Smart-grid technologies trial identifies $28 billion for Australian economy

A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis has identified up to $28 billion in net economic benefits that could flow to Australia if smart-grid technologies were to be implemented across the country’s electricity system. The analysis was commissioned to examine the results of the Smart Grid, Smart City project - a $100 million, government-funded trial of smart-grid technologies in NSW over a four-year period from 2010-2014.

The project is one of the largest and most ambitious commercial-scale trial deployments of smart-grid infrastructure and applications ever undertaken in the world. Centring on the use of information and communications to improve the efficiency of electricity generation, distribution and usage, the trials were led by NSW network company Ausgrid with support from industry and government partners including IBM Australia, GE Energy Australia, Grid Net, CSIRO, TransGrid and Energy Australia.

Analysis of the project was conducted by a consortium comprising Arup, Energeia, Frontier Economics and the UTS Institute of Sustainable Futures, which quantified the potential economic benefits from the mix of smart-grid devices, customer feedback technologies and dynamic electricity tariffs trialled in the project and developed a business case for implementing the most effective of these at a national level. They found the largest economic benefits came from technologies that improved the overall reliability of the network; in particular, fault detection isolation and restoration (FDIR) technologies were found to have potential to deliver billions of dollars in benefits if used nationally.

The consortium also found the trial of in-home electronic and online tools for monitoring and adjusting electricity usage in near real time, coupled with smart meters and alternative pricing models, gave households unprecedented control over when and how much electricity they consumed. This led to a smoothing of consumption over the daily cycle and reduced call on the grid at peak times.

Technologies and applications trialled in Smart Grid, Smart City included:

• Grid applications: Grid-side monitoring and control technologies to reduce network operating costs and support the future planning and implementation of lower-cost networks.
• Customer applications: Residential electricity consumption, reliability, customer behaviour and responses to feedback technologies and pricing models. This included an electric vehicle trial and investigations into the interoperability of electricity metering with gas and water metering.
• Distributed generation and distributed storage: Distributed generation and distributed storage within electricity grids, at the level of small communities.
• Supporting information and communication technology platforms: Integration of various high-speed, reliable and secure data communications networks and associated IT systems with the electricity distribution network, including interoperability with the National Broadband Network.

The project’s National Cost Benefit Assessment Report pinpoints the technologies most likely to deliver a more efficient and effective electricity network, and outlines 23 recommendations for implementation of smart-grid technology across the national grid. The findings have also underpinned development of a sophisticated set of interfacing models that will be made available to all industry participants to guide implementation of smart-grid technology.

“Industry participants now have at their disposal a suite of proven technologies to make electricity supply more efficient and less costly,” said Arup Principal and Project Director Dr Richard Sharp. “The challenge now is for relevant jurisdictions and regulatory authorities to work together so that retailers and distributors and other participants have the flexibility to adapt and deploy these technologies where it is of benefit to consumers.

“Given the right mix of technologies, a smart grid is achievable. This means we get more out of our existing electricity infrastructure and can stage investment in new infrastructure over longer periods.”

The full report can be downloaded from https://ich.smartgridsmartcity.com.au/.