An affordable, zero-carbon energy future
Already, about a third of the State’s customers are generating their own electricity on their home or business rooftops. Collectively, they can generate almost 1,500MW of power – equivalent to two to three major thermal power stations. Within one to two years, on mild spring days, there will be more than enough generation capacity available on roofs to power the entire State.
“Renewable energy sources are paving the way for an affordable low carbon energy and transport system in South Australia,” said SA Power Networks’ General Manager Strategy & Transformation, Mark Vincent.
“It is exciting to think that our individual investment in solar energy is helping make energy cheaper as well as better for the planet.”
Mr Vincent said the electricity distribution network of substations, poles and wires was central to fully realising the benefits of the changes underway.
“The measures we are undertaking at SA Power Networks create the potential for us to more than double the amount of renewable energy the electricity distribution network can accommodate over the next five years. And we are getting the network ready to accommodate the next step in the transition with energy being fed into it from home batteries and electric vehicles (EVs).
“We aim to give more South Australians access to solar energy as well as significantly reduce the number of customers whose rooftop systems switch off in response to high voltages in parts of the distribution network,” Mr Vincent said.
“We also want to be able to give customers the chance to be able to share the energy they generate, whether it is direct from panels in the middle of day or stored in a battery in their home or vehicle for later use.
“The reality is these resources will not work for the benefit of customers and the community without the network. In fact, it is only by these resources and the network working together that we can maximise the benefits of cheaper energy and better environmental outcomes for everyone.”
To get there requires a number of initiatives to be implemented – some across the national electricity market, and others in the most localised parts of the State’s electricity distribution network. These include:
- Introduction in July 2020 of new residential Time-of-Use network tariffs. These ‘solar sponge’ tariffs provide cheaper daytime network charges to encourage use of more solar-generated energy during the middle of the day. Several retailers are now offering this option to their customers who have smart meters.
- A prosumer tariff for customers who want to store and export energy into the grid.
- Encouraging more controlled loads, such as water heating, to be shifted to the daytime to soak up extra (and cheaper) solar generation.
- Investing in enhanced voltage management to reduce spring-time voltages for solar PV customers.
- Developing national technical standards to support introduction of flexible export limits for rooftop solar which will be offered in constrained areas of the network and allow greater exports than traditional fixed export limits.
- Trials with Virtual Power Plant operators who coordinate the operation of customers’ solar and battery systems to provide system and network support services, to ensure they can derive the greatest possible value for their customers, as well as the electricity system as a whole – driving down prices for all customers.
“The pace of change is challenging but we are excited by this journey of transformation. We foresee a future where all Australians will have access to abundant, affordable and zero-carbon energy,” Mr Vincent concluded.
(This article was recently published in the 2020 Spring edition of Smart Energy Magazine)
