and print advertisements.

“A successful transition means, not only managing the exit of the power stations, but also supporting the workers, their families, and communities.”

In 2021, EnergyAustralia announced that Yallourn Power Station, in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, will retire in mid-2028 instead of 2032.

“Our $10 million support package, coupled with seven years’ advance notice, is focused on supporting our Yallourn people and ensures they have time to prepare. We’re currently understanding the needs of our workers and desires for their futures so that we can help them plan and upskill,” Mr Collette said.

“We are determined to demonstrate that coal-fired power can exit the market in a responsible way that supports our people and local communities.”

The Wooreen Energy Storage System, utility-scale battery in the Latrobe Valley, is also scheduled to be built by 2026.

“It’ll pack enough punch to quickly provide power to more than 230,000 homes for four hours,” Mr Collette said.

“Through projects like Tallawarra B, Wooreen and other developments we are working on in pumped hydro, batteries, hydrogen and other storage, we see an exciting energy future for our people and our customers.”

Featuring Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Don’t Stop’ from its legendary Rumours album, Mr Collette said the song title symbolises the company’s commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and to be out of coal by 2040. The campaign talks about how EnergyAustralia is “doing, not just dreaming” when it comes to energy transition.

“I love talking to my kids about what I do at work each day. It’s a complex and exciting industry and we provide a service that’s essential to people and the economy,” Mr Collette said.

A unified approach

“My number one goal as Managing Director is to help EnergyAustralia achieve its purpose – to lead and accelerate the clean energy transition for all,” Mr Collette said.

“And that ‘for all’ part is really important.

“We’re one of Australia’s biggest energy retailers, with 1.7 million customers who rely on us. That means ensuring they have a reliable energy supply and pay a fair price for energy, while we make the energy transition simple for them.

“It also means working effectively with governments, regulators, communities and everyone else affected by the energy transition, in cities and the bush.

“An Australian net zero system means a system that works for all, and we at EnergyAustralia are here to do our job bringing this future to life.”

In its latest campaign, EnergyAustralia makes its employees the “stars”.

TAKING AIM AT MISCONCEPTIONS IN THE NEM

by Christopher Allan, Journalist, Energy magazine

With energy prices rising, it is critical that debates surrounding Australia’s national energy future are built from a fair understanding of our current system. To this end, a new report has taken aim at common misconceptions about the National Electricity Market (NEM) in an effort to promote a sharper national dialogue among policymakers entering energy debates. Here we explore some of the key knowledge shared in this report, which covers both the physical and market processes that underscore the NEM and Australia’s energy systems at large.

Anew report published by Australian policy think tank Blueprint Institute has taken aim at common misconceptions surrounding the NEM.

Entitled Untangling the NEM: A policymaker’s guide to the National Electricity Market, the report breaks down the essentials of the NEM in plain English.

The NEM is an interconnected power system spanning the eastern states of Australia – from Far North Queensland to Southern Tasmania.

Delivering electrical power to over ten million customers –around 80 per cent of our national electrical power demand – the NEM is unavoidably complex.

The report recognises this complexity – exploring both the physical constraints and the market realities that currently govern the NEM in order to better understand its future.

Untangling the NEM also explores the political history behind the NEM, and offers a guide to the leading agencies and legislation that steer its operation.

Sharpening national dialogue on energy issues

Blueprint Institute’s report recognises that a clearer shared picture of the NEM could sharpen the national dialogue on key energy debates.

By untangling the jargon of the NEM’s physical and market processes, the report empowers stakeholders to refocus on looming

challenges for the industry, including energy pricing, augmenting transmission infrastructure, and the retirement of coal-fired generators.

CEO of Blueprint Institute, David Cross, said, “With the rise in power prices putting the NEM front and centre of our political discourse, it is more important than ever before that our leaders understand the mechanics behind it.

“The failure of our leaders to understand how the electricity system works – even when making sweeping statements about how different energy sources relate to power prices – threatens our access to cheap, secure, and reliable electricity.”

Indeed, a shared knowledge base for policymakers could help Australia’s political leadership move beyond an era of technology scapegoating – an era that long dominated the political sphere at the expense of long-term planning.

“Conjecture abounds on what happens when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, but these statements are not always consistent with the technical or economic realities of the NEM,” Mr Cross said.

“In the new parliament, our leaders must do better. They need to raise the level of public debate beyond baseless claims and counterclaims.

“Whether looking to defend or attack given policies, informed debates between decision makers are only possible when they know what they’re talking about.”

Against this background, Blueprint Institute’s report on the NEM provides a reference point for anyone wanting to get their head around one of the most important elements of Australia’s economy.

Getting to know the NEM

According to the Blueprint Institute, “The first thing to know about the National Electricity Market (NEM) is that it’s not national and it’s not only an electricity market.”

The NEM is an interconnected power system, boasting over 44,000km of transmission lines linking the eastern states of Australia – from Tasmania to South Australia and Queensland.

Servicing over ten million customers, the NEM constitutes 80 per cent of electrical power demand in Australia.

Some of the key infrastructure captured within the NEM include approximately 300 large-scale power plants with over 5MW of capacity, in addition to millions of small-scale rooftop solar systems also producing power and now exporting to the national grid.

The market turnover of the NEM in 2020 was $10.9 billion, and the system’s all time peak demand is 35,626MW.

Blueprint Institute’s report includes a full summary of the complex lengthy political origin of the NEM, alongside a comprehensive guide to the key agencies and legislation that now steer its inner workings.

Power systems: the basics

Physical processes govern many of the decisions made in how we manage and construct our power systems, and the NEM is no exception.

Here, we explore three topics from Untangling the NEM that highlight how physical processes underpin the fundamental behaviour of the network.

These topics include the difference between watts and watthours, why the grid utilises both DC and AC systems, and what a marginal loss factor (MLF) means.

1. Watts and watt-hours

The report usefully contrasts the concepts of ‘energy’ and ‘power’ to explain the difference between watts and watt-hours.

“Power and energy are two distinct but related terms, commonly used to describe different characteristics of the electricity system,” the report states.

While energy does work for us by providing light, heat, or moving things, power describes the rate at which electrical energy is produced or consumed.

Put simply: energy does the work, while power expresses the scale of that work.

Power is typically measured in watts – a measure of energy per second. For example, a kettle might draw 2.4 kilowatts (kW, equivalent to 1,000 watts) of power from the grid when it is switched on.

In contrast, energy is expressed in watt-hours (Wh) – to capture the total energy consumption or generation over a given time period. For example, a typical household might consume 5-10 megawatt-hours (MWh, equivalent to one million watt-hours) of energy over the course of a year.

2. Direct current and alternating power systems

The report explores key terms of voltage, current and frequency to understand the physical basis of grid infrastructure – answering questions like why our grid features both direct current (DC) and alternating power (AC) energy transport systems.

The report contrasts the strengths and advantages of AC and DC systems, beginning with the better suitability of DC systems to large-scale, high voltage transport.

“Transferring power at high voltages results in lower power transport efficiency losses as it travels through the powerlines – of particular importance when transmitting over long distances,” the report says.

However, the high voltage of a DC system can be dangerous, while AC systems found in the NEM have the ability to change voltage.

“It is common to use high voltage powerlines to transfer power over long distances from remote generators to large load centres, such as

The NEM delivers electrical power to over ten million customers – around 80 per cent of Australia’s national electrical power demand.

an industrial park, and then ‘step down’ the voltage to safer levels for the shorter local distribution to households,” the report states.

3. Marginal Loss Factor

A marginal loss factor (MLF) is a term that captures the loss of energy during its transport from a generator to the consumer – an unavoidable characteristic of electricity systems.

A figure given relative to capacity, an MLF captures all the energy lost during the transport process as a function of load, generation mix, and factors relating to the transmission network itself.

The report states, “In practice, the losses on the network change dynamically in real time.

“Generators get paid for the electricity they deliver to the central node – essentially their output multiplied by their loss factor.

“In theory, the marginal loss factors should therefore provide a location price signal.”

In this sense, the physical processes governing the inevitable loss of electricity during its transport directly shape the market process of how generators get paid for energy production in a dynamic, location-based price model.

Market structures: the basics

Market forces and a complex regulatory ecosystem continue to shape the NEM in an intersection between governments, agencies, corporations, and consumers.

Here, we explore two topics from Untangling the NEM that highlight some of the market forces and structures at play.

These topics are the balancing of competition and monopoly structures, as well as the business model of vertical integration. 1. Balancing competition and monopoly structures

Important agencies and legislation are dedicated to balancing the participation, competition and privatisation of stakeholders across different markets of the NEM.

At one end of the spectrum, the consumer-facing energy retail market is best described as full retail competition – consumers are free to choose their energy retailer, with different retailers given access to the same group of consumers.

Other markets in the NEM, however, have evolved into a regulated, monopoly-like structure given the nature of the market’s service.

Indeed, Untangling the NEM notes how the different markets of the NEM have developed independently through vertical separation – a principle to ensure that generators and retailers keep within their own layers of the market, increasing efficiency and keeping electricity prices down.

Unlike the consumer retail market, transmission and distribution markets are seen as ‘natural monopolies’.

“Natural monopolies tend to occur where it is only possible, or only makes economic sense, for a single entity to provide a service,” the report says.

“In the case of networks, it makes little economic sense (nor is it practically feasible) for a multiplicity of suppliers to run parallel powerlines down the street to a home and compete for the provision of service.”

It follows that the NEM’s transmission and distribution networks are broken into geographic monopolies, and that the region-based Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs) and Transmission Network Service Providers (TNSPs) must be regulated by the Australian Energy Regulator to mimic competitive pressures where possible.

2. Vertical integration

While the NEM is defined by separated markets for energy’s generation, transmission and retail, commercial entities often use vertical integration as a means to participate across these different markets.

“Given the extreme range in wholesale pricing and the consequent price volatility, market participants are exposed to significant risk,” the report says.

“Persistently low prices in periods of reduced demand may push generator earnings below their long-run marginal cost of production. In contrast, frequent scarcity events can drive energy costs for exposed customers to unsustainable levels.

“Consequently, market participants use a variety of strategies to manage wholesale pricing risks. They typically include a combination of vertical integration and hedging on the derivatives markets.

“The dominant hedging strategy in the NEM is vertical integration.

“Generally, this involves the reintegration of generation and retail business into single entities – so-called ‘gentailers’ – partly unwinding the structural separation that occurred during the reforms of the late 1990s.

“This vertical integration allows internal hedging, with the retail component of business the counterparty to the wholesale (supply) component.”

A recent example of this is AGL Australia’s unsuccessful demerger into two businesses, the plans for which were ditched ahead of the scheduled shareholder vote following significant opposition from tech billionaire, Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Mr Cannon-Brookes insisted that a demerged AGL would result in two, weaker entities, and instead urged that by remaining one entity, AGL could begin shutting down its coal power generators and take itself out of coal power by 2030, in order to speed up the transition to renewables.

From shared knowledge to focused problem solving

Blueprint Institute’s report reinforces the need for policymakers to understand both the physical constraints of the NEM and its established market forces when devising solutions for the biggest energy issues.

Ultimately, the report acts as an important tool to sharpen the dialogue in key debates surrounding the NEM, and it couldn’t be more timely as the industry grapples with the complexities of ever-changing supply and demand, and corresponding policy requirements.

Stay tuned for our coverage of part two of Blueprint Institute’s series on the NEM, which will provide “specific recommendations on how best to chart the future of the NEM to balance reliability, security, and emissions”.

To read Untangling the NEM: A policymaker’s guide to the National Electricity Market, go to:

www.blueprintinstitute.org.au/untangling_the_nem

ARE WE READY FOR THE EV REVOLUTION?

Aby Monaaf Al-Falahi, Technical Project Coordinator, Energy Networks Australia

With electric vehicle (EV) sales now equating to two per cent of new cars sold and many car manufacturers phasing out fuel combustion engine development and manufacturing, Australian networks are considering how the electricity grid needs to be prepared for the increasing EV uptake.

State of Electric Vehicles report by the Electric Vehicle Council indicated that EV sales in Australia have tripled in 2021. This increase represents a two per cent market share of all sales, compared with 0.78 per cent in 2020. The question is, are distribution networks ready for the EV uptake?

The University of Melbourne’s EV Management and Time-of-Use Tariffs report explores possible approaches to mitigate impacts from residential EV chargers on distribution networks. The report is part of the collaborative EV Integration project between Energy Networks Australia, University of Melbourne, the Centre for New Energy Technologies, and the Australian Power Institute.

This report investigates the effectiveness of EV management strategies and time of use (ToU). Selected rural and urban feeders (powerlines) for New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria were considered in the study. It should be noted that

the results presented apply to those feeders only, not the whole distribution network.

EV management strategy

There is a range of EV charging management strategies. This study utilised direct management of chargers, given it did not require models of low voltage (LV) feeders which are not readily available for most distribution network service providers (DNSPs). Sensors were installed on certain locations on the feeder to measure and monitor thermal and voltage changes. When the sensors detected changes outside optimal operating limits, a signal was sent to the EV chargers to connect or disconnect.

The report is not recommending which entity should manage these chargers, but rather aims to investigate the effectiveness of EV management strategies in terms of the impacts on customers and networks.

