Ergon Energy has entered into a new partnership that will aim to generate 50 per cent of Queensland’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Ergon is partnering with SunPower to offer photovoltaic (PV) solar power systems with energy storage technology, in what is the company’s first residential solar storage project to be piloted in a limited release commercial offer.
According to Ergon Energy CEO, Ian McLeod, the company is looking to the future and partnering with SunPower and Sunverge to provide solar and battery systems as part of this trial due to the unique demand management features which allow stored power to be put back into the grid.
Mr McLeod hopes to create customer and network value by using energy resources located at the customer premises.
“I regard this as an important step towards more efficient ways to run electricity networks and also toward giving customers greater choice and control in how they manage their electricity needs.
“We want to be at the forefront of these developments to increase customer service offerings and reduce investment into constrained areas of the network,” said Mr McLeod.
The project is being supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which has contributed $400,000 towards Ergon Energy’s approach to provide solar PV and battery storage systems to residential customers.
Ergon Energy Retail will trial the hybrid energy systems with 33 of the company’s customers in Toowoomba, Townsville and Cannonvale.
SunPower will design and install the systems, which will include SunPower solar panels and Sunverge Solar Integration Systems (SIS).
SIS include backup power capability and a 6-kilowatt inverter with 11.6 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy, on-board computing and cellular communications.
Ergon is expecting the systems to be installed and operational by the end of this year.