Energy Management Systems

Western Australia’s largest virtual power plant, the government-support Project Symphony, is live. The project is particularly noteworthy for its introduction of new markets to reward different services and its use of Dynamic Operating Envelopes.

While not one of the big five-year-cycle COPs like Paris or Glasgow, COP27 is still hugely important, write Wood Mackenzie analysts. The fallout from the conflict in Ukraine has tilted the precarious balance of the energy trilemma – sustainability; affordability; security – towards the latter. But despite this temporary setback, some progress should still be possible.

“Integration” was the war cry at this year’s All Energy conference in Melbourne, with an unmistakable push, especially among ‘premium’ brands, toward vertically stacked product suites bundling solar, batteries, energy management platforms, virtual power plants and electric vehicle chargers into one super solution. How big is the market for such a proposition in Australia though? And does streamlining stymie flexibility? pv magazine Australia spoke to a number of brands on the promise, and limits, of the full stack strategy.

In a project where the old world of energy meets the new, AGL will investigate the technical and financial feasibility of using thermal batteries to provide the steam for a 200 MW turbine at South Australia’s Torrens Island Power Plant, which usually run on gas.

Director of the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute, Dominic Zaal, offers a deep dive into the capabilities of concentrated solar thermal technology, including what has been proven by global projects so far and how the all important Power Purchasing Agreements stack up.

Western Power will begin allocating regional properties in Western Australia’s main grid the same electricity supply as their urban counterparts. The shift comes after sustained community pressure since pv magazine Australia first reported on the issue in July 2022.

The Australian federal government’s $20 billion (USD 12.6 billion) Rewiring the Nation program has kicked off with billions allocated to support two major interconnector transmission projects.

After acquiring Victorian developer Akaysha Energy in August, the world’s largest asset manager, US company BlackRock, has won the contract to deliver what will apparently be one of the world’s most powerful batteries – the New South Wales Waratah Super Battery. The battery is now expected to have a total capacity of 850 MW / 1,680 MWh.

The Australian Energy Market Operator plans to launch a world-first ‘connections simulator’ this year after completing pilot testing of the online tool that is designed to help fast-track the evaluation and approval process for new clean energy grid connections.

Enabling future energy flows at the lower-voltage distribution level? Unlikely. Wide-scale hardware upgrades would cost billions if not trillions, especially in Australia’s far reaches. Software and digital solutions are identifying new cost-effective ways of letting more sun into the grid.