Some of high-level findings detailed in the report include:

» Number of impacted customers: Most EV customers were not impacted by the EV management strategy. Even for the worst-performing feeder (rural Victoria), 62 per cent of customers were not impacted at 100 per cent EV penetration (100 per cent penetration means all residential customers connected to the feeder have EVs)

» Charging time: Implementing the direct EV management strategy could increase the charging time by maximum of three hours, while the average time increase was one hour. In a small number of cases, the charging time was increased by more than three hours

» Location: Customers in urban areas were found to be much less likely to be impacted by higher EV penetration compared with customers in rural areas. Rural areas required much more significant management (e.g. approximately 38 per cent of customers were impacted in the rural VIC feeder considered in this study)

» Hosting capacity: The findings show that a two to fourtimes increase in hosting capacity could be achieved with acceptable impacts (delays) to customers, as the EVs would still be charged by the morning

Time-of-use tariffs

ToU tariffs can be used to incentivise customers to shift their charging time to off-peak periods. The ToU strategy investigated in this study aims to understand the rate of customer adoption of ToU to the EV hosting capacity, i.e. how many customers needed to adopt ToU to reduce network issues.

Some of the high-level findings detailed in the report include:

» ToU adoption rate vs EV hosting capacity: If 20 to 40 per cent customers are on ToU tariff, the EV hosting capacity can be increased by 20 per cent

» ToU tariffs might not be enough on their own: In some congested feeders, the ToU tariffs need to be combined with an additional solution, e.g. an EV management strategy

» Additional benefits beyond increasing hosting capacity: Generally, higher adoption of ToU tariffs reduce the magnitude of asset congestion, which means less investment is needed to manage these issues. This could provide a better value-for-money return for customers and DNSPs

The main take away from the study is that implementing an EV management strategy could help increase EV hosting capacity and reduce network issues. Combining EV management with ToU tariffs can maximise these benefits and save customers money in bills by increasing network utilisation and reducing the need for investment.

Generally, such solutions can be considered for the short or medium-term given that they do not require detailed models of LV networks and significant asset replacement or augmentation. These solutions may be applicable for the long term if modified and combined with other approaches to form a complete solution.

GOOD NEWS FOR BACKYARD OWNERS

Australia leads the world in rooftop solar penetration, with a household penetration rate of over 30 per cent. As our love of solar continues to grow, it's important to consider the solutions available when a rooftop installation isn't an option.

As the Australian solar PV market shifts from rapid to qualitative growth, backyard owners are putting forward new requirements for installations.

Owners are now looking at factors like cost reduction, installed capacity and convenient installation of solar stations, so it's important that solar retailers are across these factors too. Many owners are now looking at ground-mounted solar arrays, which provide convenient access for maintaining solar panels, and remove the limitation of rooftop installation restrictions.

ANTAI is introducing a universal ground mounting system to the Australian market. Designed and certified according to Australian standards, this ground mounting solution is standardised to fit 18

solar panels with sizes up to 2300x1200mm. It also features flexible adjustments to allow 20°, 25°, and 30° install angles, which helps users to optimise orientation and tilt to obtain maximum efficiency in energy collection from the sun.

With the combination of steel and high-strength aluminium, the ANTAI ground mounting solution will be easy to install and meet all economic and aesthetic requirements, provide savings on material and installation costs due to the reduced number of components involved, and offer a shorter installation time with mostly preassembled structures.

This new solution is reliable, efficient, low-cost, and sustainable, responding to new market segments and benefiting commercial and industrial users.

Want to reach energy industry decision makers?

In B2B, the sales cycle is long. You’ll always have people at different stages of the buying cycle, so your marketing needs to be always on.

Decision makers in the energy industry gain information from a wide range of sources. The team at Energy are able to provide a complete range of marketing solutions:

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We also have a team of editors, designers and marketing experts who specialise in the energy sector and can help make the most of your campaign.

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www.energymagazine.com.au

by Imogen Hartmann, Editor, Energy magazine

CROWDFUNDING CONSUMERS DRIVING CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENT

Australia’s 2022 federal election was colloquially named the ‘climate change election’. With the Australian Labor Party, as well as a surge of minor parties and independents, receiving overwhelming voter support, the Australian public’s demand for stronger action on climate change and net zero targets was made clear. But the energy transition will take a serious amount of investment in renewable energy resources – so who pays? Recent trends have seen an uptick in crowdfunded energy projects, indicating that communities aren’t just taking action on climate change with their voting ballots, but with their wallets too.

In May, as the initial election results began to trickle in, Solar Citizens’ Deputy Director, Stephanie Gray, said, “Australians have cast their vote for a cleaner future.

“They’ve thrown their support behind Labor’s commitments to increase the country’s 2030 emissions reduction target, hasten the transition to clean and cheap renewable energy, and make electric transport more affordable.”

Indeed, in June, the Federal Government submitted a new 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement to increase the national emission reduction target to 43 per cent by 2030.

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive, Kane Thornton, said the new emissions reduction target for 2030 gave the green light to renewable energy investors, with its latest edition of the Clean Energy Outlook – Confidence Index revealing that 79 per cent of investors said an improved 2030 emissions reduction target would increase their confidence for future investment.

But, just as more consumers are evolving into prosumers, a new energy investor profile is emerging in the form of the Australian public. Here, we look at some examples of crowdfunded energy projects and examine what this means for broader consumer participation in the energy market.

What is crowdfunding?

Equity crowdfunding, or crowd-sourced funding (CSF), has existed in the UK since around 2011, but only became legal in Australia in 2018. Since then, companies spruiking beauty products, nail salons, cleaning supplies, and plant-based food products have raised millions of dollars through CSF. So, what is it and how does it work?

CSF is when small-to-medium-sized companies or unlisted startups raise money from public investors through a licensed equity crowdfunding platform. The funds can be collected from an unlimited number of investors who typically contribute small amounts of money and receive a proportional shareholding in return.

There are some caveats though – the CSF platforms are required to run checks on interested companies and charge eligible businesses fees and a commission, which is a percentage of the funds raised, in order to turn a profit.

Companies can raise a maximum of $5 million a year through CSF, and investors can contribute between $50-$10,000, with a five-day cooling-off period to allow for a change of mind.

CSF allows businesses to have an uncapped amount of investors and gives consumers the chance to invest in the early stages of a business for an accessible price tag – with the potential to see a good financial return. It also allows consumers the opportunity to support ideas and projects that appeal to their own values, with many companies using equity crowdfunding to push a strong social or environmental mission.

Grong Grong Solar Farm to lower energy bills

In May 2022, Grong Grong Solar Farm commenced a crowd equity campaign to fund the construction of a 1.7MW facility in the Riverina region, which would see the company sell power to the New South Wales wholesale energy market, in addition to renewable energy certificates that will be sold to commercial customers.

It was the first time Australians were able to invest in building a solar farm using the crowd equity finance model, providing direct ownership to the community as support for renewables grows.

The result was a $750,000 capital raise in just eight days, with the minimum raise target of $250,000 hit in just 80 minutes.

Grong Grong Solar Farm Co-Founder, Jonathan Prendergast, said recent increases in the cost of wholesale electricity were

driving consumers to look for alternative ways to support the transition to renewables and ultimately lower their household energy bill.

Working with local farmer Gemma Purcell, the solar farm is to be established on a 4ha patch of her grain and sheep farm on the outskirts of Grong Grong, one hour west of Wagga Wagga.

Following a phase of planning and grid studies, Grong Grong Solar Farm partnered with the Community Power Agency and Pingala to secure a $1.3 million grant from the NSW Regional Community Energy Fund and an extendable 20-year land licence with Development Approval from Narrandera Shire Council.

“The beauty of solar is that it is scalable,” a spokesperson said.

“We thought, wouldn’t it be great if more small-to-medium-scale solar farms were added to the mix, making them more accessible to power regional towns and for investment by everyday Australians?”

Grong Grong Solar Farm Co-Founder, Gerald Arends, said Australia was the perfect environment for community-owned solar projects.

“Australians lead the world in rooftop solar – now we believe we can expand that interest into owning shares in community solar farms,” Mr Arends said.

“The models combine the efficiency of mid-scale solar farms in strategically selected locations with community investment, a funding model that is popular overseas.

“It’s a key part of our mission to develop an ecosystem of local contractors and consultants to assist in the delivery and maintenance of these solar farms, providing jobs and investment opportunities for the immediate community.

“Grong Grong Solar Farm will be located on an exceptional site to prototype an Australian community-owned solar generation business and we are grateful to have found an incredibly supportive landowner such as Gemma to form this wonderful partnership with.”

LINE Hydrogen’s unconventional crowdfund

In early June, LINE Hydrogen, an Australian startup hydrogen energy company, launched a crowdfunding campaign via Birchal with the aim to raise around $2 million to kick-start Tasmania’s hydrogen industry.

The campaign was launched following a successful expression of interest phase that saw upwards of 1,000 Australians sign up. By 16 June, the CSF closed with a total of $1,387,308 raised from 638 investors.

“I guess it is unusual for a company like us to go through a crowdfund. We went into the process on the back of quite a lot of requests on social media, and so we thought we’d give it a shot,”

LINE Hydrogen Founder, Brendan James, said.

LINE said it was “aware of the eagerness of environmentallyconscious Australians to help accelerate the green energy transition” and was therefore “welcoming investors from all walks of life to support the campaign”.

The community support will add to the $5 million in funding that the new Labor Federal Government pledged to LINE as part of its Tasmanian funding initiatives, which LINE said was a confirmation of a hydrogen-powered future for Australia.

Mr James said that support from government, industry and the community would be critical in achieving net-zero ambitions.

“We need to take action now,” Mr James said. “The new Government has made it clear that Australian hydrogen should be produced by Australian companies for all Australians, and now is the time for all Australians to have a say in our green future.”

Based alongside the Bell Bay Solar Farm in Tasmania, LINE Hydrogen plans to produce green hydrogen from early 2023.

“Our mission is to be Australia’s leading new energy producer, integrating both the production and end-use market demand by delivering near-term commercial-scale green Hydrogen. We aim to achieve this by providing cost-competitive hydrogen supply while facilitating and engineering end-use market demand,” Mr James said.

Though the Queensland-based company has received funding from cornerstone investors, it said its crowdfunding campaign allowed future-focused Australians to play a role in the green energy transition.

“Ultimately, what we want is a significant amount of Australians owning the Australian hydrogen economy,” Mr James said.

Enova Community Energy’s tumultuous journey

In 2018, Australia’s first community-owned renewable energy retailer, Enova Community Energy, partnered with one of the

Pictured (L-R): Gerald Arends, Grong Grong Solar Farm Director, Jonathan Prendergast, Grong Grong Solar Farm Director and Gemma Purcell, Meier Farms, Solarfarm Landholder.

country’s first equity crowdfunding platforms, Crowd88, to fund its expansion across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

Enova’s focus on community-led energy ownership had seen the company successfully establish itself since its launch two years earlier, and so had launched the equity crowdfunding to generate between $600,000 and $3 million with a minimum investment of just $100 for 100 shares.

At the point of launching the crowdfund, Enova had already achieved its initial target customer numbers of 5,000, including 300 local businesses, and was generating $5.2 million in annual revenue.

“Enova is a social enterprise. We are tracking towards a 100 per cent renewable model where local homes and businesses produce, consume and share Australia’s abundant solar resource, supported by other sources of renewables and batteries,” former Enova Chair, Alison Crook, said at the time.

Although the company did not publish the results of its 2018 crowdfunding campaign, it went on to see plenty of sustainability success over the next four years. Enova rose to be the number one green retailer in the country in 2022, after being ranked first and being rated 5 stars in the Green Electricity Guide by Greenpeace.

However, unfortunately, on 21 June 2022, Enova Community Energy announced that it was forced to enter into voluntary administration due to the unfolding energy crisis and prevailing market conditions, which meant that it was no longer able to acquire suitable wholesale energy price hedging.

In a statement, Enova’s Managing Director and CEO, Felicity Stening, said that the current “diabolical state of the energy market” was “broken” and “does not support small retailers”.

Enova is currently in the process of settling liabilities as part of the administration process, which includes shareholders, lenders, and suppliers.

Risks and rewards

Historically, investors in an early-stage startup could wear up to tens of thousands of dollars, and would need to submit a hefty load of paperwork, requiring a substantially high level of financial literacy. CSF removes many of those barriers for early-stage investors, and connects the community with projects and products that they’re passionate about.

Hamish Landreth, a financial consultant at Prosperity Wealth Advisers, told The Guardian Australia that for many consumers, the opportunity to become a shareholder in a business they cared about was “quite a compelling proposition, perhaps more so than something like being a tiny shareholder in a major bank”.

For those that want to see greener energy generation, reliable storage and lower bills, investing in CSF energy projects can bridge the gap between consumers, generators and retailers, allowing the former to take action on things like climate change and net zero targets.

However, all investment carries risks – which can be especially true of startups or new ventures. Even when a new business sees success, it can take a while before it starts turning a profit, meaning that it’s unlikely that CSF investors will see a return on their money in the short term. In addition, due to CSF terms and conditions, shares bought often cannot be sold on and so the investor will be ‘locked in’ to the shareholding.

Enova Community Energy’s difficulty with the current energy crisis also serves as a cautionary tale that, though an essential service, investing in energy still carries a significant risk – especially as many other small energy retailers struggle to stay afloat in the current energy market.

That being said, Ms Stening maintains that there needs to be a diverse range of retailers in the energy market for the sake of the consumer.

“Retail energy is a complex and difficult market for smaller organisations to operate in. However, small and medium retailers provide a much-needed alternative to the big players to maintain and ensure consumers have choice,” Ms Stening said.

