Following the launch of AEMO’s Renewable
Integration Study (RIS) at the end of April, AEMO has been consulting with
stakeholders on the report’s findings and actions to
develop an integrated program of priority focus areas to support Australia’s
energy transition.
Last week, the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG)
hosted AEMO’s Managing Director and CEO Audrey Zibelman, along with Chris
Davies and Barry O’Connell from AEMO’s Future Energy Systems to present key
findings at a Renewable Integration Study webinar.
More than 430 people from 17 countries joined the webinar
to participate in discussions on the study’s findings and recommendations to
leverage Australia’s technical
capability to operate a power system with 75 per cent of energy at times from
wind and solar generation by 2025.
The presentation covered recommended actions to overcome the
technical challenges with Australia’s power system transition from centralised,
firm and synchronous generation, to a greater reliance on decentralised,
variable and inverter-based generation.
The rapid rate of transition to high wind and solar
penetration, as outlined in AEMO’s Draft
2020 Integrated System Plan, requires a quick response to
manage these challenges. This
includes the need for flexible market and regulatory frameworks that can adapt
swiftly and effectively as the power system evolves.
In addition to this international event AEMO held two
stakeholder events with 350 representatives from consumer advocates, policy
makers and industry representatives and has held a series of one-on-one
briefings with other stakeholder groups.
Chris Davies, AEMO Future Energy Systems Manager, said: “Overall, the consultation
reflected a high level of interest and engagement from a range of stakeholders
wanting to contribute and remain involved in future developments with the
Renewable Integration Study.
“Of particular interest was how the study seeks to achieve
the National Electricity Objectives and how the RIS aligns with AEMO’s
Integrated System Plan and other publications or initiatives, including collaboration
with the Australian Energy Market Commission and Energy Security Board.
“AEMO welcomes all feedback and looks forward to working
with the other market bodies and ESB on the related regulatory and market
actions,” he said.
Following these forums, AEMO will release a FAQ to answer
the most commonly asked questions, including questions that were not answered
during the engagement sessions.
To assist in sharing the RIS insights and
recommendations, AEMO has developed an informative five-part webinar series on
the RIS and each of the three appendices of the report: Distributed PV,
Variability and Unpredictability, and Frequency. To watch the RIS webinar
series, or to read the reports, visit the RIS
webpage or AEMO’s YouTube page.
Written submissions, formal feedback or suggestions
regarding the RIS Stage 1 report or priority focus areas for the future can be
submitted to FutureEnergy@aemo.com.au
by Tuesday, 30 June 2020. AEMO will be taking all the feedback from submissions
and stakeholder projects to help with scoping and developing Stage 2 of the
project.
For more information, please contact the Future Energy Systems team.