Grids & Integration

As the search for solutions to integrate increasing levels of energy technologies like solar PV and batteries into the electricity grid continues, Queensland-based energy data specialist Luceo Energy has revealed a new software platform designed to help electricity distributors manage consumer-owned devices across low-voltage networks.

Victorian network operator AusNet has revealed the preferred route for a proposed $300 million electricity transmission line which is expected to unlock thousands of megawatts of new solar and wind resources in the state’s western region.

Smart energy software company Evergen will provide an energy management platform as part of a net-zero energy emission terrace homes pilot at Carseldine Village, north of Brisbane.

New reports and modelling has led TasNetworks to further push its largest of four possible Marinus Link versions. The largest, a 1,500 MW interconnector between Tasmania and the Australian mainland, is being shown to provide benefits across the entire NEM through grid stability and downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices. But there is still some discussion about who should pay for it.

The contentious two-way pricing reform proposed by the AEMC, dubbed the ‘sun tax’, is based on the understanding that solar is a plaything of the rich. In fact, the inverse may be true, according to a new paper published by the Victoria Energy Policy Centre. But Vinnies’ research manager Gavin Dufty, an instigator of the rule change, told pv magazine Australia such analysis misses the point, branding it ‘myopic’.

The Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project plans to efficiently use available resources and technology to produce low-cost, relatively low-emissions blue hydrogen from coal, and provide a conduit to commercialising true green hydrogen. A federal emissions policy driving toward a net-zero commitment could properly value GEAP’s place in Australia’s energy and export ecosystem.

Western Australia utility Horizon Power has achieved a major milestone with the coastal town of Onslow powered 100% by solar PV and battery during a successful trial of what is one of Australia’s largest distributed energy resource microgrids.

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest analysis of the Western Australian Wholesale Energy Market has found that investment in renewable generation and distributed solar is accelerating at a rapid pace, and importantly, that that acceleration is within the control of the state’s energy transition strategies.

Have you heard about the proposed “solar tax”? Haha! But seriously, there’s more to it than meets the eye. A multitude of perspectives and considerations are brought to light in the submissions made to the AEMC. We take a shallow dive … and recommend total immersion.

There’s nothing simple about the Australian electricity system in transition. The constantly shifting landscape requires continuous regulatory adjustment to old coal-fired settings. That, too is fraught. One network services provider gives their perspective on the rule change currently under consideration.