The difficult energy crisis has put an increasing amount of pressure on the market, and the retailers and suppliers operating within it. But, that doesn’t seem to have had an impact on the change that the Australian public is demanding to see in cleaner energy generation and net zero targets. So, whether it be through individual projects or ongoing retail organisations, it seems that CSF will provide choice and agency to consumers around their energy in a way that they’ve perhaps never had before.

Crowdfunding has existed in the UK since 2011, but was only legalised in Australia in 2018.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR VEHICLE FLEET ELECTRIFICATION

Electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Australia is on the up, but it’s still some way behind global trends. EVs accounted for just two per cent of Australia’s new car sales in 2021, compared to 17 per cent in Europe and nine per cent globally1. As these trends continue, fleet owners will need to arm themselves with the right knowledge and equipment to make the most of the benefits EVs have to offer.

Australia is now following the path of governments around the world and the EV market will soon feel the benefit of additional incentives. Import taxes on EVs are to be scrapped, plus a Fringe Benefits

Tax exemption will make EVs a more economic choice for businesses and their employees.

The financial benefits of EVs will therefore become increasingly apparent to fleet owners, but to transition, they’ll need to think beyond just the purchase of EVs or the demands of the current fleet. Ensuring fleets carrying out mission-critical services are powered by reliable and scalable infrastructure is essential.

There are a number of crucial elements to any fleet electrification project:

Fleet usage

Firstly, the existing fleet’s operating pattern and usage of a site needs to be assessed. This might include metrics such as the anticipated daily mileage of the vehicles, travel routes, dwell time and details of the proposed vehicle models.

Scalability is also vital. An electric fleet is likely to grow significantly over time, and the infrastructure needs to be able to integrate vehicles now and well into the future, or risk costly adjustments.

Energy capacity

It’s important to check that the energy capacity is sufficient to power the required charging infrastructure. A site review should be conducted to determine how many metered supplies exist, the capacity of each, and how they are configured. Simulations should be run to understand how many vehicles can be charged with the available energy supply and when a grid upgrade will be required.

Larger vehicles like buses and trucks will likely need robust site designs and grid upgrades, coupled with smart solutions for

1. https://www.carsguide.com.au/ev/advice/how-many-electric-cars-are-there-in-australia-83262

load management, so getting the infrastructure design right at the outset is vital.

Charging hardware

Technology evolves quickly, so the hardware (chargers) must be interoperable as the industry develops. While AC chargers can be an effective solution for car, van and some six-wheeler truck fleets that are operating one wave of trips a day, bus and most truck operators are now opting for DC to provide greater scalability, charging speed and future-proofing.

The right solution also depends on whether the vehicles can rely solely on overnight charging or require opportunity and/or destination charging.

Management software

Fleet owners need a charge point management system that can integrate new vehicles. The right software helps operators manage fleets profitably and reliably, with access to real-time data. Using hardware-agnostic management software will mean it is compatible with chargers from different manufacturers. Higher-quality software can also manage charging scheduling and optimisation, integration with telematics, smart meters, billing systems, and the smart grid.

Operations and maintenance

Finally, operators need reliable third-party partners for ongoing hardware maintenance, preferably who can carry out remote monitoring and diagnostics via management software. They must look at the response time maintenance partners will commit to and check they have enough trained engineers in place across all the geographies they operate in.

The move to EVs will be good for business, as well as the planet. But it’s important that operators move quickly and plan carefully to ensure charging infrastructure can adapt to growing fleet demands.

Speak with Greentech Sydney today to learn more about EO Chargers. Call (02) 9980 7580

LITHIUM-SULFUR BATTERIES: T HE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

by Imogen Hartmann,

Ask any energy expert what the key ingredient to maximising the efficiency and reliability of renewable energy is and they’ll tell you: the ability to store it cheaply. Australia is ripe with options for generating renewable energy and projects are underway across the country to advance transmission, but ultimately, cost-effective storage solutions will be integral to transitioning our energy system and meeting net zero targets. Researchers from Monash University have created a new class of lithium-sulfur batteries that far outpace and outlast their lithium-ion counterparts.

Ateam from Monash University’s Faculty of Engineering, led by Professor Matthew Hill, Dr Mahdokht Shaibani and Professor Mainak Majumber, are behind the breakthrough in lithium battery development which centres around a new lithium-sulfur battery interlayer that promotes exceptionally fast lithium transfer, as well as improving the performance and lifetime of the batteries.

The lithium-sulfur battery development, which was funded by the Australian Research Council and Monash University, is cheaper, greener, and enables the charge and discharge of batteries and discharge of energy at a much faster rate than previously offered, with the capacity to be manufactured in Australia.

Lithium-sulfur batteries: a hot commodity

As the world increasingly swaps fossil fuel power for emissionsfree electrification, lithium batteries are becoming a vital storage tool to facilitate the energy transition. They are the go-to choice to power everything from household devices like mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles to major industries such as aviation and marine technology.

Lithium-sulfur batteries offer higher energy density and reduced costs compared to the previous generation of lithium-ion batteries, and they can store two-to-five times as much energy by weight as the current generation of lithium-ion batteries. This means a car with one of these batteries might only need to be charged once a week.

However, previously, the electrodes in lithium-sulfur batteries deteriorated rapidly and the batteries broke down. The new interlayer delivers high capacity and long life.

Additionally, lithium-sulfur batteries do not rely on metals like cobalt, nickel and manganese, which are critical minerals found in lithium-ion batteries. These metals are dwindling in supply globally and are often mined in places with high sovereign risk. Sulfur is in abundant supply in Australia and is considered a waste or by-product.

“These batteries are not dependent on minerals that are going to lack supply as the electrification revolution proceeds, so this is another step towards cheaper, cleaner and higher-performing batteries that could be made within Australia,” Professor Hill said.

Developing the technology

“A lithium battery interlayer sits in the middle of the battery and keeps the electrodes apart. It helps lithium get from one side of the battery to the other faster. The new interlayer overcomes the slower charge and discharge rates of previous generation lithiumsulfur batteries,” Professor Hill said.

Professor Hill explained that the interlayer is comprised of special materials that reject polysulfides, chemicals within the battery that can shorten the lifetime if they are allowed to move around freely, and at the same time speeds up how fast lithium can move from one side of the battery to the other, which assists in how fast you can charge or discharge it.

“All this is possible because we made a material that we call SPAF-1, which has tiny holes inside that are the perfect size to allow lithium through and encourage them to move fast. The holes also

have a chemical charge on them that stops the polysulfides from entering,” Professor Hill said.

“The development process can track back as far as 2011 when I first discovered these kinds of materials for a completely separate use – cleaning up natural gas sources.

“Our team has been working directly on using the interlayer in lithium-sulfur batteries for around five years now, and we have been working on these batteries more generally for a total of eight years.”

Challenges and opportunities

“The hardest thing with a discovery like this is optimising what ends up being a witch’s brew of components,” Professor Hill said.

Professor Hill said that several active ingredients are mixed to improve the battery performance, but, in order to optimise efficiency, an understanding of the mechanism’s operation is needed to reach peak performance.

“This requires lots of complicated experiments and detailed analysis to bring together,” Professor Hill said.

Despite these challenges, however, Professor Hill said the increased lifetime of the battery (e.g. how many cycles it can be used for), as well as the speed of charging and discharging of the battery, can provide major benefits.

The increased longevity can be attributed to the uniquely designed interlayer, which controls the polysulfides that occur within the battery.

“Lithium-sulfur batteries have the formation of a family of chemicals known as polysulfides, which occur as they are used,” Professor Hill said.

“If left alone, these polysulfides move across the battery and react with the lithium metal anode in undesirable ways. This can cause the formation of little wires of lithium which we call dendrites, and pretty soon a short circuit can happen, and the battery can no longer be charged or discharged.

“The interlayer controls where the polysulfides can travel inside the battery, keeping them on the cathode side.

“What’s exciting is that we managed to do this at the same time as also helping the lithium to travel faster.”

Commercialisation and cost: the early stages

According to Professor Hill, the next key step will be to create a larger version of the battery, which is expected to improve investor confidence in the lithium-sulfur battery’s commercial-scale viability.

Professor Hill said that, although it’s still very much in the early stages in terms of putting a price on the interlayer, the narrowness of the material is a great start.

“The key thing is that it is very very thin – so we don’t need much material to make it work,” Professor Hill said.

Professor Hill said the lithium-sulfur battery interlayer has the potential for mass manufacture, and holds similar attributes to other porous materials that have been translated to industry for commercial use.

Time will tell how we see the technology utilised in the broader industry, but for Professor Hill and his colleagues, the future of the lithium-sulfur battery is bright.

THE GREEN ALTERNATIVE TO WIND TURBINE BRAKE PADS

Brake pad wear dust is a reality of operating a wind farm, and the environmental implications from brake pad wear dust particles can be serious. It’s important for wind farm operators to consider a brake pad product that performs its technical function to an elite level, as well as being an environmentally friendly product for the people working on site and in close proximity to wind farms.

One of the environmental considerations that comes with operating a wind farm is the fact that brake pads in wind turbines will generally result, at some point of time, in brake pad wear dust. The amount of brake pad wear dust, and the size of wear dust particles generated by a wind turbine will vary greatly, and is directly related to how brake pads are used (for example, how often they are activated, the disc material, the pressure and load on the brake pads, and many other factors).

Rising to the challenge

Svendborg Brakes realises that managing the impacts of brake pad wear dust is a serious consideration for wind farm operators.

As well as recommending that crews working in close proximity to turbines and brake pads use gloves, eye protection and an FP2 mask where exposure to wear dust is possible, Svendborg Brakes products have been specifically designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

But the reality is that brake pad wear dust is a factor in wind turbine operation, and it can have an environmental cost.

Investigating the options

Recognising the challenge of managing brake pad wear dust, brake pad manufacturer Svendborg Brakes decided to explore the wear dust generated by their product, and two competitor products, undertaking a range of tests in a controlled environment at the Svendborg Brakes Test Center.

The results showed that approximately 95 per cent of the particles generated in the wear dust tests were within 10μm (small enough to enter the lungs, or inhalable), and about 80 per cent of the particles within 5μm (small enough to reach the alveoli, or respirable).

Testing on the particles generated also showed that 25 per cent of the dust generated was from the disc, with the remaining 75 per cent of dust was from the brake pads.

Looking at the amount of dust generated in the tests, Svendborg Brakes generated 16g of dust, with Competitor 1 generating 79g and Competitor 2 generating 132g.

As seen in the results above, Svendborg Brakes generate less brake pad wear dust than competitors; but in addition, Svendborg Brakes friction materials have been developed according to REACH legislation. REACH is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to reduce the levels of dangerous chemicals in industrial products.

In short, by adhering to this legislation, Svendborg Brakes friction materials are asbestos free and contain:

» Less than 0.1 per cent of Mercury, Chromium +6 and Lead

» Less than 0.01 per cent of Cadmium

As well as this, all electrical items comply with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive; and Svendborg Brakes also strives to comply with all automotive rules and directives, related to both original equipment (OE) and aftermarket (AM) applications.

When it comes to managing the environmental considerations that come with operating a wind farm, there are many factors to be considered.

Ensuring wind turbine brake pads meet industry and community safety and environmental expectations is just one of these; but with Svendborg Brakes, wind turbine operators can feel comfortable that they’re working with a manufacturer that values environmental protection.

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HOW TO MANAGE FUTURE WASTE FROM WIND TURBINE BLADES

by Professor Peter Majewski, Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia

WWith 824GW of capacity and about 300,000 wind turbines installed worldwide, wind power is an essential element in the necessary decarbonisation of global electric power generation. Australia currently has a wind generation capacity of about 9GW, lower than nations like Germany, Spain, Netherlands, UK, USA, and the Scandinavian nations. However, it is predicted this number will significantly increase in Australia, particularly as the push for green hydrogen accelerates the uptake of wind power.

ind turbine blades generally have a designed lifetime of about 20 years, so a significant number of blades will need to be decommissioned over the next two decades. For example, in Germany, one of the most advanced wind energy markets in the European Union, about 33 per cent of wind turbines, with a combined output of about 17GW, are older than 15 years.

Similar situations exist in other EU countries with significant wind energy markets, like Spain (57 per cent of turbines older than 15 years), Denmark (33 per cent), and Netherlands (21 per cent). It has been reported that in Europe alone, currently more than 3,800 wind turbine blades will have to be removed every year.

Overall, wind turbines have a good recyclability rate of 85 to 90 per cent, as components like the foundation, tower, parts of the gearbox and generator are recyclable and are already treated as such. However, recycling turbine blades is still a major challenge,

as they are mainly made of glass fibre and carbon fibre composite materials which are difficult to recycle and of minimal value, with a lack of a market for the recirculated material.

Based on the current rate of uptake of wind power in Australia, about 10,000 tonnes of waste per year from wind turbine blades can be expected over the next few years, increasing to about 20,000 tonnes per year in 2030 and around 300,000 tonnes per year by 2050. The cumulative waste volume is estimated to reach millions of tonnes by 2050.

Recycling and reuse of the embedded materials or entire parts of the blades, as well as governing legislations for their end-of-life management will, therefore, be necessary to address this looming waste legacy.

Legislating for sustainable practices

Countries like Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Finland make a clear reference to composite materials in their waste

legislation, which does not allow composites to be disposed of in landfill or incinerated. France is considering introducing a recycling target for wind turbines in its regulatory framework.

