DER Register FAQs

Previously there has been no comprehensive database that maps the make-up of DER assets installed residentially and on business sites across Australia. When there was a small number of DER installed, this was not an issue as it is not material compared to the whole grid. But, in Australia DER (such as rooftop solar) has been so successful that it is starting to have a significant influence, and AEMO needs to plan and operate the grid with this in mind.
The data held in the DER Register enables AEMO to:

• Forecast, plan and operate the grid more efficiently, ensuring the system and market can deliver energy at an efficient price for all customers,
• Be more prepared for major disruptions to the system with a greater understanding of how DER assets will behave during these events,
• Prepare the grid for major innovations with DER such as virtual power plants, and enabling customers to consider and participate in new markets with their DER, and
• Allow networks to make better informed decisions about network investment options in the future as demand changes and DER increases.

AEMO must operate the power grid and market in real time, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. To do this we need to have a good understanding of how the grid will react when things don’t go to plan, like when a storm shuts down a very large transmission line.
Australian residents and business owners are charging ahead with rooftop solar PV installations and household batteries are becoming more common. However, we don't have a comprehensive database of these electricity generation and storage assets.
At times, the electricity grid and AEMO are more dependent on these assets than ever before. As this continues, more opportunities will be available for consumers to become active participants in the energy market and for this to reduce costs overall. This information provided to and held in the DER Register will allow AEMO to plan and operate a power grid with high levels of DER installation, while delivering these benefits to consumers.

AEMO does not have an active role in the allocation of subsidies from state and federal governments. However, some subsidy schemes may rely on AEMO’s receipt confirming that the installation has been recorded in the DER Register. Customers should ask their qualified contractor or DER installer to ensure this process is completed.

No. AEMO takes the privacy and security of your information very seriously. Protecting privacy and security form the foundations of every system we develop and build, including the DER Register.
The DER Register contains technical information about small generating and storage systems. Collecting this information does not require AEMO to collect personal information about customers or owners of these systems.
The collection systems that will support the DER Register will collect some information about contractors and installers involved in the DER installation process as this is required to manage the integrity of data provision. This information will be collected in line with appropriate privacy policies.

AEMO will be developing reports and a dashboard based on the data held in the DER Register, which will be publicly available on AEMO’s website. AEMO’s working groups will discuss the design of these reports prior to implementation, and stakeholders can email us with ideas to consider for this.

Your local network operator or Network Service Provider is responsible for providing the electricity network for your area. In relation to Solar and battery (DER) installation, they are required to approve any new DER installation. You can find out who yours is by checking your most recent electricity bill. 

From 1 March 2020, regulatory requirement will mandate NSPs provide more data than has traditionally been collected for small generating or battery systems. This data will have to be provided to AEMO’s DER Register within 20 days of the system commissioning or activation.
This information will be collected as a part of current grid connection approval processes managed by NSPs and installers either via NSP systems or AEMO's DER Register Portal depending on your specific state process - refer to your NSP for more information on this process. AEMO's system also enables existing smart phone applications used by Solar Installers to provide the required information directly to the register. 
AEMO recommends checking with the NSP to understand when and how to provide the information.

The new regulations require networks to collect up to 13 additional pieces of information about DER equipment installed on site. This includes inverter manufacturer, model and serial numbers. Depending on which State/Territory you are working in, this information can be provided:

• directly to the NSP via their systems, or
• directly into AEMO’s DER Register portal.

AEMO's system also enables existing smart phone applications used by Solar Installers to provide the required information directly to the register. Check with your application provider.
The DER Register system is designed to draw information from available data sets, such as the Clean Energy Council’s approved product databases, to streamline data provision. Although not a requirement, were these products are used installers can look them up and be asked to confirm data, rather than enter it.

Information is available through:

• Your local NSP
• Peak Industry bodies (eg. CEC, NECA, SEC)
• AEMO's DER Register Implementation website and the DER Register Portal landing page

No. The DER Register should not make it harder to connect DER to the grid. We are aware that connection processes can differ between NSPs. We have paid close attention to these existing connection processes around Australia with the aim to integrate the DER Register collection system as seamlessly as possible.

