More and more Queensland homes and businesses are embracing rooftop solar, household batteries and electric vehicles – and these Customer Energy Resources have a key role to play in the future of our energy ecosystem. 

Traditionally, the electricity system has been defined by the one-way flow of energy from generators to consumers. But the system is evolving, moving from a market dominated by large, centralised plants to one where Customer Energy Resources (CER) exert much more influence. 

These resources – such as rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles – have also been referred to as Distributed Energy Resources (DER), or behind-the-meter systems, because they’re positioned on-site at the energy user’s property, on their side of the energy meter.

Rooftop solar, in particular, has taken off in Queensland, with the state’s strong solar resources contributing to a high rate of installation. One in three homes now have solar panels on the roof, and collectively, the energy produced by these rooftops is already the largest renewable generator in the state. 

But whereas the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) actively manages the dispatch of energy from centralised generators – including large-scale coal, solar, wind, gas and hydro units – to maintain precise supply-demand balance, most CER systems can’t be actively managed by the market operator, even under emergency conditions.

As these resources continue to make up a larger proportion of the energy in the grid, this lack of coordination will make it more difficult to balance supply and demand, and for households and businesses to make the most of the energy they generate. 

If CER is effectively integrated into the grid, however, then customers will be empowered to optimise their energy use – helping to keep electricity affordable and improving outcomes in the energy system for all. 

What does a smarter grid look like? 

The Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan (QEJP) outlines a strategy to deliver a smarter, integrated and more decentralised energy system – one that will require innovation, new technologies, regulatory reform, new data requirements and markets to build. 

The QEJP identifies increasing the rollout of dynamic connection arrangements as a key action in the development of a smarter grid. 

Traditionally, the inverters that connect CER to the grid have been ‘passive’ systems, with fixed export levels to avoid overloading the network. (When too much energy is fed into the grid at the same time, local network distribution lines can become congested and the local grid can become overloaded, leading to disruptions and blackouts.) 

But dynamic connections allow for variable export and import limits, with network operators managing the two-way flow of energy – from the customer to the network and vice versa – in real-time. 

Dynamic connections allow households and businesses to participate – via a retailer or aggregator – in emerging market opportunities such as energy trading, or to become part of a virtual power plant (VPP). 

A VPP is a network that aggregates the capacities of CER across a number of different sites so that they can work together as a single power plant. Using sophisticated software, the VPP operator can operate each participating CER on an optimised schedule, and aggregate energy from each resource to be traded on the National Electricity Market (NEM). 

The VPP operator can collectively dispatch the power to the grid at times of peak demand, or when prices are favourable. Participating households and businesses are rewarded for the energy they provide with direct payments (or with credits on their electricity bills, depending on the VPP operator’s approach), helping them to make the most of their investment in renewable energy. 

Other actions identified in the QEJP to facilitate a smarter grid include: 

1. 1.

   Targeting 100 per cent penetration of smart meter devices by 2030. These devices will be essential for providing the data that network operators need to manage the two-way flow of energy, and ensuring the safe and reliable supply of electricity.

2. 2.

   Encouraging the inclusion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in buildings. The batteries in electric vehicles can double as batteries for the household, and EVs are now being released with vehicle-to-grid capabilities. This means that with the right charging infrastructure in place, EV owners could charge their batteries with solar power during the day, and then use that energy to help power their homes at night, or feed it back into the grid when the sun isn’t shining.

3. 3.

   Increasing network access to enable the orchestration (i.e. coordination) of CER.

4. 4.

   Reviewing the regulatory framework for retail supply to remove barriers to delivering innovative products and services.

In the meantime, traditional generation assets will continue to operate to support energy security and stability as the system transforms and we head towards a renewable future – one in which we might all be energy generators, as well as energy users.