Landfill bans or taxes, combined with legislation that provides incentives for manufacturers, R&D providers, and wind farm operators, to achieve circular economy solutions can act as a driver to change industrial practices and stimulate the development of more environmentally effective processes. Incentives can be financial or support systems that encourage the collection, recycling, and reuse of the product as well as related R&D work, and provide a related sustainable support base.

Under an Extended Producer Responsibility (ERP) scheme, a manufacturer must consider and take responsibility for what needs to be done with the product at the end of its useful life. EPRs have been widely applied in Europe to products such as packaging, batteries, electronic equipment, and cars as a policy instrument to stimulate recycling and prevention of consumer waste.

For example, packaging producers are required to collect at least 55 per cent of packaging waste for recycling (directive 2004/12/ EC) and, since 2016, battery producers are requested to collect 45 per cent of the batteries that are sold in Europe (2006/66/EC). As a result, annually in Europe, three million tons of packaging waste and 37,000 tonnes of spent batteries are collected for recycling and diverted from landfills.

To economically achieve these legally imposed targets, producers typically finance a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) that subsidises and monitors waste collection and recycling facilities for such products.

Another option for legislating the end-of-life management of wind turbine blades may be similar to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), and particularly the Business-toBusiness (B2B) model. Under such legislation, the producer must declare what adequate resources are available to finance environmentally sound management of the waste that is generated by the product at its end of life.

Alternatively, the EU End-of-life Vehicle Directive provides an interesting option for managing wind turbine waste. In accordance with the directive, producers should manufacture vehicles that allow reuse and recycling of the materials. For example, vehicles disposed of after 2015 should allow 95 per cent recovery with minimum 85 per cent recycling. Producers are responsible for the disposal of the vehicles.

In Australia, existing legislation like the WEEE or an ERP scheme may not be sufficient for wind turbine blades. However, a scheme that combines suitable components of such legislation might be a step toward a solution, potentially reducing waste through recycling and reuse of wind turbine blades, while simultaneously encouraging industry and R&D providers to develop and use easier-to-recycle materials and designs for wind turbine blades.

Planning for end of life from the beginning

For new wind farms, the existence of a binding ERP and B2B agreement between manufacturers and operators of wind farms could be a prerequisite for approving new wind farms, similar to environmental planning and assessment regulations. Such a binding agreement should outline how wind turbine blades will be managed, cost sharing agreements, and the various responsibilities of all parties to action the end-of-life processes.

Such legislation would also need to request the provision of funds from all parties to ensure that the agreed end-of-life processes can be actioned even if a partner has ceased business operations during the lifetime of the wind farm.

In keeping with existing recycling legislation, the recycling of wind turbines should have related recovery and recycling rates, like end-of-life vehicle legislation. However, to avoid such targets resulting in the recycling of only valuable parts of the wind turbine and not the blades, recovery and recycling targets can be articulated for each of the major parts of a wind turbine – tower and base, nacelle, and wind turbine blades.

For existing wind farms, and especially those that have been operating for some time, legislation requests for recycling of wind turbine blades would be very difficult to implement, as the business cases for these wind farms presumably do not always consider recycling of wind turbine blades and the related costs or cost sharing. However, wind farms that have only been operating for a few years may compensate for the additional cost over the lifetime of the wind farm.

A B2B model would ensure that legislators have a clear understanding of the end-of-life management of wind turbine blades outlined in detail by wind turbine manufacturers and wind farm operators, and the ability to monitor declared actions by the involved business at the end of the blade’s productive life.

The problem of waste from wind turbine blades highlights a general characteristic of renewable energy systems in the way that they produce a significant, but unavoidable, waste volume at the end of their productive life. While these energy generation systems are essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the expected waste volume is in the millions of tons within the next couple of decades, as wind power and solar power require more material than conventional energy generation.

The question is, therefore, how to manage the waste in the future, rather than how to avoid the waste.

UTILITY CYBER SECURITY: YOUR PEOPLE ARE YOUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE

by Christopher Allan, Journalist, Energy magazine

A recent industry panel at the 2022 Digital Utilities summit has taken a fresh look at opportunities and challenges for cyber security in the utilities sector. The panellists represented a diverse range of cyber security experiences in the utilities sector, including perspectives from water and energy corporations, government departments as well as technology companies. Here we revisit some of the key discussions that emerged from the panel – from embodying cyber security organisation wide, to getting to know the next generation of cyber security workers.

The panel was held as part of the Digital Utilities summit and was chaired by Jessica Dickers, Editor of Infrastructure and Utility magazines.

The four participating panellists were Marianna Vosloo, Executive General Manager, Digital, Energy Queensland; Anafrid Bennet, Water Sector Interim Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Department of Premier and Cabinet Cyber Security Branch, and Head of IT & Security Operations, Greater Western Water; David Worthington, General Manager – Digital Security and Risk, Jemena; and Craig Scott, National Manager, Sales & Marketing, Madison Technologies.

Against the background of converging IT and OT, greater uptake of new technologies and vast digitalisation of industries, the panel ignited a fresh dialogue on what cyber security looks like at the level of the utility.

A challenge for the energy sector in particular will be embedding cyber security teams and practices within this new digital landscape, ensuring both physical and digital infrastructure are resilient to new threats and disasters.

The current state of cyber – are we doing enough?

When asked about the current state of cyber security in Australia’s utilities and whether there was more to be done, the panellists built a clear picture of current issues and opportunities for doing more when it comes to cyber.

Anafrid Bennet offered a globally minded understanding of the cyber security landscape.

“When it comes to the current state of cyber, I think change is the only constant, and that also applies to our evolving threat landscape,” Ms Bennet said.

“The different ways of working that we have, the current climate and geopolitical tensions, the pandemic, vast digital transformation, convergence between IT and OT, next generation technologies – all these contribute to the evolving threat landscape.”

Ms Bennet identified ransomware and risks relating to multi-cloud and hybrid cloud security as specific threats needing response.

“As an industry, we kind of play catchup – It’s our security mindset that has to change, and we also have to start looking at investing in our next generation to bridge the skill gap.”

Marianne Vosloo shared that the responsiveness to cyber security at the board level speaks to a willingness in industry to take cyber seriously, before emphasising opportunities to improve cyber security responses moving forward.

“It’s not possible to protect an organisation 100 per cent. While we are spending a lot of effort and time on the protection and detection side, it’s just as important to focus on the response – what we do with it, and how comfortable we are with it,” Ms Vosloo said.

“If I look at Energy Queensland Limited, we are excellent in responses to a particular emergency event like a flood or a cyclone – we need to get as fluent in our responses from a cyber perspective.”

David Worthington emphasised the co-evolution of security and threat actors.

“None of us are doing less technology at the moment,” Mr Worthington said.

“The other side of the coin is there’s another group of people who are involved in this issue – we have a lot of threat actors out there that are pretty active.

“They’re getting smarter and they’re getting better – so there’s a continual need to improve, operate and maintain what we’re doing.”

Craig Scott supported previous remarks on the current state of cyber before touching on workforce factors.

“We know that we are dealing with aged infrastructure, but we also have a very mature workforce, and part of that workforce is an aging workforce,” Mr Scott said.

“The transfer of knowledge to a younger generation coming through will certainly help in the cyber security and resilience space.”

From building a cyber team to organisation-wide safety

When it comes to building a cyber security team in the utility sector, Mr Worthington shared from his experiences at Jemena that finding organisation-wide success goes beyond the mere size of the team.

“We have a reasonable sized team – about 15 or so internal staff alongside contractors and partners that we regularly work with and help with 24/7 coverage and instant response,” Mr Worthington said.

“But you can't just grow a nice, big cyber security team and think that will solve all your problems. That’s not really how this works – it really is a whole-ofbusiness problem.

“If you're a rotating plant engineer at a gas network and you're buying a turbine – well, now you have requirements around cyber security, and you need to have some skills in that space.”

Ms Bennet drew on her experiences at both Greater Western Water and the Department of Premier and Cabinet to share the value of “building security champions across the business” that act as “the eyes for the security team”.

“We all speak about DevSecOps, but we cannot have a DevSecOps capability sitting only within the security team – you have to also build that capability within the development team.”

Ms Vosloo shared that at Energy Queensland, organisation-wide cyber security involves a “virtual team” built from different departments including IT, OT and physical security.

“The important part here at Energy Queensland is that we look at these different teams and we work together,” Ms Vosloo said.

“We need to be linked to the hip and form a virtual team to ensure that we protect in the right way, and that when an incident happens, we can respond similarly and everybody knows exactly how they play in different spaces.”

Mr Scott shared from his role at Madison Technologies that awareness is a continuous conversation when fostering cyber safety across teams and organisations.

“The teams within Madison Technologies do conduct annual awareness training, and we are also constantly tested by our IT department to see whether we're actually keeping up to speed on things,” Mr Scott explained.

“They'll throw us small curve balls just to test our knowledge, through email phishing attacks and this type of thing. Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we might get it wrong – what it does is keep cyber security front of mind.”

Your people are your first line of defence

When responding to the phrase ‘your people are your first line of defence’, Ms Bennet reiterated that people are the cornerstone and “cultural foundation” of building cyber resilience within the business.

“People are definitely our assets – they are the first line, the last line, and the best line of defense.”

“We encourage our people to talk more on cyber security matters to bring that

awareness closer to their homes, families, and life.

“Our goal is to make sure that cyber safe practices are not only done within a corporate environment, but it is kind of a second nature to our people, where we create cyber champions.”

Ms Bennet gave the example of how developing engaging cyber awareness programs can help foster cyber champions.

“We created a bespoke cyber game where one can achieve what they want while also learning safe cyber practices and tips useful in both their corporate and personal lives.”

For Mr Scott, the phrase ‘your people are your first line of defence’ reminds us that digital technologies are still at the mercy of objectives and strategies devised by people.

“When you think about it, that piece of hardware and software is ultimately a dumb device without people implementing with clear objective and strategy – without people providing their own level of skill, brain power and competence.”

For Mr Worthington, ‘your people are your first line of defence’ is less about cyber awareness and more about building upon the existing skills that many of us have.

“Awareness is a term I'm not super fond of – I'd prefer to use the term skills,” Mr Worthington explained.

“I think we're doing a disservice to what people are learning in this area if we call it awareness. If you've got children in school, they're already learning about these kinds of skills from prep onwards – It's now seen as a life skill for people.

“We can do the best we can in cyber security, but if someone goes and buys a product that’s completely insecure and puts it on the network – that’s a problem. Cyber will always be about people.”

From Ms Vosloo’s perspective, ‘your people are your first line of defence’

means recognising existing skills while also catering to the different interest levels and engagement patterns that people have in cyber.

“Recently we've partnered with Mimecast to do a set of awareness campaign videos – small, no longer than two minutes, very funny – videos that get people just thinking about simple things in cyber awareness,” Ms Vosloo explained.

“Our awareness campaigns were going down well, but we found that we had less than 50 per cent of the organisation looking at these videos on a timely basis – so now every month we release one.

“It was definitely clear that we had to find different channels to get people to respond and think about cyber in a different way.

Ms Vosloo also shared how establishing a cyber share at the start of meetings is another strategy to engage a broader set of the organisation on cyber issues and knowledge.

Soft skills and the next generation of cyber professionals

To conclude the panel, each panellist gave comments on the soft skills required of the next generation of cyber professionals.

Mr Worthington said, “From a technical skills point of view, I think for most cyber professionals, that's pretty well covered coming from a technical background – but maybe they don't have the soft skills needed to really push forward.”

“You can always learn technical skills, but those soft skills are going to be the real thing that's needed in the future.”

Ms Vosloo said, “I think the persistence to be able to influence is definitely one of the most important soft skills that's needed, and maybe curiosity as well – to be able to ask the right questions around behaviour and how people are looking at the cyber world.”

Mr Scott said, “I just take my very own kids, for example: You do some things at home and they're quick to say, ‘Hey, that's not cyber safe,’ – they're quick to call you out.”

“I believe that the professionals of the future will have cyber security as an innate part of their nature, and from that perspective, I actually think cyber going forward is actually looking good.”

Ms Bennet said, “Good communication skills, empathy, an ability to work in a team and independently where needed, critical thinking, and analytical skills – these are the skills that are really required.”

Industry panel – Utility cyber security: your people are your first line of defence. Left to right: Jessica Dickers, Craig Scott, Anafrid Bennet, Marianne Vosloo and David Worthington

ENERGY CRISIS INCREASES DEMAND FOR SOLAR BATTERIES

Households and businesses across Australia are facing soaring power bills since the start of the 2022-2023 financial year. The further risk of power outages on the east coast has partially caused a surge in demand for renewable technologies such as home batteries and rooftop solar.

According to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), residents in New South Wales are set to receive power bill increases of up to 18.3 per cent while residents in South Australia are expected to be hit with a 20 per cent increase and a 12.6 per cent increase in parts of Queensland. Although residents in Victoria and Western Australia are set to receive a comparatively smaller increase, the entire nation is on the brink of an energy crisis.

Australians seeking to reduce their reliance on the grid and reduce future power bills should consider investing in battery systems to future-proof against power bill shock and to alleviate concerns with increased power outages.

Batteries such as the Berlin German-made BAE tubular positive gel batteries offer proven protection against power outages and years of trouble-free use.

