Leading advanced microgrid development

I am very excited about the opportunity the State Parliament’s Economics and Industry Standing committee inquiry into Microgrids and Associated Technologies presents the State and Horizon Power. We have prepared a comprehensive submission which showcases our work in this area but more importantly, recommends Statewide solutions to the challenges presented by the transformation of the energy sector….

Electricity systems and their regulatory frameworks in Australia have experienced mostly gradual, incremental change over the last hundred years. Electricity has flowed in one direction, from centralised generation to blissfully unaware consumers who have not given electricity a second thought. Tariffs have been uniform and reflective of the cost structures of a centralised, fossil fuel electricity system which was expected to see sturdy, year on year growth and captive customers.

We are now confronting the most transformational period of change since Edison and Tesla kick started the industry in the late 1800’s. Historically high retail electricity prices, the widespread adoption of distributed energy resources (DER), such as solar panels and energy storage, energy-efficiency efforts, and declining asset utilisation rates are simultaneously driving profound change.

By 2022, whole regions of our electricity system must be capable of operating securely, reliably and efficiently with 100 per cent of instantaneous demand met by DER. Not only does this present monumental technical challenges, it also places unparalleled stress on regulatory frameworks, pricing structures, and business models that were all designed for an entirely different time. At a high level, this transformation is being driven by the combined forces of the three D’s: decentralisation, digitisation, and decarbonisation.

In this context, Horizon Power is leading the development of ‘advanced’, microgrids1 as a fundamental building block of low-cost, high-DER electricity systems. Advanced microgrids achieve this by maximising reliance on intermittent renewable generation, better balancing supply and demand, reducing extreme peak demand, and increasing service reliability. Advanced microgrids are powered by integrating centralised power generation with high levels of DER (30 per cent or more), either located on customer sites or directly connected to the distribution network. They enable customer DERs to provide optimisation services to the grid in exchange for a financial benefit and support energy trading between customers.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE Horizon Power submission