Australian energy-tech company GreenSync has integrated Enphase Energy with its Decentralised Energy Exchange (deX), a market-enabling software platform that is designed to connect and coordinate millions of distributed energy resources (DER). The integration allows Enphase customers to be paid for providing ancillary grid services, such as peak demand reduction and frequency regulation.
Launched last October, GreenSync’s deX is a digital marketplace designed to help electricity networks better utilize the increasing penetration of DERs and virtual power plants (VPPs) and allow consumer energy assets to be registered and visible to the grid. In addition to supporting the grid, deX aims to connect DERs and VPPs to existing markets, such as the wholesale market, for the purpose of energy trading.
Since the industry-backed project aims to harness booming behind-the-meter resources and ensure grid stabilization in markets with high renewable energy penetration, Australia was the perfect starting point for that given its growing battery storage market and high rooftop solar uptake.
“Enphase customers want to be part of the solution here in Australia, and we have the smart technology to make this possible. This program with deX demonstrates the capability of smart DER technology,” said Wilf Johnston, Asia-Pacific MD at Enphase Energy. “By providing better visibility and intelligence to those operating the grid, Enphase Energy hopes to contribute to the easing of restrictions on distributed energy resources such as zero export limits, and the systems tripping from high voltage issues.”
The U.S. manufacturer of inverters and AC batteries has joined with the platform following a two-week pilot in South Australia and Victoria, which saw a 20% participation rate. In the coming period, Enphase customers in Tasmania and in Western Australia will also get the chance to register their systems with deX.
“We are excited by the customer response to this pilot with Enphase,” said Bruce Thompson, head of customers at GreenSync. “This announcement shows that customers want to be part of the solution.”
In Australia and overseas
Initially created through a collaboration of utilities and technology companies during an Australia Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) A-Lab event in 2016, GreenSync later won $450,000 from ARENA to develop and pilot the deX prototype in the ACT and Victoria. In April, ARENA allocated another $10 million in funding to GreenSync to scale up deX to be rolled out nationally over the next three years.
Following the launch in Australia, the Melbourne-based energy tech company said it would seek to progressively launch deX in the United Kingdom (Q3/2019), Japan (Q4/2019) and the United States (early 2020) in cooperation with its partners. In June, GreenSync announced it would deploy its digital platform to connect and coordinate 500 MW of distributed energy resources across the network area of UK Power Networks.
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