Younger technologies, such as the many lithium families of batteries, whilst offering some fantastic advantages, are also still very new to the market and offer some questions over longevity, recyclability and safety.

cells have market-leading cycle life, are inherently safe and offer fantastic capacity retention over the life of the product.

If you are interested in moving with the times and being an early adopter of these younger technologies, then the Zenaji lithium titanate offerings are a fantastic option as Lithium Titanate (LTO)

The tubular plate design of BAE solar batteries offers reliable, safe and steady performance with stable capacity over the life of the cell. Known for its long-cycle life with deep cycling capabilities, the BAE tubular grid casting uses antimony-free, lead calciumtin alloy which has very low corrosion characteristics and excellent endurance.

The dry-filling process with ‘red’ lead gives low plate deviations in tolerances and uniform filling of all the tubes which guarantees low mass shedding and positive active mass which has extensive contact with the conductive lead spines. The large internal surface area also gives stable capacity and high cycle life thus providing years of reliable energy output.

BAE solar batteries have a proven track record for performing in the harshest environments around the world. This makes BAE a suitable choice for Australian households and businesses, particularly those in outback locations in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, and Far North Queensland.

As one of the sunniest countries in the world with an average of 58 million petajoules of solar radiation received per year, BAE provides tremendous potential for power bill savings.

USING MACHINE LEARNING

FOR BUSHFIRE PREVENTION IN AUSTRALIA

Machine learning approaches are proactively mitigating the risk of bushfires caused by powerlines, ensuring the safe and regular supply of power to business and communities.

Altavec has been the trusted partner of Australian utilities for over 20 years. Delivering excellence in geospatial services via advanced geoanalytics, our technology platform empowers best-practice asset management using complex data to provide informed and actionable insights. Previously known as Geomatic, the new brand name Altavec reflects the provenance of past AusNet ownership and embraces the new ownership by Tech Mahindra.

Victorian-based energy network operator AusNet chooses to partner with Altavec to mitigate bushfire risk through proactive vegetation management. Helping to manage 54,000km of AusNet powerlines across the state of Victoria, Altavec uses the machine learning capabilities of Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) SageMaker platform to improve and scale its vegetation classification & analysis process. The machine learning approach proactively mitigates the risk of bushfires caused by powerlines ensuring the safe and regular supply of power to business and communities.

Since 2009, Altavec has been capturing light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data - a remote-sensing method also known as laser or 3D scanning. This feature rich data is used to create a 3D model of the entire AusNet network, helping to identify vegetation growth that needs to be trimmed for bushfire safety.

Increasing the automation level of the LiDAR classification process has been an area of development undertaken by Altavec over the past 12 months, with the aim of delivering scale, speed, and accuracy improvements. Partnering with the Amazon Machine Learning Solution Labs team, Altavec and AWS used Amazon SageMaker to build deep learning models that automate the classification of the LiDAR data in five specific vegetation management categories. This resulted in 80.53 per cent classification accuracy across these categories, saving Altavec customer AusNet, an estimated $500,000 in annual labour costs. The highly sophisticated and innovative solution developed by

the joint Altavec & AWS delivery team significantly reduces the hours spent manually correcting data points by up to 80 per cent, allowing vegetation classification and analysis outcomes to be achieved faster and at a much greater scale.

Nathanael Weldon, Machine Learning Specialist presented Altavec’s machine learning advancements at the AWS Summit Online Australia and New Zealand in May 2022. Altavec and AWS demonstrated how our advanced technology, built on top of AWS’ technology platform, is making asset and vegetation inspections more effective, safer and cheaper for electricity utilities, and ultimately bringing benefits to the whole community.

Already supporting power companies Ausgrid, Horizon Power and others across Australia, Altavec is preparing to expand its solutions across APAC and the world. Working with energy providers in New Zealand, Europe, and the United States of America, Altavec will provide innovative solutions that keep networks compliant and communities safe in an ever-changing and volatile environment.

Altavec provides end-to-end services for asset assessment including capture of LiDAR and imagery, identification of defects, field management systems including auditing and compliance, digital twins, and locational data services, all with the aim of keeping critical infrastructure, customers, and communities safe.

We are delivering the digital future to utilities, now..

For more information, please visit www.altavec.com or contact Andrea Powley, Head of Sales at Altavec on 0427 166 551 or solutions@altavec.com

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: THE SECRET SAUCE TO BILL RELIEF

by Imogen Hartmann, Editor, Energy magazine

As wholesale electricity and gas prices continued to soar in the first half of this year, the Energy Efficiency Council banded with a coalition of industry bodies to call on energy ministers to improve demand-side efficiency, energy management and fuel switching. Energy Magazine spoke with Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) CEO, Luke Menzel, about the critical role energy efficiency strategies will play in the current energy crisis and beyond.

Recently, industry members and policymakers alike have been grappling with the “perfect storm” that has become the National Electricity Market (NEM)’s energy crisis – a culmination of high gas and coal prices driven by shortages as a result of the war in Ukraine; unplanned outages of generators; and a cold start to winter.

The compounding of these challenges has created a serious situation in Australia’s energy markets. But while the industry is reeling from this state of affairs, Mr Menzel is focused on the retail impact of the crisis.

“From our point of view, it’s important to understand that the energy crisis will have real impacts on households and businesses,” Mr Menzel said.

“As high wholesale prices flow through to higher retail prices, there will be some vulnerable people in our community who will face significant energy hardship – particularly when you factor in other cost-of-living pressures like high food and petrol prices.

“There will probably be a more immediate impact on businesses that are exposed to the spot markets in electricity, but particularly in gas. Businesses could see their electricity and gas costs go up by 400-500 per cent, which is going to be catastrophic for energyintensive businesses.”

Unfortunately, Mr Menzel believes that there isn’t a huge amount the Federal Government can do to alleviate the circumstances in the short term, however, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be done about energy bill stress.

Smarter energy use is key

“We think it’s vitally important to get the message across to energy ministers, and the public – that we can make real inroads into the energy crisis by being smarter about how we use energy,” Mr Menzel said.

“For example, one of the really significant things we can do to lower the spot price of electricity is to reduce the amount of gas generation that’s needed. At the moment, gas is incredibly expensive, meaning that gas-fired generation is also very expensive – but it’s typically used as peaking generation.

“If we can reduce the amount of peak demand there is –particularly in the evening – then we will significantly lower the average wholesale price of electricity.”

While the traditional approach to energy market problems has involved supply-side solutions (i.e. building more generation, building more network assets, or imposing more regulation or other interventions on energy network participants in front of the meter), Mr Menzel argues these measures simply aren’t enough to address the current crisis. Instead, he proposes a focus on behind-themeter solutions to put downward pressure on energy bills by making the system cheaper to run and reducing the exposure of households and businesses to high peak prices.

In this sense, the energy crisis provides some opportunity for consumers, as it will draw an increased focus on actions that individual households and businesses can take to reduce their bills.

“In a lot of cases, these can be simple energy efficiency and energy management – things like draught proofing and insulation, managing energy use to take better advantage of solar generation, doing energy audits in business settings. These things can really quickly deliver significant energy savings, leading to lower energy bills,” Mr Menzel said.

Poor policy to blame

According to Mr Menzel, one of the most serious challenges for energy efficiency in Australia over the last decade has been the lack of clear and consistent policy signals encouraging businesses and households to take actions to reduce their emissions and energy usage.

Mr Menzel said that without the appropriate incentives to improve energy efficiency and productivity, the industry isn’t assembled to scale up those activities at a fast enough pace.

Mr Menzel said that while there are some parts of the country that have started to do some good work in energy efficiency programs for households and businesses, there are too many jurisdictions with too little policy infrastructure in place to help encourage energy efficiency.

When the right policies and signals are in place, however, Mr Menzel said there are clear benefits. One example was the introduction of the Commercial Building Disclosure program, a national regulatory program that requires energy efficiency information to be provided when commercial office space of 1,000m2 or more is offered for sale or lease. Following the introduction of the program, the average energy usage in commercial office buildings lowered from more than 550MJ/m2 in 2010-11 to around 400MJ/m2 in 2018-19.

Australia lagging behind other countries

“It’s no secret to say that Australia doesn’t perform particularly well in energy efficiency,” Mr Menzel said.

“In their latest international scorecard, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy rated Australia’s performance 18th out of 25 – we’re the lowest-ranked developed economy.

“By and large that reflects poor performance in the industrial sector and transport, due in no small part to a lack of any substantial policy to improve energy efficiency or reduce emissions in those sectors.”

Mr Menzel said Australia’s building performance is a “mixed bag”, with our housing stock poorly performing by global standards. This could be a result of Australia’s legacy as a “cheap energy country”, meaning that historically, it hasn’t been a priority to build energyefficient homes.

“This presents real problems for us as we head into a world that will experience more extreme weather events – both hot and cold – and as we face an energy transition that requires us to be a little smarter about how we use energy,” Mr Menzel said.

“We’re going to need our homes to shelter and protect us, and we might not be always able to rely on our air conditioners to keep us comfortable.

“That’s especially true for the most vulnerable in our society, who are more likely to live in poorly-performing houses, and might not be able to afford to run heaters or coolers all the time.”

However, it’s not all bad news, Mr Menzel said, as he’s currently in discussions with German policymakers and industry leaders about the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS). NABERS is a “simple, reliable, and comparable sustainability measurement you can trust across building sectors like hotels, shopping centres, apartments, offices, data centres, and more”.

Mr Menzel said that Germany is keen to learn from Australia about how a system like NABERS can help drive energy efficiency improvements in commercial and public buildings – a space in which Australia is world-leading.

Weather-proofing residential buildings

Mr Menzel estimates that in Australia, there are probably around eight million homes that were built before the introduction of energy efficiency standards for houses in 2005. Meaning, that in a lot of cases, these buildings have fairly poor thermal performance (i.e. little to no insulation, draught proofing issues, highly-conductive windows, and inefficient appliances).

“As we pick up the pace to get to net zero emissions, we’re going to have to pay some serious attention to these residential buildings and make them net zero-ready,” Mr Menzel said.

“There’s a package of relatively straightforward upgrades –installing roof and wall insulation, simple draught proofing, installing reverse-cycle air conditioners for heating and cooling, and installing a heat pump hot water system, that could drastically reduce both energy usage and emissions, while reducing energy bills and improving health outcomes for occupants.

“But the residential market has been a hard nut to crack in terms of energy efficiency – and that’s doubly true for rental properties.

“We think with the right policies, we could capitalise on a significant opportunity there.”

The “secret sauce” of industrial decarbonisation

While decarbonising the energy industry as a whole will take a long time, Mr Menzel said there are immediate opportunities to both upgrade energy performance and drastically slash emissions.

“We see the deployment of heat pumps as a key technology to reduce emissions from industry – particularly manufacturing and food and beverage – and the best part is we can start deploying them right now,” Mr Menzel said.

“Heat pumps are really the secret sauce of the energy transition – because they’re electric they can take advantage of renewable energy; they can be used flexibly and integrated with smart control systems; and they can be integrated with cheap thermal storage.

“And the best part is they’re available right now, and we understand them really well – they’ve been around for more than a century.”

But, as we upgrade technologies, Mr Menzel said it is important that businesses look at their energy usage systematically –preferably by using a framework like an Energy Management System. This would allow businesses to save on their energy usage without capital investment.

Capturing the full financial benefits

Mr Menzel said that it’s important to consider that investments in energy efficiency don’t always allow the investor to capture the full financial benefits of the investment.

In some cases, like commercial buildings, it’s straightforward to build a business case for energy efficiency improvements because the building owner will usually be able to recoup the cost of the investment.

But in other cases, the value of the energy efficiency investment might accrue more broadly.

“For example, if you insulate your house, you will recoup some savings from that, as you’ll experience significantly lower energy bills,” Mr Menzel said.

“However, the wider energy system will also capture some of the value of your investment. Your insulation not only keeps your house warm, but it also reduces the amount of peak generation needed on really cold nights – so you’ve just reduced the need to create additional generation and network assets.

“While this is great, and this will reduce your energy bill a bit, it also reduces everyone else’s energy bill as well.

“So in some cases, there’s a misalignment between the person that invests in energy efficiency, and the people that realise the benefits. This is especially so in rental properties, where the landlord would have to be the investor, but the tenant would reap the benefits of investment (or feel the pain of lack of investment).”

This is where policies come into play – to realign these split incentives. Energy efficiency schemes in some states and territories are set up so that investment in energy efficiency benefits all consumers.

In addition, Mr Menzel said that investing in energy efficiency also has a range of benefits that aren’t typically captured on anyone’s energy bill, including better health outcomes, improved climate resilience, better business productivity, and improved public finances.

Where to from here?

For Mr Menzel, when it comes to improving energy efficiency and easing the transition to net zero, it all comes back to getting the regulatory frameworks right.

“A really important tool that we’re going to need to use is a package of interventions in the residential housing market to elevate awareness of the energy performance of homes,” Mr Menzel said.

This ‘tool’ will require three things:

1. A national system for rating the energy performance of new and existing buildings: this could be used by purchasers, householders, governments, and financial institutions to make good decisions about how to value and improve the energy efficiency of homes

2. Energy performance data disclosure: to be disclosed at the point of sale to build market penetration and familiarity with the tool

3. Minimum standards for rental properties: to ensure that the most vulnerable in our community aren’t exposed to unsafe living conditions through poorly performing housing

In addition, Mr Menzel said there are some other important actions to take from an energy efficiency perspective, including putting a clear policy in place to signal the need to decarbonise to industry.

