Primer – Energy System Change in Eastern Australia

IGov Primer – Energy System Change in Eastern Australia

Context

Australia is an example of where the ‘future’ energy system is already happening. This has been driven by a number of factors, which could happen to any country. System transformation is happening at such a rapid pace that the traditional institutional practices have been unable to keep- up with change, causing issues for both the technical and social aspects of transformation. This includes action by the Government and Regulator, with a clear lag between system change and its governance – an issue that is not uncommon in many countries currently. It shows how difficult it can be to coordinate governance change in the face of rapid technical, system and social change and as such it is a region IGov has followed closely.

For a good overview of the Australian energy system, it governance and the insights it is providing on energy system transformation we recommend the blog Tales of the unexpected: A policy success story? for a more graphic summary of what has been happening see this presentation. All of the resources we have produced to date are below.

2018

Feb (Blog) Postcard from Australia: Sydney looks at consumer engagement within the energy system and the Big 3 companies that dominate the retail market.
Feb (Blog) Postcard from Australia: Canberra considers politics and regulation within the Australian energy system and the emerging tensions as DER use grows.
Mar (blog) Postcard from Australia: Melbourne provides a detailed look at the energy governance institutions in Eastern Australia and how they are slowing system transformation.
Mar (Blog) Postcard from Australia: Adelaide describing how energy is coming in political campaigns, linking to penetration, variable power impact and system inertia, the emergence of virtual power plants, system coordination and consumer trust.
Mar (Presentation) Smart Lessons from States of USA and Australia to BEIS. This presentation gives a clear set of graphics on many of the changes that are happening within the Australian energy system and what lessons can be learnt from them within the UK.
April (Blog) Postcard from Australia – A National Electricity Market Overview a key blog summarizing the above series and getting to the heart of why Australia is so interesting for anyone with an interest in energy system transformation.
July (blog) Tales of the unexpected: A policy success story? Provides an analysis of how Australia became the work leader in household PV installations, the policies that encourage this and the wider factors that impacted take-up.
September (presentation) Devolution and Defection in Energy Networks the story of household PV growth in Australia, what drove it, and can be learn for managing system change in governance in other countries.

2017

Feb (blog) Why is Australia becoming an interesting case study for energy reform? An intro to idea of death spirals and responses to them. It considers retail prices in Australia against PV/storage and looks at PV uptake to date.
April (Blog) The Solution to South Australia’s blackouts – a market which rewards DER This tells the story of the 2016 storms & the 2017 heatwave in S. Australia and the impacts that caused on the power system. The role of DER in providing security (PV/storage in this case) is then explored.

Download the primer here: Primer – Eastern Australia Energy System Change

Last Update: December 2019