This is the second Lessons Learnt Report from the Plus ES domestic hot water demand flexibility trial. This report describes the challenges and lessons learnt from recent software and operational scheduling improvements. Load control call success rates exceeded 96%, demonstrating the solution’s effectiveness and usability.
Report extract
There is unrealised potential in utilising electric water heating systems as a dynamic flexible load. Hot water is the largest and most predictable load for most households and more than 50% of households own an electric water heating system. Moreover, the penetration of smart meters across the NEM is more than 20% with increasing uptake which provides visibility of available load and control in near real-time.
With recent developments in the consumer energy resources (CER) space, South Australian Power Networks (SAPN) has given control of the switching times for controlled load to retailers. In response to increasing uptake of rooftop solar, SAPN implemented time of use network tariffs to incentivize electricity consumption during times of peak solar generation. Retailers will require the technical
solutions to orchestrate hot water loads at scale (in hundreds of MWs) in near real-time.
The project trial will develop a software solution to enable project retailer partner AGL to dynamically access and manage electric hot water systems that are on a controlled load. Existing smart meters will be utilized as part of this solution without any hardware upgrade requirements.