The new Federal Government has indicated that it will start that process by enhancing the Commonwealth’s Safeguard Mechanism to progressively reduce the allowable emissions from Australia’s largest emitters, and Mr Menzel said the EEC will be looking to work closely with the Government to make sure that’s well implemented.

The other critical action to take is to reform the national energy laws to elevate behind-the-meter actions to have the same importance in the minds of energy market regulators as supply-side actions, according to Mr Menzel.

“While we’ve made a start in that direction with the introduction of the Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism, we need some more fundamental change to make sure that regulators think of energy efficiency and energy management as the first fuel.

“That’s the best way to reduce energy bills and accelerate the energy transition to a net zero-ready system,” Mr Menzel said.

Because of Australia’s historically cheap energy prices, many residential homes have poor thermal insulation, leading to energy inefficiency.

ARE COOL ROOFS THE FUTURE FOR AUSTRALIAN CITIES?

A UNSW Sydney research team’s technological and cost-benefit analyses of adopting cool roof technology across major Australian cities has found that city-wide implementation of cool roofs would reduce energy bills, lower indoor temperatures, decrease urban heating and improve the health of vulnerable populations.

Cool roofs reflect more solar radiation than they absorb and, as a result, stay cool in sunlight. These cost-benefit analyses of cool roof implementation come a month after the new New South Wales Planning Minister, Anthony Roberts, scrapped a previous policy commitment to phase out dark roofs – a policy that would have reduced urban heating and energy costs for new homes.

The analyses undertaken by the High Performance Architecture team at the School of Built Environment at UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture was part of a project funded by the federal Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) aimed at understanding the applicability and cost-benefit of using cool roof technology on buildings in Australia and any barriers to adoption.

Scientia Professor Mattheos Santamouris, Anita Lawrence Chair in High Performance Architecture at UNSW School of Built Environment, said, “The study investigated the climatic, social, economic and environmental impacts of implementing cool roofs around Australia.

“We used simulated climatic modelling to understand conditions with and without cool roofs. The results showed urban areas, including Western Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin and Brisbane, had the most to gain from cool roofs.

“The need for cool roofs and other heat mitigation technologies should really be a priority.

“If not, the cost of climatic change in the next ten to 15 years will be tremendous.”

Cool roof technology provides savings on energy costs

The analyses looked at 17 types of buildings, ranging from low to high rise, commercial to residential and stand-alone to apartment blocks. Existing buildings with low insulation levels have the most to gain in energy savings by implementing cool roofs. Meanwhile, newer buildings with higher levels of insulation have relatively less scope for energy savings compared to less insulated buildings –but there are savings nonetheless.

The research found that cool roof technology will significantly reduce cooling energy consumption. Indoor temperatures in residential houses would be reduced by up to 4 degrees Celsius with a cool roof, with the number of hours exceeding 26 degrees Celsius reduced by 100 hours per summer compared to conventional roofs, which absorb sunlight rather than reflect it.

If the whole of Sydney implemented cool roofs, energy consumption for cooling residential and commercial buildings would decrease by up to 40 per cent in total.

“During summer, a building in Western Sydney will require double the energy to cool down compared to the same building in eastern Sydney,” Professor Santamouris said.

“Western Sydney is especially at risk of urban overheating, meaning the low-income households are more likely to either spend more on cooling or are forced to endure heat-related stress indoors. It’s a very serious problem.”

How cool roofs reduce outdoor air temperatures

Besides individual household energy savings, the city-scale deployment of cool roofs also provides collective cooling benefits for entire suburbs.

With all Australian cities currently suffering from urban overheating, implementing cool roof technology and pavements will reduce temperatures in entire cities by up to 2 degrees Celsius over the summer period. This is because heat is not transferred from the materials’ surfaces into the atmosphere.

The research also shows that city-scale use of cool roofs would reduce the maximum peak outdoor air temperature, which occurs at 2pm each day, by an average of 1.5 degrees Celsius to 2 degrees Celsius during summer.

Lower outdoor temperatures mean air-conditioning will run more efficiently. Along with lower energy consumption, our energy grids will experience reduced demand at peak times during the summer months, thereby lowering emissions.

“Another benefit to lower outdoor temperatures is that people will experience less thermal stress, meaning decreased mortalities and increased indoor safety and comfort during heatwaves,” Professor Santamouris said.

“Cool roofs can reduce heat-related mortality by up to 25-30 per cent. They will also help address energy poverty – an issue severely impacting the quality of life of low-income households.”

What are the barriers to adopting cool roofs?

Despite a well-established manufacturing sector producing cool roof materials domestically, a lack of legislation, policy support, accreditation standards and awareness is holding the Australian cool roof industry back, the research report said.

“If the barriers were addressed and cool roof technology widely implemented, then approximately 150,000 new jobs would be generated in Australia,” Professor Santamouris said.

“The infrastructure is already here. Australia has ten different companies producing cool materials and exporting them all over the world.

“There is vast data and evidence that cool roof technology works and it has been used extensively in the last 15-20 years overseas.

“More than 250 cool roof technology projects around the world have succeeded in decreasing city air average temperatures by 2.5 degrees Celsius to 4 degrees Celsius.

“And there are new technologies in development that will be able to decrease by 5 degrees Celsius.”

The US, Europe, Japan and China have already widely adopted cool roof technologies and cooling materials in urban environments through legislation and creating incentives via policies. For instance, in California, it is a requirement by law to use cool roofing materials as part of their building codes.

How do you get a cool roof and what does it cost?

The cost of a cool roof is comparable to that of a conventional roof and there are options, for example:

» Cool roofs can be either retrofitted or installed via a full roof replacement. This does not necessarily cost more than conventional roofs, particularly if households are retrofitting an existing roof

» Retrofitting can be as simple as repainting an existing roof or going as far as a full roof replacement with cool materials

» Prices vary depending on materials used and design of the building, however, generally the average cost of cool roof material is $13 per square metre

» Most cool roof materials can already be purchased at typical hardware stores. These include highly reflective paint, metal surfaces, tiles, shingles and paving materials

Note: This article was originally published by Nadia Razzhigaeva on the UNSW Newsroom. Republished with permission.

City-wide implementation of cool roofs has many benefits including reducing energy bills, lowering indoor temperatures and decreasing urban heating. Image: Study on the Cool Roofs Mitigation Potential in Australia, School of Built Environment, UNSW Sydney.

Temperature comparison between a dark regular roof and a white cool roof. Photos and data taken in Campbeltown area (NSW) in February 2018 in the late afternoon. Image: Study on the Cool Roofs Mitigation Potential in Australia, School of Built Environment, UNSW Sydney.

N O PLACE LIKE HOME:

60 YEARS OF

RESIDENTIAL

ENERGY EFFICIENCY RESEARCH

by Kate Cranney, CSIRO

In the wise words of the great Aussie battler Darryl Kerrigan, your home is your castle. So how do we make sure that castle is as comfortable, energy efficient, sustainable, and economical as possible? For 60 years, a team of CSIRO researchers has been working on residential energy efficiency.

Anthony Wright, researcher and former building designer, heads up the 20-strong group, known as the Building Simulation Assessment and Communication team.

“We’re a multidisciplinary bunch: we have a full team of building physicists, social scientists, and data scientists,” said Mr Wright.

“We’re trying to really tackle the housing energy efficiency question from every angle, simultaneously,” said Mr Wright. The research is increasingly topical. Australian households are responsible for 11 per cent of our overall energy use and 12 per cent of total carbon emissions. With the number of dwellings in Australia expected to double by 2050, here is a sample of CSIRO residential energy efficiency science.

Modernising the tools behind energy rating systems

You’ve probably heard of Australia’s 10-star residential energy rating system. For more than 20 years, CSIRO has worked on the science and tools behind the Nationwide Housing Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS). NatHERS began in 1993 and was adopted nationally in 2004.

NatHERS models the thermal performance of a home, based on design and materials. The star rating system helps homeowners, architects and builders compare the energy efficiency of designs, and informs prospective buyers. Assessors input data from the house plans into the software: hundreds of factors like the local

climate, orientation, construction, and design. The software then estimates the energy required to heat or cool the house and produces a star rating out of 10 and a certificate.

With so many different types of homes and climates around Australia, the software needs to be smart. NatHERS assessors use one of four accredited software tools, including the CSIROdesigned software, ‘AccuRate’.

“We provide the backbone infrastructure of the NatHERS tools. Now we’re modernising those tools; for instance, we’re moving AccuRate to the cloud, and making more options available to the private sector,” Mr Wright said.

The team is also working with private sector organisations to add appliances to the NatHERS calculations, allowing a ‘whole-ofhouse’ rating. And they’re developing the RapidRate AI that can very quickly, and accurately, generate energy ratings from just 12 simple inputs, which is especially useful for ‘volume builders’ who build lots of houses from fixed designs, and for the finance sector which needs large numbers of ratings for existing houses.

Unique insights from the Australian Housing Data Portal

We all love data, and since 2019, CSIRO has displayed data from NatHERS certificates on the Australian Housing Data portal. The portal lets users see trends in homes over time, and understand our progress towards energy-efficient, low-emission homes. For instance, the data shows us that the average new home energy efficiency star rating is slowly increasing over time.

“The Portal allows us to generate insights back to the community and government to make better decisions. That's unique worldwide. I'm not aware of any other jurisdiction with this kind of data or service,” Mr Wright said.

The team also provides industry-specific data to the private sector.

“We provide builders and manufacturers with information on where sustainable houses are cropping up, allowing them to gearup their supply chains for more sustainable housing or products in certain areas,” Mr Wright said.

Social science for sustainability

The team's social scientists undertake cutting-edge research to understand the decisions Australian households’ make about energy efficiency and sustainable housing.

Australians love a good ‘home reno’ TV show. So, they supported the producers and tested the impact of Renovate or Rebuild, a new series showing ways to live in more sustainable, energy efficient and comfortable homes. It aired on Channel 9Life in 2021, and proved highly popular, reaching an audience of around 3,240,000.

Why is CSIRO involved? TV can be a powerful tool to reach a wide audience and enact change. CSIRO's behavioural scientists provided guidance to the show’s producer, The Blue Tribe Company and North Light Productions.

CSIRO also works with Office of Energy and Climate Change (OECC) Low Carbon Living Collaborative Research Centre (LCLCRC), Reliable, Affordable, Clean Energy CRC (RACE CRC). Together, they created a show that encourages Australians to build, buy and renovate more sustainable and energy-efficient homes. Afterwards, CSIRO's social scientists evaluated the impact of Renovate or Rebuild through targeted surveys.

Dr Danie Nilsson, behavioural scientist and postdoctoral research fellow, leads this work.

“Our findings suggest that the show has the potential to positively impact some viewers, as intended. This approach is a promising step in helping Australians live more sustainably and comfortably,” Dr Nilsson said.

CSIRO also works to help consumers understand energy ratings, and on a project that analyses a decade of social media data, using natural language processing, to determine how people talk about residential sustainability. This will help researchers to understand the best language to use to encourage more sustainable housing choices.

A potpourri of projects on energy efficiency

Michael Ambrose, Senior Experimental Scientist and former architect, works with Mr Wright and the team on a veritable smorgasbord of research projects.

“There’s an enormous amount happening. We’re tackling a whole range of problems we know are coming in the future,” Mr Ambrose said.

Over the next few years, the team will set up annual research programs:

» Addressing issues of overheating that may occur in energy efficient homes during heat waves; creating new ‘comfort standards’ to apply to houses, to avoid overheating and heatrelated health impacts

» Establishing a database of zero emission homes from around Australia, to showcase the different design approaches

» Tracking and evaluating the success of minimum energy efficiency standards on the design and construction of

residential homes. New homes in Australia must meet a minimum NatHERS star rating and the team is asking how Australia’s housing stock is tracking

» Continuing our world-class building physics research by reviewing and improving their AccuRate NatHERS tool. For example, by creating a module that estimates heat flow through concrete slabs. It’s incredibly complex and detailed, incorporating things like water table, depth, soil moisture content and more

» Looking at the effects on the energy grid of a great stock of energy efficient homes and the role residential energy efficiency might play in the overall decarbonisation discussion

» Investigating energy efficiency in apartments (which made up 58 per cent of all energy rating certificates in New South Wales in 2021). The team wants to know more about the realworld performance of Australia’s apartments

» Testing the airtightness of newly built Australian houses and apartments and working with the NatHERS Administrator to ensure good building sealing is rewarded

» Researching issues of condensation and moisture in residential buildings

Skilling up the next generation of scientists

“Over the last few years, the team’s grown from six to 19 people. And we're training a whole range of PhD students,” Mr Wright said.

“We try to graduate one building physics PhD a year to keep a pipeline of qualified people in the industry.”

Mr Wright’s message is clear: come and work with us, partner with us, and ask us your curly questions!

“I'd love people to get in touch with us and ask us questions. Whether you’re a homeowner, a researcher, a builder, or a manufacturer with technical questions. We want to be really accessible.”

Australian households are responsible for 24 per cent of our overall electricity use and 12 per cent of total carbon emissions. For

HOW NEW NETWORKS WILL MEET DECARBONISATION TARGETS

by Cara Graham – EY Oceania Power & Utilities partner

Electricity networks have been on a rollercoaster of investment ups and downs over the last two decades. A period of underinvestment (‘sweating the assets’) in the early 2000s led to some large-scale outages, which in turn saw stricter reliability standards imposed. Coupled with the need to accommodate the burgeoning peak demand issue caused by customers installing new equipment such as air conditioners, this resulted in large increases in network expenditure. The term ‘gold plated’ was coined to describe the state of the network that existed at the end of this era.

