Energy and the transition of the grid was a key topic at Transform 2025, the yearly conference organised by the Green Building Council of Australia and a number of innovative ideas came to the fore.
Energy optimisation and integration in retirement communities
Prospecta Utilities’ GemLife Moreton Bay project is a Green Star rated retirement community that is all electric. Every home gets three kilowatts of solar and the development has a 1.64 megawatt an hour battery (partially funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency).
Everything energy related in the homes is interconnected and the company owns what it calls “Enterprise 5g.” This is an integrated internet service that monitors connectivity, measures and controls every energy equipment piece, and watches the smart meters in one system.
Mark Langdon, chief executive officer of Prospecta Utilities, told the recent Transform conference organised by the Green Building Council of Australia that to achieve a value stack, the company focuses on behind-the-meter revenue and market arbitrage.
The current tariffs are around $300 a MW/h every day of the week. The company works with the market aggregator so when the price points get to about $350 MW/h, it would discharge and sell the energy into the market.
When the energy prices go negative, and if the battery is not sufficiently charged from solar shifting, the company will charge the battery in the middle of the day and use that energy.
Roadmap for consumers
The ACT government is also starting to involve consumers in the energy transition to engage vulnerable households, people on low incomes, renters and tenants, said Jacinta Evans, director of complex buildings transformation, climate change, and energy at ACT said at the event.
One of these initiatives aims to help buildings and apartments that were developed in the months before the ACT enacted a gas ban on new housing, since their cost to transition will be higher than the projects built post-ban.
The Sustainable Apartments Pilot provides owners with “clear roadmap” for electrification. Evans said the government can’t provide all the capital costs but can lower the barriers by providing the next feasible steps.
Non-compulsory tariffs for solar panel users
In another segment, Endeavour Energy’s Iris Bua shared insights into a tool with Australian-based startups. Under this tool, registered and eligible customers will be able to export 10kW of excess solar, which is double the current fixed limit (5kW), almost all the time.
Another tool is a voluntary tariff which encourages customers to put electricity back into the grid after around 5 pm in return for a multiplier of the usual feed in tariff.
The energy company is also looking at technologies that enable customers to use their car to feed electricity back into the network at a specific time of day where it is financially beneficial for the consumer, Bua said.
The idea is that people will be incentivised to consume energy differently with many options available for customers to use energy as they wish, which will also help the network tp be more resilient.
Consumer energy resources to reach 17 per cent of dispatchable energy
There’s a “massive opportunity” for consumers, building and energy users, over the next decade, according to Michael Di Russo, head of property at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The organisation forecasted that over the next decade consumer energy resources will participate and contribute about 17 per cent of dispatchable energy.
To meet the energy transition by 2050, Di Russo said his organisation is working to advance technology with lower costs.
He estimates that rooftop solar, one of the massive contributors to the system, will increase fourfold, which will provide many opportunities for consumers to get involved.
As the industry starts to commercialise, the organisation is interested in collaborating with virtual power plants and virtual energy network solutions, Di Russo said.
Large companies to overcome approval barriers with Dexus’ help
Dexus worked with Nike, Amazon, Tesla and Lululemon to transition buildings to energy efficient sites.
Clark said one of the company’s focuses is addressing risks associated with the energy transition and problems that could arise on the approval end of things. When a tenant is willing to come to the table and come to a financially sound solution it can make the transition to clean energy despite the complexity of the market, Clark said.