NSW’s inaugural Distribution System Plan (DSP) has been released, detailing billions of dollars of savings that can be achieved in the state’s energy network.
Launched by Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy, the DSP represents a unified view from the electricity distribution companies as to how NSW can fully leverage and capitalise on its existing distribution network to meet future needs.
By combining available network capacity with the potential of consumer energy resources (CER) like rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles (EV), between $2 billion and $4.3 billion of value could be unlocked.
“The DSP is an Australia-first roadmap that finally shines a light on the ‘missing middle’ – our distribution networks,” Ausgrid group executive, external affairs and strategy Tim Jarratt said.
“It proves that by using our existing assets smarter, we can deliver billions of dollars in value, significantly de-risk the transition, and buy up to five years of breathing room while critical transmission infrastructure is built.”
Endeavour Energy general manager, future grid and asset management Colin Crisafulli spoke to the role of CER.
“We’re not just waiting for major transmission to be built, we’re actively transforming today’s network into a dynamic, flexible platform that coordinates customer energy resources in real time,” he said. “This reduces system pressure, accelerates clean energy integration, and lowers costs for all customers.
“Our modelling shows that pushing storage deeper into the distribution network and finding customer-centric ways of coordinating customer energy resources can defer expensive network upgrades by as much as 15 years.”
This includes a “proactive, network-led approach” that could “fast-track EV adoption” by half a million vehicles in NSW.
The DSP Opportunities Report poses two overarching opportunities where distribution network service providers (DNSPs) can play a larger role in supporting customers, one of which concerns the maximisation of current distributions networks, with the other concerning CER usage.
Opportunity 1
This opportunity considers the potential for “connecting utility-scale generation and storage into the sub-transmission network where it provides least-cost system outcomes”. This includes installing solar farms in or close to major load centres such as Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, and installing additional wind capacity across NSW, reducing the need for gas-powered generation by 50TWh.
The report foresees 14.7GW of solar and 5.8GW of wind enabled by 2050 as part of this opportunity.
What comes with generation must be the strategic location of distribution-connected battery energy storage systems (DBESS).
“The deployment of DBESS connected at the zone substation can cost-effectively defer expensive zone substation upgrades,” the report said.
It’s also important to pair generation with storage.
“At the distribution-level, pairing 690MW of storage with 180MW of mid-scale solar creates an opportunity to defer zone substation augmentation by 12 years,” the report said.
“By producing and storing electricity closer to load, co-location buys time for upstream network augmentations.”
Opportunity 2
By coordinating CER and unlocking local, mid-scale solar, up to $2.2 billion in benefits can be realised.
“It is critical that all customers benefit, through increased participation in the energy system, reduced curtailment and greater return on CER assets, and through a more reliable and lower-cost system for all,” the report said.
“Transport decarbonisation is a key priority for NSW. A proactive DNSP-led rollout of low-capacity kerbside EV charging infrastructure could accelerate the uptake of EVs for NSW households without off street parking by half a million by the late 2040s.”
The report said that the “orchestration” of EV charging is critical as EV uptake increases, helping to manage peak load growth and keep costs down for customers.
NSW’s three DNSPs – Ausgrid, Essential Energy and Endeavour Energy – collectively provide electricity to nearly 4 million households and businesses, supporting about 8.9 million customers and representing 30 per cent of Australia’s GDP.
And with NSW committing to 50 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050, electricity distributions networks will be play a key role in achieving this mission.
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