As network tariffs rose sharply, we then saw the handbrake applied to expenditure. Regulators started to focus on the efficiency of expenditure, and benchmarking amongst peers was introduced.

At the same time, incentives were put in place to allow customers to better control their consumption in response to rising costs of electricity, most notably in the form of generous solar photovoltaics (PV) feed-in tariffs which triggered a solar revolution that has resulted in solar PV now collectively being the largest generator in our electricity systems. This was heralded by some to be the ‘death spiral’ that was going to be the downfall of many network businesses as customers would reduce consumption at best, and completely defect from the grid at worst.

Decarbonisation and hyper-connectivity

Today, we are on the cusp of a new era that will be characterised by two factors.

The first is the decarbonisation-driven electrification of everything, including transport, mining and infrastructure. Under AEMO’s strong electrification scenario in the Draft 2022 Integrated System Plan, electricity consumption is forecast to more than double from around 180TWh per annum today, to over 380TWh by 2050. Electric vehicles alone are forecast to add 84TWh per annum of load in the NEM by 2050 under this scenario.

The second is hyper-connectivity. Far from grid defection, we will see network connectivity on a scale never seen before. Transmission-level connections will be needed to support more

large-scale renewable generation including those in Renewable Energy Zones; stronger transmission interconnection will be required between regions; and literally millions of customerowned Distributed Energy Resources (DER) will connect to distribution networks.

Investing in new networks

But the networks we need in this new era are different to those that have been built over the last 20 years. From the networks’ perspective, they will be more complex ecosystems to manage: they need to remain stable despite dynamic fluctuations in both supply and demand that can result in power flowing in both directions, and require far greater visibility and active management than exists today. And ideally, all this complexity needs to be invisible to the customer who simply wants their network to be ‘plug and play’, regardless of whether their version of ‘play’ involves a passive load connection only, or active assets participating in one or more of the markets that will become accessible to DER.

All of this requires investment. Nationally, our electricity transmission and distribution networks are currently valued at around $110 billion. It is forecast that $70-80 billion in investment will be needed across these networks between now and 2030 to get our grids into a state where they can support higher levels of electrification and cater to the new ways that customers want to use the grid.

To put this in context, in today’s dollars the original ‘nation building’ Snowy Hydro project cost approximately $8 billion, so the network expenditure we anticipate over the next eight years to 2030 is in the order of ten times this amount.

More action, less planning

As an industry, we have become quite good at planning this transition. We have integrated system plans (ISPs), electricity statements of opportunities (ESOOs), gas statements of opportunities (GSOOs), transmission annual planning reports (TAPRS), distributed annual planning reports (DAPRs), and Asset Management Plans (AMPs). But this new era is already dawning, and we need to start turning our attention to doing, in addition to the important rolling cycle of planning.

At their core, network businesses have three groups of assets they manage to deliver services:

1. Physical assets

2. Digital assets

3. Human assets

‘Doing’ requires making decisions across these three asset groups. It requires having contemporary answers to questions such as:

» How are we managing supply chains to ensure the right assets can be built in the right place at the right time?

» How are we decarbonising the build of our infrastructure?

» How are we engaging with stakeholders to gain social licence to build new infrastructure and encourage the adoption of new products/services?

» What digital assets are we deploying across asset management, operations, corporate and customer to improve efficiency and customer and employee experience, and remain resilient to cyber threats?

» How many resources do we need, where will they come from and how will we make sure they have the right skills?

Decision making in the face of uncertainty

There’s no doubt that uncertainty caused by an evolving policy, regulatory and technology landscapes makes decision-making challenging. But the reality is, there will never be (nor has there ever been) complete certainty in the electricity industry. Network businesses that embrace the following attributes are more likely to succeed in this environment:

» Getting comfortable making decisions on the best set of information available at the time even where there is uncertainty

» Keeping an eye on trends impacting physical, digital and human assets, and knowing when they trigger a need to reassess a decision

» Building a mindset where changing direction is not seen as a failure, but rather that it demonstrates agility to adapt as and when things invariably change

As we embark on this new era of decarbonisation-driven electrification and hyper-connectivity, the critical role of network businesses is clear, as is the significant investment required. Done right, it will be the antidote to the ‘death spiral’, contribute to meeting decarbonisation targets and unlock value for all customers.

Electrification

and hyper-connectivity are set to be two driving forces behind the network era.

MORE DEMAND THAN SUPPLY:

WHERE AUSTRALIA’S GAS WENT WRONG

by Holly Tancredi,

2022 has held major problems for not just Australia’s energy providers, but everyday people. In hindsight, as the East Coast continued to export gas without domestic reserves, major flooding damaged coal generators, and a global gas shortage arose due to the RussianUkraine conflict, a crisis seemed inevitable. As the new Federal Government was elected in May, work needed to be done to protect and provide Australia’s energy needs – and fast.

Australia was the biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2021, so why is the nation’s energy market now struggling to provide for its own consumers?

Following the impact of global shutdowns amidst COVID-19, the rate of LNG gas export in Australia dropped, but did continue to maintain significantly high numbers – enough to keep a global top five export position and a yearly average of over 80 million tonnes.

On the other side of the world, when Russian military forces began their attack and invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, a new problem arose.

Russia, at the time of the first invasion, exported about 40 per cent of Europe's total gas, and about a quarter of that flowed across Ukraine to the rest of mainland Europe. When these resources became difficult to access as the conflict grew, former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, offered to help by exporting more of Australia’s resources.

The problem with doing this is the fact that Australia already exports over 75 per cent of its gas – and offering to sell more led to Australia’s energy providers attempting to buy back our own resources from Japanese contracts.

Costing more, supplying less

At the same time, the global gas shortage and restrictions caused the price of gas to increase dramatically, with some contracts receiving four times more than market average for their gas. As domestic energy costs still rely on market demand and supplies, the cost of energy for everyday Australians began to rise.

For the 2019-20 period, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) posted the wholesale price of gas as about $6-7/GJ. Currently it sits at almost $11/GJ across all states.

Gas Supply Guarantee mechanism triggered

Extreme weather and flooding in 2022 also had a role to play in the current crisis.

Across locations in New South Wales and Queensland, major flooding occurred from late January, damaging and causing the shutdown of significant Queensland coal mines.

The production of coal would have reduced the reliance on gas, and provided an alternative form of energy. With these now out of action, the cost of gas continued to rise substantially.

AEMO activated the Gas Supply Guarantee mechanism (GSM) in July and implemented a price cap of $40/GJ, after predictions the cost would rise to $800/GJ.

The GSM was implemented to show improvement in overall gas supply for the southeastern states and attempted to keep energy prices low for Australia’s domestic consumers.

Mr Bowen said the situation highlighted the “importance and urgency of new investment in renewables, storage and the transmission that is needed to ensure affordable and reliable energy supply”.

“Australia doesn’t have a gas supply problem; it has a gas export problem.”

– Richie Merzian, Climate and Energy Program Director, The Australia Institute

Western Australia is currently the only state with a mandatory domestic gas reserve of 15 per cent, and previous Federal Governments shot down policies that would instil this in other states and territories.

The eastern and southern Australian states and territories, controlled by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), have been the worst affected by the crisis through fluctuating gas prices and huge export levels.

Adding in the fact that Australia’s coal generators are ageing and failing at a disproportionate rate – around 30 per cent – the country’s available energy hit an all time low, and the cost to supply reached an all time high.

The politics surrounding the crisis

Newly-elected Federal Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, promised to take action on the gas supply issues based on expert advice and not “knee-jerk reactions”.

Mr Bowen refuted comments regarding the speed of action in the Federal Government, and instead maintained that “denial and delay” of the previous Coalition Federal Government, and a significant number of unfinished energy policies, are what has left Australia so ill-prepared this winter.

“The previous government did not do the work necessary to increase renewables, to increase storage,” Mr Bowen said.

“If we had more storage and more renewables and better transmission, we would be much better placed to deal with the current challenges.”

AEMO also published statements confirming that energy supplies were tight, with high gas demand being further driven by domestic household heating needs as the eastern side of the country experienced cold snaps earlier than anticipated in 2022.

Critical supply shortfalls

The constant energy shortfalls led to the AEMO announcing price caps in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia on 13 June 2022, after the state’s energy reached a cumulative high price threshold of $1,359,100 over seven days. This triggered an administered price cap of $300/MWh in accordance with the National Electricity Rules.

Further energy unreliability led to AEMO announcing a “critical electricity supply shortfall” forecasted for the evening of 13 June, and ordered the direct generations to alleviate lack of reserve (LOR) conditions as it reached a LOR 3 operational reality.

LOR conditions are called in the face of significant unplanned events, such as major flooding, cold weather snaps and the RussianUkraine conflict, all of which can impact available resources.

The LOR 3 announcement signified there were no reserve supplies available in Australia and AEMO had to act.

As such, on 15 June, the AEMO suspended the spot market.

The spot market details the changeable wholesale price of electricity at any given time. Through the AEMO suspension, a new fixed price replaced the changeable price.

The spot price is generally most expensive when households and businesses are using the most power, but often changes throughout the day.

AEMO CEO, Daniel Westerman, said the market operator was forced to direct 5GW of generation through direct interventions on 14 June, and it was no longer possible to reliably operate the spot market or the power system this way.

Mr Westerman said price caps coupled with significant unplanned outages and supply chain challenges for coal and gas, led to generators removing capacity from the market.

He said this was understandable, but with the high number of units that were out of service and the early onset of winter, the reliance on directions made it impossible to continue normal operation.

Mr Bowen confirmed the Federal Government’s support of AEMO’s spot market decision and said the action would “help the National Energy Market (NEM) alleviate the unplanned withdrawal of generators from the wholesale market”.

By 17 June, AEMO confirmed sufficient energy supply was available across all regions in the NEM, and there was overall greater energy generation availability.

In order to resume the spot market, AEMO held an industry briefing on 21 June to provide assessment criteria and processes needed.

The process included checks and validation to reinstall confidence of operability under normal dispatch and pricing rules, and the monitoring of normal dispatch pricing within the suspension period over at least 24 hours.

As AEMO became confident the criteria was met, it formally announced the removal of the market suspension on 22 June, and the spot market suspension ended at 2pm on 24 June.

AEMO’s actions successfully evaded the threats of blackouts, but the critical changes created constant conversations around the decisions that led to the crisis and what needs to be done in the future to prevent it happening again.

Where it all went wrong

Repeating mistakes

Richie Merzian, Climate and Energy Program Director at The Australia Institute, said the Government needs to do everything possible to “speed up electrification”, stop relying on gas and stop the energy export problem the former Coalition Government allowed.

“Australia doesn’t have a gas supply problem; it has a gas export problem. As long as Australia remains dependent on gas and coal, Australian consumers will be over the barrel of global fuel prices influenced by events beyond our control,”

Mr Merzian said.

government just played around with it for nine years and had 23 different energy policies,” Mr Bowen said.

Director of the Monash Energy Institute, Professor Ariel Liebman, said the crisis is a “policy failure a long time in the making” and the remedy will be difficult to fix quickly.

“We have huge amounts of coal seam gas which was allowed to be exported with none reserved for Australia which has ultimately led to a situation where Australians are paying for gas prices at global parity,” Mr Liebman said.

The National Transition Plan

During the first week of June, Mr Bowen brought together the territory and state energy ministers to create, and agree upon, eleven actions to move Australia ahead to a clean energy future, known as the National Transition Plan.

Mr Bowen said the steps outlined are “no silver bullet, no magic answers, but material steps forward in a very positive fashion”.

Mr Bowen outlined three key steps from the meeting, which included:

» Developing a capacity mechanism, which prioritises storage and renewable energy

» A gas procurement and storage plan to be coordinated by the AEMO

“When will we learn?”

» A National Transition Plan, which has consensus from the Federal Government and all states and territories

– Greg Bourne, former President of BP Australasia

“Allowing global coal and gas companies to export vast quantities of our resources may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it has locked us into exposure to volatile global prices, making Australians vulnerable to price shocks from global circumstances beyond our control.”

Mr Merzian said Mr Bowen needed to curtail gas exports to safeguard a sufficient affordable gas supply for Australians in the short term. He argued that the only long term solution was to stop using fossil fuels and that “requires political leadership”.

Greg Bourne, former President of BP Australasia and current Climate Councillor, said the current crisis was geopolitical.

“We knew this was coming. The oil and gas market has always been geopolitical, with inherent extreme price volatility, which rocks the world in times of crisis,” Mr Bourne said.

“Previous responses have been to explore and develop more oil and gas, setting ourselves up for the next crisis in which the oil and gas companies reap super profits, while consumers reap the misery.

“When will we learn?”

Ageing infrastructure and policy

Mr Bowen said the energy crisis was “driven by and large by unexpected outages in coal fired power stations” due to the ageing fleet and the aforementioned flooding across several the country.

“There hasn’t been that investment in new technology, in new transmission, in new storage to come forward because the previous

The Federal Government tasked the Energy Security Board (ESB) with developing the draft Capacity Mechanism, which will ensure there is adequate dispatchable capacity in the system and ensure demand is always met.

The mechanism will be expert led and focused on renewable energy and storage, remain within the bounds of net zero by 2050, and include open consultation.

