The government’s drive to upgrade the national grid and accelerate the shift to renewable energy is gathering pace, a senior official said on Friday, with new large-scale battery storage systems and pilot projects set to improve reliability and boost public participation in the energy transition.
Director of Renewable Energy Bryan Haynes provided an update on the initiative while speaking during House Estimates debate on the energy ministry, outlining plans for large-scale storage and innovative projects that could allow the public to play a role in supporting the national grid.
The government’s Integrated Resource and Resilience Planning framework identifies the need for approximately 370 megawatts of energy storage to come onto the grid, Haynes said.
“We’ve indicated that through our integrated resource and resilience planning a total of about 370 MW of storage coming onto the grid,” he said. “This is required to support the grid and to make sure that we strengthen the grid to be able to carry renewable energy, in particular the variable type which is wind, solar.”
According to Haynes, the storage capacity will help manage fluctuations associated with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, allowing the electricity system to operate more reliably as the country increases its reliance on green energy.
He also revealed that the government has begun designing a virtual power plant pilot project, which will combine renewable energy systems with storage technologies to provide additional support for the grid.
“In addition, we have started what is called a virtual power plant pilot project. We are in the design phases, and that project allows for amalgamation of the technologies such as the RE and the storage to provide an additional layer of support for the grid.”
The initiative could also open opportunities for public participation in energy generation and storage services.
Part of the programme is exploring vehicle-to-grid technology, which would allow electric vehicle owners to supply stored electricity back to the national grid, Haynes said.
“There’s the move as part of that project… we are also working towards vehicle to grid where persons will have your electric vehicles, you will be able to provide support. Of course there’s a cost which you will be compensated for over time.”
But he noted that the pilot phase is intended to study consumer behaviour and ensure the proper regulatory systems are in place before the concept is expanded.
“The work of the pilot now is to see consumer behaviour, what the regulatory arrangements will be, and also to work with our stakeholders such as the utility and our partners and the Fair Trading Commission, to make sure that we get the regulatory environment working.”
The project will begin with a limited number of initiatives to help authorities determine how tariffs should be structured while maintaining cost-effectiveness,Haynes said.
He also disclosed that the process for applications to participate in energy storage programmes officially went live in November last year, following earlier challenges in developing the system.
“We have gone live with our application process for that in November of last year. Indeed we have received up to 96 submissions for applications thus far, and we are in the process of carrying out work to validate.”
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