Welcome investment in future energy grid

13 February 2019

The Australian and New South Wales governments have invested $7 million in a project that aims to develop new ways to operate the existing energy grid.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency and NSW government have invested in the evolve project, a consortium of nine partners led by software development company Zepben and The Australian National University.

The evolve project's goal is to optimise the use of the network's capacity to carry energy, as more energy devices - such as solar panels and batteries - come into the network.

Zepben Managing Director Bill Tarlinton said the current electricity system was designed for centralised, large-scale generation, but the CSIRO estimates 40 per cent of consumers will have rooftop solar in the next decade.

"The energy system is changing, with more and more customers installing rooftop solar, batteries and smart appliances, and with electric vehicles likely to be adopted in larger numbers in the near future," Mr Tarlinton said.

"These new devices are creating new challenges and opportunities for future electricity network management."

Dr Lachlan Blackhall, Head of the Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program at ANU, said the project will develop and deliver capabilities to allow electricity network operators to work with the market players to identify and alleviate congestion in the grid.

"Our project partners include aggregators - the service providers who control consumer level solar panels, batteries and other devices, and network operators including Ausgrid, Essential Energy and Endeavour Energy," Dr Blackhall said.

"Our project team will be working with organisations that distribute electricity to more than half the Australian population."

ANU Provost Professor Mike Calford said investment by both government and industry is essential to the success of research projects that are aiming to solve some of the nation's greatest challenges.

"Our researchers have the expertise to analyse problems and develop solutions in the lab, but for workable and adaptable solutions, we need to be working with industry and governments," Professor Calford said.

"This project is an excellent example of three key sectors coming together to deliver the long-term solutions for designing the  infrastructure needed to address this significant challenge."

Zepben

Zepben was established to develop software solutions to help electricity distribution networks thrive within a rapidly changing supply chain.

Zepben's team is passionate about creating the next generation of operational and planning support systems for our industry, to facilitate the growth of renewables and distributed energy resources. Zepben's founders have a long standing involvement with electricity distribution and a track record of creating software systems for solving complex problems in the sector.

Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program

The Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program at The Australian National University is an international research and development (R&D) initiative based at The Australian National University in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) with assistance from the ACT Government under the Renewable Energy Innovation Fund initiative.

Read the original ANU press release.

Updated:  24 March 2021/Responsible Officer:  College of Science/Page Contact:  https://iceds.anu.edu.au/contact