By Mike Ballard, Senior Director Utilities Strategy, Oracle Around the world utility companies are being buffeted by strong winds of change. Shifting customer demands, fresh competition and new government policies and regulation mean business-as-usual strategies no longer work. Sitting at the centre of these changes is the smart meter. Being rolled out in increasing numbers, these devices have the capacity […]
The latest project news, developments and opinion pieces from industry experts from Australia’s electricity industry.
New safety regulations have recently come into effect which require Victorian electricity companies to use new technology that can halve the risk of powerlines starting bushfires. The Electricity Safety (Bushfire Mitigation) Regulations 2015 require electricity distributors to install Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiter (REFCL) technology across their networks. The device stops an electrical current within milliseconds of a power line […]
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht’s speech at the Australian Concentrating Solar Thermal Symposium has highlighted the importance of research and development for renewables and the future applications for solar thermal. Mr Frischknecht said that while passion and advocacy for renewables are important, it’s the research and development phase that allows innovation to occur and projects to go ahead. “ARENA recognises that […]
TransGrid, Ergon, AGL, Tesla and Renault have teamed up to call on the Federal Government to support an emerging energy initiative. The companies are co-signatories to a submission that has been prepared to increase the uptake of electric vehicles (EV) in Australia. The Path Forward for Electric Vehicles in Australia was created by ClimateWorks, with input from Transgrid, NRMA, AGL, […]
The Clean Energy Council has created new guidelines for the installation of battery storage in Australia. Clean Energy Council Chief Executive, Kane Thornton, said the guidelines provide the first comprehensive set of robust installation recommendations for battery storage in Australia, simplifying the process for installers and delivering on safety. “These guidelines have been established after extensive consultation over the past […]
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of a new Senior Director of Market Development. Suzanne Falvi has been appointed AEMC’s new Senior Director of Market Development, having previously been a Senior Lawyer in the AEMC’s Legal team and acting in a Senior Management team role since February 2016. AEMC Chief Executive […]
Origin Energy has been awarded a contract to construct Australia’s largest car park canopy solar installation. Origin won the competitive tender to design, build and maintain solar canopies for Westfield Marion, South Australia’s largest shopping centre, which is jointly owned by Scentre Group and Australian Prime Property Fund Retail. Approximately 240 car parking spaces will be covered by 14 separate […]
Global advisory firm, Advisian, has released its first white paper in the series, ‘The New Energy Future: the global transition’, which examines the rapid transformation of the global energy landscape. Utility spoke with co-author of the report Paul Ebert, Global Director, New Energy who stressed the need for Australian individuals, businesses and governments to take heed of this inevitable transition […]
Time is running out to book for Energy Networks 2016 – Energy in Transition. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this vital, national conversation. Energy Networks 2016 will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre from Wednesday 18 May – Friday 20 May 2016. The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, will […]
Air Circuit Breakers (ACBs) are commonly used in low voltage switchboards and due to their typically passive operation, are often forgotten about until there is a trip or circuit breaker failure leading to a power supply disruption. The consequence of ACB failure can be financially costly and potentially dangerous to personnel. To help address this issue, NHP provide ‘retro-fit kit’ […]
Genex Power has selected a design for its new pumped storage hydroelectric power plant it is developing at the site of the disused Kidston Gold Mine in North Queensland. The pumped storage project has the potential to generate rapid response, flexible power for delivery into Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM). The plant would be a highly efficient form of large-scale […]
Smart meters have the potential to provide a wide range of benefits to both electricity utilities and consumers, including empowering end users with the information to engage more actively with their energy consumption, and enabling innovative demand management initiatives and cost-reflective pricing options. However, in recent years, how best to deploy smart meters across Australia and encourage consumer uptake of […]
The Federal and Tasmanian Governments are exploring the possibility of building a second interconnector between Victoria and Tasmania, after the Basslink Interconnector was damaged in early 2016. Former Member for Bass, Warwick Smith AM, will conduct a feasibility study to determine if a second interconnector would help address Tasmania’s long-term energy security issues. The study will also provide advice on […]
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is investing in a new Australian-made utility solar technology that uses mirrors to track and reflect the sun. ARENA is providing Victorian company RayGen with a $2.9million recoupable grant towards a $5.8million project aimed at developing a utility-scale solar system utilising its PV Ultra technology. PV Ultra differs from typical large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) […]
AGL Energy is reissuing the construction tender for its Silverton Wind Farm project (NSW) in order to move the project forward. AGL said it remains committed to the project and Silverton Wind Farm project manager, Adam Mackett, said the reissuing of the tender is another step forward for the project. “We have released tender documents to a shortlist of tenderers […]
