PLUS ES has been awarded $2.72 million in funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to develop Hot Water Control Load demand management capability (the Portal).
The grant will enable AGL Energy, ARENA’s project’s partner, to access and dynamically manage a fleet of up to 20,000 hot water systems in South Australia via their smart metre – a potential controllable load of up to 48 MW.
AGL Energy will control the hot water load to maximise the benefits of hot water demand optimisation and take advantage of SA Power Network’s ‘solar sponge’ Time-of-Use tariff, which incentivises daytime power usage to enable higher renewable energy generation.
According to ARENA, the $5.4 million project will showcase dynamic load control management using Metering Services API while also assisting in creating network-controlled load tariffs and other retail items in regions other than South Australia. Consumers using electric hot water systems and time of use tariffs will also benefit from lower energy rates as their load shifts towards the midday solar sponge period.
ARENA said electric hot water systems are now the residential sector’s largest and most predictable load, implying that dynamic load control has enormous potential. Dynamic load control, which was previously scheduled to run during off-peak nighttime periods, offers the ability to turn systems on or off based on market and network signals, particularly in the middle of the day when rooftop solar generation is at its greatest.
The $5.4 million initiative intends to create a pathway to scale up hot water control in other jurisdictions outside of South Australia by proving hot water orchestration at a relevant scale.
If the initiative is successful, ARENA stated that PLUS ES plans to expand the Portal to include all of their metres in the National Electricity Market (NEM) and, eventually, to inform a new approach for all off-peak electric hot water systems with smart metres.
According to ARENA CEO Darren Miller, the initiative is highly aligned with ARENA’s flexible demand strategy objective, which attempts to better match electricity use when renewable energy is cheap and plentiful.
“Hot water control has been identified as a low-cost solution that could help to address minimum system demand issues across the NEM, highlighting that with the right innovation and technology solutions, we can reduce the need for costly network infrastructure upgrades and make the most of the increasing amounts of low-cost clean energy that we see entering the market,” Miller said.
Miller added that the collaboration with PLUS ES and AGL would demonstrate how dynamically managing hot water systems presents a scalable option for controlling a significant source of electricity demand in a smarter way that benefits both the customer and the retailer.
PLUS ES Executive General Manager Jason Clark stated that hot water systems represent a large untapped possibility to assist in delivering flexible demand.
“Dynamically controlling hot water helps to manage the grid and allow more renewable generation sources into the market. We are delighted to be involved in the project,” Clark added.
According to AGL Chief Customer Officer Jo Egan, the project’s findings will help consumers, other retailers, and the broader market better appreciates the benefits of retailer-orchestrated DER.
“This project has tremendous opportunities for our customers, for AGL, and for PLUS ES’s smart meters across the market. As AGL dynamically manages hot water systems in South Australia for thousands of our customers, we will be taking advantage of high renewable energy generation available during the day, to test if this can help with grid stability and support a reduction in energy prices. This partnership with PLUS ES, which is supported by ARENA, aligns with AGL’s commitment to utilise our expertise, work with like-minded businesses and innovate to meet the changing needs of our customers, now and in the future. We are excited to apply the lessons learnt from South Australia to encourage similar programs across the other states for the benefit of our customers, other retailers and the market,” Egan said.
The project is scheduled to be finished in late 2024.