The National Transition Plan, in line with AEMO’s Integrated System Plan (ISP), lays out the necessary transmission and generation infrastructure necessary to meet future demand in the NEM.

Future-proofing energy

Australia’s first Gas Substitution Roadmap was announced by the Victorian Government in July, as an outline to reduce energy bills and further reliable energy supply for the state.

The roadmap has outlined how Victoria will reduce reliance on gas and fossil fuels and transition instead to hydrogen and biomethane.

Victoria’s gas roadmap represents one step towards solving the NEM’s gas crisis, but Australia needs leaps and bounds to make real, lasting change.

Whilst there are other state roadmaps being drafted, it’s important to note that these roadmaps will not represent the singular solution to the culmination of energy problems that have arisen across Australia and the NEM.

The future of Australia’s energy will require continued significant, domestic and global industry collaboration, and policies to cement renewable energy as a secure way forward.

THE FLEXIBLE ELECTRICITY SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE

“We’re currently running a large-scale trial involving more than 900,000 customers –it’s called South Australia!”. This was said in jest by Mark Vincent, Executive General Manager Strategy and Transformation at SA Power Networks, during a speech at Australian Energy Week 2022, but is something the utility believes is absolutely the case as South Australia leads the world in integrating flexible energy resources into its network.

“A

lot of what is happening in SA is the canary in the coal mine for the whole Australian energy market,” Mr Vincent said.

“There are significant challenges and opportunities as we undergo a distribution revolution.”

SA Power Networks is the state’s regulated electricity distributor, supplying a population of 1.7 million people across about 180,000km2. It is also at the forefront of responding to the state’s, and Australia’s, rapid shift to customer energy resources (CER).

South Australia is already successfully operating its electricity system with significant levels of renewable energy. In what has been a ten-year transition, large-scale wind and solar farms and rooftop solar now supply over two-thirds of the state’s electricity needs.

South Australia’s target is 100 per cent net-zero for the electricity sector by 2030, which is likely to be achieved much earlier, with customer energy resources playing an increasingly important role.

“Last year, we had multiple occasions when our network was a net exporter of energy to the transmission network, with almost the entire electricity needs of the state being met by rooftop solar,” Mr Vincent said.

“The trend is continuing – rooftop solar in the state is heading towards a capacity of 2GW. That is on a system that typically operates with a demand of only around 1.5GW.

“We suspect in the next five-to-ten years on every single sunny day in our state, the entire electricity system will be powered by rooftop solar. So, during the day, customers will be providing all the electricity we need and in the evening we’ll switch to other sources.”

This has huge implications in terms of managing a stable energy system. With all its connected solar and 30,000 home batteries, the distribution system in South Australia now is the single largest generator in the state.

“Electric vehicles (EVs) will be the next big thing and within less than a decade, could require as much as 10-20 per cent more energy to be carried through the network,” Mr Vincent said.

“This additional throughput could drive down unit prices to all customers, but equally could potentially double peak demand if it’s not managed cleverly.”

In South Australia, roughly a quarter of end use energy is currently being supplied by electricity.

In the pursuit of decarbonising transportation and other energy applications, much of this energy will need to be carried by the electricity network – potentially doubling current throughput.

Leveraging latent capacity and flexibility

Managing the distribution network now involves not just managing supply for 900,000 customers with their diverse energy demand needs, but also managing their desire to contribute cheap and green energy into the grid from hundreds of thousands of small generators and fixed and mobile batteries.

“This is not easy to manage,” Mr Vincent said.

“The more of this you have, the more tech and smarts you need to manage it.

SA Power Networks has a number of complementary strategies in place to increase demand during peak solar generation periods (fill) and expand network capacity during peak solar generation and demand periods (stretch), improving network utilisation and offering greater network access and affordability to customers.

“We are getting regular periods when the state is supplying its entire power needs from wind and solar. And we hit net zero on the South Australian system regularly over the 2021-22 spring and summer.

“To manage that currently, we need the Victorian Interconnector intact to enable enough gas generation to run and maintain system stability, with the excess renewables being exported interstate.”

Mr Vincent said there had been a high level of cooperation between the South Australian Government, the Australian Energy Market Operator, Electranet and SA Power Networks to manage these issues, but there was a realisation that the easiest place to manage them is in the distribution network.

“The good news is the investment in the 1980s and 1990s distribution network to meet air conditioning demand means we have untapped potential in our network – most of the time it is only running at 25-30 per cent capacity,” Mr Vincent said.

“If we are clever in tapping into that unused capacity, we can avoid the need for expensive network investment.

“Our challenge used to be moving energy from a distant source to where customers were using it and having enough to meet the evening peak, particularly in summer. Now, our challenge is to get the timing right to ensure we have enough generation available at the time customers want it.

“Our solutions are about ‘stretch’ and ‘fill’. Stretching the network’s capacity through smart network management and leveraging the network’s spare capacity – and filling it with flexible CER.”

SA Power Networks has achieved ‘stretch’ through investing in flexible or dynamic voltage management, whereas the ‘fill’ part of the strategy is reliant on customers exercising the significant flexibility available to them through increasingly intelligent energy appliances; including smart hot water, electric vehicle chargers, solar and batteries.

Innovative tariffs are being offered to encourage customers to more efficiently use network capacity, and SA Power Networks is also developing systems that allow real-time communication with smart inverters and VPPs to provide flexible export limits to customers rather than fixed limits.

Flexible Exports trial

An ARENA-funded trial is currently underway where SA Power Networks is testing the technical and customer issues associated with a Flexible Exports option for solar customers. Customers are being offered a choice of a 1.5kW fixed limit per phase, or a flexible limit up to 10kW. This allows exports to be managed down on rare occasions when there is network congestion.

The trial has already shown that customers could potentially export at 10kW 98 per cent or more most of the time, compared with the current fixed limit of only 5kW.

Mr Vincent said that at the moment, SA Power Networks is focusing on the challenges posed by large volumes of solar, but believes the same type of system will be offered to manage EV charging.

“We see these dynamic or flexible limits as operating like guard rails. We have plenty of capacity – people can utilise that as much as they like, but there will be just a few occasions when we need to throttle back,” Mr Vincent said.

Mr Vincent said he also believes there is a lot of potential for the network in the take up of EVs as they have very significant batteries and will have a huge capacity to assist in managing load and energy supply.

Driving benefits for customers

“It’s really important in tackling the technical challenges of managing a distributed network that we keep the interests of customers as our focus – customers who are investing billions of dollars on solar, EVs, batteries and smart appliances,” Mr Vincent said.

“We want to maximise the value they get for that investment. We also want to keep it simple and easy for customers – we hear constantly from them that the electricity industry is incredibly complex and they don’t know who to trust.

“Equity is another issue for customers and us – there is a high risk of leaving customers behind – particularly renters and low-income earners who can be locked out of investing in new technology and appliances.”

The change is also about a whole new level of collaboration.

“We are talking to vendors, manufacturers, installers, the market operator and government in ways and depth that we have never before. This high-level collaboration will be essential in each jurisdiction as they seek to manage the changing electricity system,” Mr Vincent said.

“We are now offering services to the market operator that we have never had before, and we have capabilities to shift demand up – instead of load shedding.

“AEMO is looking to us to help increase load to avoid blackouts.

“It’s exciting and it’s invisible to customers. They may lose a few cents in exports, but in exchange, we have prevented a state-wide blackout with much larger losses for all customers.”

An affordable transition

Mr Vincent said a key focus of SA Power Networks was to deliver the transition without driving up costs for customers through substantial and unnecessary capacity investment.

“In SA we could have 11GW of flexible resources on a network designed for 3GW peak. If we get it right we can manage that through smart solutions, not extensive investment,” Mr Vincent said.

“We want to do it in a way that reduces energy and network costs for all. If we can double throughput we can significantly reduce the network unit cost for customers while delivering more support and services than ever before.

“We think the opportunity exists to solve the energy trilemma –providing abundant green energy, that is secure and reliable and more affordable than ever for customers.

“And we are absolutely convinced that our distribution network, built largely in the 1950s – 1970s, can take on a brand new purpose, supporting the renewable energy ambitions of our customers and state.”

PREPARING MELBOURNE’S ELECTRICITY NETWORK FOR THE SOLAR FUTURE

by Jordan Oliver, Media and Public Affairs, United Energy

Voltage management has always been a key focus for electricity networks around Australia. With the explosion in growth of rooftop solar, managing voltage has become a greater challenge in recent years, with solar exports pushing voltage higher on local circuits in the middle of the day. In Melbourne, network business United Energy is tackling the issue head-on, proactively making changes to its network to maintain voltage within safe limits, while supporting the growth of rooftop solar.

United Energy moves electricity to and from more than 700,000 homes and businesses across Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs and the Mornington Peninsula.

That’s more than 13,400km of wires, more than 215,800 poles and, increasingly, lots of rooftop solar.

Now, a new works program means more rooftop solar power will be able to be shared between homes and businesses within the network area, as part of United Energy’s major investment in its low-voltage electricity network.

The program will support the rise in rooftop solar installations by improving voltages and increasing the hosting capacity across the network to allow more solar to be exported back into the grid.

Crews will complete over 500 individual items of work across 85 post codes, providing benefits for more than 40,000 homes and businesses.

The work is critical to maintaining voltage levels on the network through Victoria’s clean energy transition.

General Manager Electricity Networks, Mark Clarke, said the upgrade program was an example of how United Energy was proactively supporting customers to get the most out of their solar as part of the network’s role as a distribution system operator (DSO).

“We’re seeing solar grow in popularity and with electricity costs continuing to rise, more households will be looking at ways to take control of their bills by investing in rooftop systems,” Mr Clarke said.

“This work is about making sure our network is supporting our customers now and into the future invest in clean energy technology that will reduce carbon emissions.”

The number of households with rooftop solar increased by 15 per cent in United Energy’s network last year, with over 103,000 customers now having solar. A further 4,100 rooftop solar systems have been added to homes in the first five months of 2022. Rooftop solar capacity in the United Energy network now exceeds 550MW – more than Victoria’s largest gas-fired power generator.

Why voltage matters

Rooftop solar systems can create challenges for networks as they can push up voltage levels in the system.

Similar to how water flows downhill, electricity flows from high voltage to low voltage. To enable solar panels to send excess power to other parts of the network, a solar system’s inverter needs to raise the voltage slightly to allow the electricity to flow out.

Networks like United Energy are required to deliver electricity to homes and businesses within a range of 216–253V. If the voltage is too high, customers may use more power than necessary, and potentially damage some appliances. If voltage is too low, customers may experience flickering lights and generally poor power quality.

“Our network is a critical gateway to Victoria’s energy future and managing rooftop solar and the impacts they can have on voltage levels is part of what we do every day,” Mr Clarke said.

“Whether it’s through upgrading our network or using smart technology to dynamically raise and lower voltages in real time across our network, we are optimally placed to continue supporting Victoria’s growth in consumer energy resources such as solar.”

In addition to the program, United Energy recently launched a new pre-approval tool for rooftop solar and home battery installations, ensuring the local network in each area can support customers to make the most of their new system.

The pre-approval system assists in maintaining voltage compliance within each neighbourhood, ensuring solar exports are fairly and equitably available to all customers while reducing solar system outages and improving power quality.

Other initiatives

United Energy is further supporting solar installations by rolling out 40 innovative pole-top batteries in an Australia-first, with each battery capable of soaking up solar during the day and supporting entire neighbourhoods during peak times.

It’s the largest rollout of community batteries in Australia and, when complete, the fleet of batteries will be able to store the electricity needed to support 3,000 homes as part of an $11 million investment in new energy technology.

The unique 30kW batteries on power poles are being installed over 18 months, each with the capacity to service up to 75 homes.

Unlike big battery projects which provide grid level stability and electricity market outcomes, these smaller batteries are designed to help improve electricity reliability and enable greater solar PV exports in local areas where the low voltage distribution network is constrained.

Powerful Neighbours

United Energy is also a key partner in a breakthrough study led by sister network Powercor, which has released its feasibility study into neighbourhood batteries called Powerful Neighbours.

The study found demand for action on issues such as carbon emissions reduction and climate change are the top reasons why both urban and regional communities are calling for neighbourhood batteries as part of their electricity distribution networks.

United Energy joined Powercor, as well as CitiPower and twelve community-based partners for the study, scanning more than 65 per cent of Victoria to identify 30 preferred locations for neighbourhood batteries.

Powerful Neighbours also identified insights into neighbourhood battery location, design and planning that can benefit future projects. It was developed with a major funding contribution by the Victorian Government’s Neighbourhood Battery Initiative.

The study found the chief benefits anticipated from neighbourhood batteries are in helping to enable and keep locally generated solar energy local, supporting high power reliability, generating income from wholesale energy trading or contributing to energy resilience.

Of the 30 preferred locations for neighbourhood batteries identified, 17 have the potential to be feasible based on their ability to address electricity distribution constraints and service more than 6,000 customers. Study partners identified 13 sites that could support community objectives.

The study has provided a solid foundation and framework for further detailed scoping and community engagement in relation to individual projects or groups of sites.

Leading the way to a new energy future.

The future is electric and we are ready for the new era of renewable energy.

We are a leading global manufacturer of solar inverters and electric vehicle charging infrastructure for all size applications. Our products and services are based on decades of experience coupled with the dedication and expertise of our specialist teams around the world.

Investing and working in the solar and e-mobility sectors is the right choice to ensure we build a better world to leave to future generations.

Learn more: fimer.com/anz

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