No. Customers should not be expected to do anything for the DER Register as they will be able to rely on their local NSP and qualified contractors and DER installers to provide the information.
Through AEMO's DER Register Portal, a receipt will be made available once the DER Record has been 'Confirmed' (ie. all information provided and confirmed by the NSP). Once confirmed, you will be able to select an option to generate a receipt which will then be able to be downloaded and provided to your customer.

Connection approvals are not completed by AEMO.  Please contact your NSP connections team.

For information on why you need to update the DER Register Portal, please visit AEMO's DER Register webpage or contact your local NSP.

The portal is currently only accessible in Google Chrome browsers. Download or open Google Chrome and try the website again.

Check that you have used a valid and active email address. If your email address is correct, check you junk/spam mail. If the email address was incorrect, enter a correct email address and try again - if you continue to encounter issues, contact AEMO's SupportHub.

NSW/ACT DER Installers

• To set up an account, you must provide a 10 digit NMI and a current Job Number, which will be provided by your NSP
• For security reasons you cannot register using an old or completed Job Number

If you are unable to create an account using the NMI/Job Number provided by your NSP, please contact AEMO's Support Hub or 1300 236 600. 

For Installers in Other states

• NSPs will use the data provided by installers through existing process to submit data to the DER Register
• You do NOT need to register for the AEMO DER Register Portal account

Please contact your NSP for further information on how to provide information to the DER Register. 

To reset your password, please access the DER Register Portal and select "forgot password" to commence the change process.

Check that you have correctly entered your email address and password. If you continue to encounter issues with account creation and logging in, please contact AEMO's Support Hub or 1300 236 600.

To reset your password, please access the DER Register Portal and select "forgot password" to commence the change process.

Please contact AEMO's Support Hub to assist with unlocking your account: supporthub@aemo.com.au or 1300 236 600

Information for the DER Register is required to be provided within 20 days of a DER installation/activation. If you have not yet started providing information for DER that you have installed, please contact your NSP to confirm the correct method to do so.

These are the codes that identify the site and the approval for the DER installation. They are issued by the NSP and can be found on the Connection Agreement once the new or changed DER installation has been approved. If you do not have this approval contact your NSP to understand this process.

Contact your NSP connections team for an update on the status of the DER record.

Once the NSP has approved a record the status will change to 'Confirmed'. You will then be able to use the system to generate a receipt for that DER installation.

If the record has not moved to 'Confirmed' status and was submitted more than 20 business days ago, contact your NSP. There may have been some issues with the information entered which will need to be reviewed by your NSP.

Contact your NSP connections team to check the status of your request.

If the connection agreement was provided more than 365 days ago, contact your NSP connections team. DER records can be marked as 'expired' if the date of approval is greater than 365 days. If the connection agreement is less than 365 days old, please advise your NSP who will be able to fix this issue.

If this installation occurred more than a year ago, the NSP's connection agreement may have expired. A new connection agreement will include an obligation to report the DER installations to the DER Register. Please contact your local network service provider to ensure your connection agreement is current and to get guidance on how to proceed.

AEMO does not require products to be on any 'approved product' list.  Please select 'other' and manually add the panel/inverter information.

AEMO does not require products to be on any 'approved product' list.  Please select 'other' and manually add the panel/inverter information.

We recommend contacting your NSP to confirm the status of the record you are attempting to update. You will require information provided in the network's approval to change/upgrade the DER installation.

You will need to contact your NSP to request permission to update this.

For more detail on the information you need to update in the DER Register Portal, please visit AEMO's DER Register webpage or contact your local NSP.

