RACE for Networks
Research Theme N3: Local DER Network Solutions
ISBN: 978-1-922746-43-6
Industry Report
An Opportunity Assessment for RACE for 2030 CRC
July 2023
Citations
Rajakaruna, S., Ghosh, A., Pashajavid, E., Economou D., Bandara, T., Ragab, Z., Dwyer, S., Dunstall, S., Wilkinson, R., Kallies, A, Csereklyei, Z., Khalilpour, K., Li, L., Nutkani, I., James, B., Yang, F., Hargroves, C., Hossain, J., Wright, S. Ibrahim, I., Teixeira, C., Mahmud, M.R., and Razzaghi, R. (2023). Local DER Network Solutions. Final Report of Opportunity Assessment for research theme N3 Prepared for RACE for 2030 CRC
Project team
Curtin University
Sumedha Rajakaruna (Project Leader)
Charlie Hargroves (Project Manager)
Arindam Ghosh
Dean Economou
Ehsan Pashajavid
Tirantha Bandara
Ziad Ragab
Md Redowan Mahmud
Ben James
University of Technology Sydney
Scott Dwyer
Kaveh Khalilpour
Simon Wright
Jahangir Hossain
Li Li
Ibrahim Ibrahim
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Anne Kallies
Richard Wilkinson
Zsuzsanna Csereklyei
Inam Nutkani
Carlos Teixeira
Griffith University
Fuwen Yang
Monash University
Reza Razzaghi
CSIRO
Simon Dunstall
Project partners
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the stakeholders involved in the development of this report, in particular the interviewees and the industry reference group members who have given so generously of their time, including: AGL Energy Services, Ausgrid, Australian Power Institute, Ausnet Services, AEMO, Clean Cowra, Climate-KIC, eleXsys Energy, Energy Consumers Australia, EV Energy, Horizon Power, NSW Department of Planning & Environment, Powerlink, SA Department of Energy and Mining, Sydney Water, Victoria
Department of Environment, Land Water & Planning. Whilst their input is very much appreciated, any views expressed here are the responsibility of the authors alone.
Acknowledgement of Country
The authors of this report would like to respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the ancestral lands throughout Australia and their connection to land, sea and community. We recognise their continuing connection to the land, waters and culture and pay our respects to them, their cultures and to their Elders past, present and emerging.
What is RACE for 2030?
RACE for 2030 CRC is a 10-year co-operative research centre with AUD350 million of resources to fund research towards a reliable, affordable and clean energy future. racefor2030.com.au
Disclaimer
The authors have used all due care and skill to ensure the material is accurate as at the date of this report. The authors do not accept any responsibility for any loss that may arise by anyone relying upon its contents.
What is in the report?
This opportunity assessment reports on the state-of-the-art of Local Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Networks Solutions in Australia and aimed to identify the knowledge gaps in relation to the growth of renewable energy in local distribution networks that require attention from the research community. Research questions focusing on four key research areas of Consumers and regulatory frameworks, Business Models, Planning and Design, and Demonstration and Operation were identified through a literature survey were consolidated and shortlisted to develop research opportunities and identify barriers and impacts. This consolidation of research questions considered feedback received from the project’s industry reference group, which met periodically throughout the opportunity assessment. Through this consultative process, the research roadmap and priority projects were developed to address the most urgent research questions identified through the consultation.
Why is it important?
Future energy systems are becoming more decentralised, and many traditional electricity users are no longer just power consumers, they are prosumers. This transition implies that conventional electricity users will no longer just be buying power from the grid - they will also sell power, either to the grid, their neighbours or their retailer. At the same time, existing distribution networks of the grid are experiencing severe problems due to the high penetration of distributed renewable energy sources. These challenges can be overcome by using novel power system models such as microgrids, smart-grid technologies, and innovative business and ownership models. What did we do?
The research roadmap explored possible research opportunities under nine areas, identified as:
•Governance and regulation (RO1)
•Revenue streams (RO2)
•Ownership and access (RO3)
•Electric vehicles (RO4)
•Storage options (RO5)
•Advanced technologies (RO6)
•Consumer expectations (RO7)
•Microgrids in distribution networks (RO8)
•Balancing interests (RO9)
The project team identified interrelationships between these research opportunities, finding that microgrids and VPPs are central to the new power system concepts. It was found that advanced technologies can make revolutionary changes to the performance, cost and benefit of these solutions. Energy storage is also an integral component of future power systems. As such, knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of different available options is vital for reduction of system costs and improving performances. Finally, the anticipated spread of electric vehicles (EV) used in these power systems present both challenges and opportunities, and future research must consider their presence in these modern power systems.
