Portfolio Update – 2018 is shaping up to be a huge year for consumer energy with record rooftop solar and battery installations, real-time demand response trials, and a number of reports predicting these ‘distributed energy resources’ (DER) will form the bulk of new supply in the energy sector by 2030 and beyond.
Report extract
Increase in the uptake of solar and batteries in households across Australia
In the second quarter of 2018, over 57,000 rooftop solar systems were installed nationally, adding 310 MW of installed capacity. According to SunWiz, the number of household batteries installed in Australia is tipped to jump to 33,000 in 2018, cracking 300 MWh of storage capacity. While the numbers may still be small compared to solar, the rate of registered battery installation has tripled each year since 2015.
As battery installation rates increase, battery aggregators are scaling up and working with ARENA and AEMO to trial the provision of frequency control services under the Market Ancillary Services Specification, as well as distribution network support including on the TasNetworks, SA Power Networks, United Energy and Evoenergy networks.