You can click on 'Save and Close' at any time to save your work and access it later. It is located at the bottom of the DER Record window. Please also refer to the DER Register user guide for further information, or contact AEMO's Support Hub: supporthub@aemo.com.au or 1300 236 600

For information on the functionality of the DER Register portal, please refer to the DER Register user guide, or contact AEMO's Support Hub: supporthub@aemo.com.au or 1300 236 600

Your local NSP will be able to assist with issues encountered while entering information into the DER Register portal. Please refer to the contact details provided for your NSP for more information.

The DER Register will only accept valid information. 
Your local NSP will be able to assist with issues encountered while entering information into the DER Register portal. Please refer to the contact details provided for your NSP for more information.

The DER Register will only accept valid information. Please enter valid data to resolve this issue.
Your local NSP will be able to assist with issues encountered while entering information into the DER Register portal. Please refer to the contact details provided for your NSP for more information.

The DER Register portal will tell you once you have successfully submitted a record to the NSP. Once the NSP has finalised this it will appear as 'confirmed' in your list.
If there are data entry issues, your local NSP will be able to assist with issues encountered while entering information into the DER Register portal. Please refer to the contact details provided for your NSP for more information.

To gain access a record you will need to enter the correct NMI and Job Number from the connection agreement issued by the NSP. If the record is locked you will need to request re-access, which the NSP will provide.
Your local NSP will be able to assist with issues encountered while entering information into the DER Register portal. Please refer to the contact details provided for your NSP for more information.

The record status needs to be 'Confirmed' before the receipt will be available for download.  If you record is at 'Confirmed' status, refresh your browser & click on "generate receipt". If a receipt is still not generated, contact AEMO's SupportHub.

Please refer to the DER Register User Guide for more information on generating and downloading a receipt. You will need to provide the NMI, Job Number and the correct installer ID.

This is only possible once the NSP has 'confirmed' the submitted record. You will then need to download the receipt via the DER Register portal. 
Please refer to the DER Register User Guide for more information on generating and downloading a receipt.

A receipt will be made available for generation when the DER Record reaches 'confirmed' status. If status is 'confirmed' but receipt cannot be generated, please wait 10 minutes, refresh your browser and try again. 
If further issues are encountered, contact AEMO's Support Hub: supporthub@aemo.com.au or 1300 236 600

The receipt is based on information entered into the DER Register portal. To edit a receipt, please contact your local NSP to unlock the record and proceed with updating the record, submitting, and awaiting 'confirmed' status before generating a new receipt.

AEMO have been working closely with NSPs in the lead up to the implementation of the DER Register. Information has also been made available on AEMO's DER Register Implementation webpage. For further information please contact DERRegister@aemo.com.au.

Information has been provided to NSPs to support communications with DER installers through existing channels. Should you require further support relating to communications, or have any upcoming DER installer events/webinars, please contact DERRegister@aemo.com.au to request additional materials.

Information collection for the DER Register will need to be integrated as a part of existing connection processes. Issues raised about data provision to this process need to be managed by the NSP, as they are now. AEMO will manage issues in relation to the DER Register system through our existing support arrangements.

AEMO collects information from Registered Participants on demand that participates in demand response. While this data has some similarities, it serves a different purpose so has not yet been integrated with the DER Register. AEMO will be exploring opportunities for this integration following the implementation of the DER Register.

The National Electricity Rules do not require retailers to provide information to the DER Register. However, retailers that have DER installers are expected to provide information as part of the NSP’s DER connection processes.

The information for the DER register relates to the connection processes, but not market systems. Metering changes will not be impacted by its implementation.

The DER Register is a requirement under the National Electricity Rules, which specifies that the information it holds must be made available to some stakeholders, including NSP and emergency services.
Under the rules, AEMO is required to develop reports based on the data held in the DER Register. These reports will be publicly available on AEMO’s website. AEMO’s working groups will discuss the design of these reports prior to implementation.

AEMO collects information from Registered Participants on demand that participates in demand response. While this data has some similarities, it serves a different purpose so has not yet been integrated with the DER Register. AEMO will be exploring opportunities for this integration following the implementation of the DER Register.