ARENA Funds Virtual Power Plant Trial

ARENA - solar + storage

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing funding for a project testing a new approach to deploying solar PV and battery storage systems to households.

$400,000 in support will be provided to Ergon Energy Queensland as part of a $2.6 million project to trial a ‘virtual power plant’ model.

A number of centrally monitored and controlled solar + storage systems will be installed  in Cannonvale, Toowoomba and Townsville to examine whether they can add value to the network by performing demand management tasks and reduce peak load.

“The market for residential battery storage is rapidly evolving. Understanding the opportunities and barriers associated with this technology will be important in enabling smoother and more effective change,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht.

The 12 month pilot will involve 33 systems; each consisting of 4.9kW of solar power panels and a 12kWh/5kW battery storage and control system.

“If this trial proves the potential viability of this type of model, it could open another avenue for Australian consumers, businesses and utilities to benefit from renewable energy,” said Mr. Frischknecht.

Some of what Ergon discovers through the trial will be shared with the broader energy industry via ARENA.

Other residential solar + storage projects ARENA is assisting include a trial of rooftop solar power systems with battery storage in a new estate in Alkimos Beach, north of Perth in Western Australia.

In December last year, ARENA also invested $445,000 for a trial of an on-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) energy storage and trading system.

In other recent ARENA news related to storage, the Agency released the Energy Storage Study (PDF 4MB) last week; which details the status of the technology as it stands today and how it might evolve. The study identifies a number of priority areas for further investment to help overcome barriers to storage uptake, support more renewable energy and provide other benefits.

Established by the Australian Government in July 2012, ARENA has approximately $2.5 billion in funding for activities expected to advance renewable energy technologies towards commercial readiness, improve business models or reduce overall industry costs.

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