AEMO welcomes the release of the Distributed Energy
Resources (DER) Roadmap by the Western Australian (WA) Government’s Energy
Transformation Taskforce.
DER are consumer-owned devices that can generate (rooftop
solar) or store electricity (batteries, electric vehicles), or have 'smart'
capabilities to actively manage energy usage (air conditioners, pool pumps,
etc).
The DER Roadmap comes at a time when WA’s energy ecosystem
is rapidly transforming towards a decentralised, scalable two-way power system,
as increasing numbers of households and businesses invest in solar generation
and energy storage capabilities.
“The growth of renewable generation in the South West
Interconnected System (SWIS), like the National Electricity Market (NEM),
continues to drive a paradigm shift in the power system,” said AEMO Managing
Director and CEO, Audrey Zibelman.
“Australia’s world-leading adoption of rooftop solar
presents both operational challenges and exciting opportunities. The WA DER
Roadmap will help the WA energy industry and consumers unlock the benefits of
an energy future that is decentralised, democratised and digitalized.”
The Roadmap outlines a five-year plan of actions required to
meet these opportunities and challenges, including approaches to overcome
technical, regulatory, and market barriers to better integrate DER into the
SWIS.
The Roadmap aligns with recommendations made in AEMO’s
Integrating Utility scale Renewables and Distributed Energy Resources in the
SWIS analysis published in 2019. AEMO collaborated with the WA Government
and industry stakeholders in the design of the DER Roadmap.
“AEMO welcomes the release of the DER Roadmap. It will help
ensure consumers continue to gain the benefits from DER while supporting the
delivery of safe, reliable, secure and affordable energy for WA moving forward,”
Ms Zibelman said.
To deliver on the DER Roadmap AEMO will work together with
Energy Policy WA, Western Power, Horizon Power, Synergy, and an extensive
network of industry partners and agencies.
“The WA energy industry is coming together to manage the
impacts COVID-19 may have on the power system due to changing electricity
usage. This roadmap will help support and focus our efforts.”
If ever there was a time to ensure the energy industry is
harnessing the benefits of new technology, it is now, as we deal with the
resilience challenges of both extreme weather and the global COVID-19
pandemic,” said Ms Zibelman.
For more information, view
the DER Roadmap and visit the dedicated
website.