SA Power Networks is seeking non-traditional electricity sources to power Kangaroo Island (SA) after the 15km undersea cable that supplies electricity reaches the end of its working life. Kangaroo Island’s current 33,000 Volt undersea cable runs under Investigator Strait and is backed up by diesel generation at Kingscote. SA Power is now turning to renewables and the Australian Energy Regulator […]
Queensland Energy Minister Mark Bailey has confirmed Queensland now has more than 1,500 megawatts of installed solar generation capacity, equal to half a million rooftops. Mr Bailey said this means solar is now generating enough electricity to effectively make it the second largest power station in Queensland and it brings Queensland more than halfway towards the state government’s 2020 solar […]
Endeavour Energy has begun a $15million power upgrade to Sydney’s Marsden Park Industrial Precinct, which includes the installation of a new 6.6km underground transmission line. The transmission line will run between the Schofields and South Marsden Park Zone Substations and the project will underpin the power needed to support up to 10,000 new jobs in the Marsden Park Industrial Precinct […]
Victorian energy retailer Momentum Energy has paid $54,000 in penalties, after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) decided one of its advertising campaigns misrepresented where it gets its energy. Momentum Energy, owned by Hydro Tasmania, a generator of hydroelectricity in Tasmania, represented in an advertising campaign that it generates and supplies renewable energy to its customers, where in fact […]
AusNet Services has launched Australia’s first mini grid trial, which will see 14 homes store and share renewable energy through residential solar systems and battery storage. The trial will take place in the Melbourne suburb of Mooroolbark, and aims to demonstrate how the homes can use these technologies to generate, store and share renewable electricity with each other as a […]
As technology advances and network capabilities increase, we’ve seen a great deal of change in the technology that utilities can use to monitor their electrical networks. Now, utilities have access to data that allows them to be proactive rather than reactive to their ever-changing requirements. While kiosk transformers have a raft of expensive (and in some cases less than specifically […]
Mark Coughlin, PwC Australia’s energy, utilities and mining leader, examines the forces set to shape the power utilities sector in 2016. When the Prime Minister last year said “There has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian,” he could have extended that to say “an Australian energy provider”. Never before has the industry experienced such a convergence […]
In a very short space of time, energy storage has become one of the most critical topics facing energy utilities around the country. We caught up with Australian Energy Storage Council (ESC) Chief Executive John Grimes to hear his thoughts about how the industry is developing, and to gain insight into how utilities can work with this emerging technology, rather […]
Rugged tablets power realtime responsiveness, feature futureproof connectivity standards By Brett Gross, Director of Sales AUNZ, Xplore Power, gas, water, and telecom utilities are responsible for one of the most mobile workforces in the world. In fact, Navigant Research expects there to be more than 2.4 million mobile utility workers worldwide by 2020, up from 1.2 million in 2013. That’s […]
By Simon Mezger, Strategy Utilities Lead for Australia and New Zealand, Accenture Ensuring customer satisfaction is a constant and ongoing challenge for Australian utilities. When customers have access to many services that enable them to quickly and easily switch providers, what can utilities do to keep their customers and reduce the churn? In an industry where consumers spend just five […]
ActewAGL carried out helicopter inspections of overhead powerlines across its network during February, giving the utility an overall view of the state of its network. The helicopter patrols are an essential part of ActewAGL’s vegetation management and asset management program. The patrols inspected for vegetation encroaching on powerlines and flew at approximately 110150 metres in rural areas and above 310 […]
AGL, with project partners ElectraNet and WorleyParsons, are exploring large-scale energy storage in a new project. The Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration (ESCRI) project explored commercial frameworks that can be used to operate utility-scale storage within the National Electricity Market (NEM). A new report examining the project’s findings and the commercial feasibility of large-scale grid-connected energy storage is now […]
By Alison Atherton, Jay Rutovitz, Edward Langham, Lawrence McIntosh and Sven Teske, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney The electricity market is changing as technologies like solar panels and battery storage improve and become more affordable. Widespread uptake of battery storage now seems to be a question of when, not if. Many consumers are interested in not only […]
Powerlink Queensland will receive a $20million investment to overhaul a key substation and support Queensland’s transmission network. The investment will go towards an overhaul of systems and equipment at Powerlink’s Calvale Substation, near Biloela, which is a vital hub in the high voltage network transporting power from Callide Power Station across the network to Gladstone and other parts of Queensland. […]
The Energy Networks Association has released a draft handbook to help develop and implement new electricity prices to benefit customers. The Energy Networks Association engaged KPMG Australia to assist the production of the Electricity Network Tariff Reform Handbook to guide networks and stakeholders in the process of tariff redesign. The handbook is now available for consultation. Energy Networks Association CEO, […]
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