What difference will it make?
A brief summary of the results found across each of the four key research areas is provided below.
Consumers and regulatory frameworks
Stakeholder engagement is essential to achieve an effective integrated energy system. Research found that such a system cannot succeed without establishing a proper level of trust among the players. Information is lacking about the degree of trust among the energy community’s key players. An empirical, research-based trust assessment should be conducted to examine and verify the current trust level and identify potential factors to enhance interactions and trust between stakeholders.
Another important consideration is to initiate an analysis of consumers’ responses to, and interest in, participating in various community energy configurations, such as community batteries. Community education is a critical early component of these projects, building trust and knowledge to inform planning. Participatory models are also at an emergent phase and remain strongly influenced by local contexts. More empirical research is required across all of these elements to inform our thinking about community expectations and accelerate the transition. Regulatory and governance barriers must also be identified and properly handled to implement efficient community energy configurations.
Business models
Innovative business models are required to accelerate the adoption of local energy system solutions. Energy market deregulation brings a host of challenges, many of which are yet to be addressed. Service delivery at the grid-edge is an exciting topic as it should yield benefits to all stakeholders.
Establishing efficient mechanisms for the adoption of distributed energy system solutions can assist communities to get greater benefits from various offerings of distributed energy resources. For example, estimating the economic value of batteries, including community batteries especially
Figure 1: Interrelationship of research opportunities
resulting from ancillary market operations, requires taking into account the development of ancillary market prices, as well as the ability of batteries to prevent blackouts, thus avoiding financial losses due to lost load. The economic and social benefits batteries may provide in deferring network investments, lowering network congestion, and thus network costs to customers are areas requiring further research.
Planning and design
A key to handling the ever-increasing penetration of distributed energy resources is employing a range of energy storage systems, such as batteries. Identifying the critical performance indicators on which to base an accurate comparison between such systems at different time scales is critical.
Grid integration of storage systems should best be done using smart power electronics interfaces. It was found that a lack of communication and coordination between inverters is a major barrier to the further rise of distributed generators. Further research is also needed in identifying the features of controllers that are required to operate reliably irrespective of the network model they are operating in. Correct operation scheduling of microgrids and VPPs depends on the forecasting and control schemes employed. Developing a selection guide for forecasting methods and control strategies would help in the selection of the most appropriate combination of strategies.
In addition to technical matters, energy market-related facilitations should be considered to ease the implementation of various business models, such as peer-to-peer (P2P), microgrid as a service (MaaS) and energy as a service (EaaS). Community batteries and power banks have mainly been for energy arbitrage and addressing environmental concerns in Australia. Other technical objectives can also be pursued when such batteries are included in a microgrid. Given that some of such objectives can compromise energy arbitrage, further research is needed to identify the set of objectives that would deliver optimum socio-economic outcomes in a combined microgrid-community battery system.
Demonstration and operation
Smart metering and demand-side management systems are essential features of a smart grid and can increase the possibility for more communities to access community batteries as a solution. Adequate development would be required to employ smart meters and demand-side management techniques to handle peak load within microgrids. There is also a need to study possible methods for establishing trust-based, house-to-house energy interaction within microgrids. Such collaboration can be extended to utilising community battery systems within or at the microgrids. Integration and harnessing of electric vehicle storage requires efficient methods of handling uncertainties with charging location and the state of charge (SOC) of the vehicles.
What’s next?
Consolidation of key research questions was undertaken by researchers with reference the original four work packages of Consumers and regulatory framework, Business models, Planning and design, and Demonstration and operation. Research questions within these packages were then mapped against nine research opportunities developed by the team which then then informed the proposal of research concepts. Further details are provided in the main report.
The outcomes from the research proposed in this report’s roadmap below (Table 1) will pave the way to transition local distribution networks in Australia to host a high percentage of DER while minimising the negative impacts to the power system. The holistic and inclusive approach of the project structures will ensure that the transition of technical solutions occurs concurrently with the
necessary regulatory, business and social changes needed to deliver Australia’s fast-paced journey towards a net-zero future.
Table 1: N3 Opportunity Assessment Research Roadmap