Global Insight

Each week we post an update of some of the interesting developments relating to future energy systems that have caught our eye. Within the IGov research we are focusing on developments in a number countries including Germany, Denmark, New York, California and Australia, but are also tracking developments more broadly across a number of continents. The weekly update will report on these.

  • Global Insight: 17th December 2018

    December 18, 2018

    Global Insight: 17th December 2018

    This will be the final Global Insight for this year and also the final Global Insight ever.  The IGov project will be running until end September 2019 but we have decided – although GI’s are popular – that we should spend our time producing other outputs (such as blogs, research, presentations) which will continue to be posted on the IGov website. For those of you who wish to keep up with US news, the best websites to follow are Utility Dive, CTN (Clean Technica), RMI, RAP and Naruc. For Australia, RenewEconomy, The Guardian, for markets

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 11th December 2018

    December 11, 2018

    Global Insights: 11th December 2018

    AUSTRALIA South Australia Electricity report released Last year’s increase in rooftop PV and domestic battery storage, along with increased renewable generation, are changing the dynamics of the South Australian (SA) power system.  This year’s electricity report highlights the need for system strength to be more actively managed, the increased need for fast-start and rapid-response technologies and the possibility of a new interconnector to New South Wales.  The steps taken within the report show a positive response to the large amount of variable generation.  The Hornsdale Power reserve has shown the range of services able to

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 4th December 2018

    December 4, 2018

    Global Insights: 4th December 2018

    AUSTRALIA Australian DER now stands at 2 million households The success of the solar industry in Australia has now reached new heights with the Clean Energy Council announcing on Monday that 2 million Australian households now have solar installed on their roofs (there are approximately 9 million households in total).   There is an average of six panels per minute being installed just with small-scale solar (if including large scale this jumps to 10-20 panels per minute).  What is also of interest is where the solar systems are being installed and what this means politically. Two

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 27th November 2018

    November 27, 2018

    Global Insights: 27th November 2018

    AUSTRALIA AEMO expecting a hotter than average summer The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has issued its summer energy outlook and is expecting a hotter than average summer.   There is particular concern for the state of Victoria which has a 20% chance of not meeting the reliability standard.  Additional reserves of 930MW are being procured through the Reliability and Emergency Trader (RERT) mechanism to cover any shortfall over the National Electricity Market (NEM).  AEMO are aware that the unexpected may happen and have made plans with the wider energy industry and governments to try to

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 20th November 2018

    November 20, 2018

    Global Insights: 20th November 2018

    AUSTRALIA Network offers demand response incentives in NSW Ausgrid, the distribution network serving Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter Valley in New South Wales is to offer its customers incentives to reduce their electricity use.  The demand response project, part funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), will offer customers incentives to implement solar systems and efficient lighting in order to permanently reduce demand.  The aim of the project is to show, by reducing demand in this way, Ausgrid will be able to delay, or avoid, network augmentation so reducing costs for customers. Consultation

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 13th November 2018

    November 13, 2018

    Global Insights: 13th November 2018

    AUSTRALIA Renewables increasing output and reducing gas generation in the NEM The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has released the Quarterly Energy Dynamics for Q2 2018.  Statistics for the quarter show an increase in renewable generation, both small and large scale; a marked reduction over the same period for gas generation and price reductions throughout the market.  Drivers for the price reductions were: reduced volatility in Victoria and South Australia; increased renewable output (including hydro) and reduced demand associated with seasonal temperature decreases and a reduction in gas powered generation (GPG).  Compared to the same

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 6th November 2018

    November 6, 2018

    Global Insights: 6th November 2018

    AUSTRALIA NSW launches Emerging Energy program The New South Wales (NSW) government launched its Emerging Energy program last week.  The program will invest $55m on large-scale energy projects to improve the diversity of NSW energy mix.  In the next 15 years 10GW of coal generation in the state will be at the end of its life.  The program is designed to help replace the coal plants with large-scale, low emission, dispatchable generation.  There is funding of up to $10m per capital project and $500,000 for feasibility assessments.  The projects must demonstrate ‘ ‘system operational’ technology

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 30th October 2018

    October 30, 2018

    Global Insights: 30th October 2018

    AUSTRALIA SA officially opens storage scheme South Australia (SA) has officially opened its subsidy scheme for household storage.  The $200m scheme will allow households to access grants and low-interest finance to purchase battery storage and rooftop PV.  The battery storage loans are on a sliding scale dependent on the amount of storage purchased.  The SA government have also prioritised a nine week window for batteries that are built in SA to encourage households to buy from local manufacturers. Currently SA is leading the world in percentage of households with rooftop PV which provides up to

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 16th October 2018

    October 16, 2018

    Global Insights: 16th October 2018

    AUSTRALIA Monash University to go 100% renewable Monash University in Melbourne, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Indra Australia have announced a microgrid trial that will test the ability of the Monash University Clayton campus’ embedded network to become 100% renewable.  The Au$7.1 million trial has received Au$2.97 million from ARENA and the results from the trial will be used to inform the Distributed Energy Integration Program (DEIP) announced last week and to help other universities to transition towards using renewable energy. The microgrid will use up to 1MW of rooftop solar, 20 buildings

    Read More »
  • Global Insights: 9th October 2018

    October 9, 2018

    Global Insights: 9th October 2018

    AUSTRALIA ARENA announces whole system DER initiative The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) have announced an initiative this week that will see the energy industry institutions come together to harness the potential of distributed energy resources (DER), the behind the meter resources such as solar PV and storage. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and ARENA have forecasted that up to 45% of Australia’s generation could come from DER by 2050.  In order to maximise the value of DER for all energy user a multi body initiative, the Distributed Energy Integration Program (DEIP),

    Read More »
Scroll to top