This project allows United Energy to explore the viability of using developing Solar Storage technology as an alternative way to support the delivery of Distribution Services through the deferral of traditional network augmentation.
Report extract
1.1 United Energy
United Energy (UE) is an electricity distribution business that supplies electricity to more than 660,000 customers across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, south eastern suburbs and the Mornington Peninsula via 13,000 kilometres of wires, 209,000 poles, 78 sub transmission lines and 47 zone substations.
UE has an obligation to provide Distribution Services at the lowest cost consistent with the National Electricity Objective, as set out in the National Electricity Law. As such, this project allows UE to explore the viability of using developing Solar Storage technology as an alternative way to support the delivery of Distribution Services through the deferral of traditional network augmentation.
1.2 Demand Planning
UE designs and operates its network to facilitate there being sufficient capacity available on the network to meet customers’ peak electricity demand requirements. Electricity demand of residential customers on the UE network typically peaks in the evening period over the summer months on the hottest days of the year. Economic (including customer number) growth and the installation of sizeable load appliances (such as air conditioners) has historically caused peak demand on the UE network to grow resulting in electricity distribution network infrastructure assets needing augmentation to avoid becoming overloaded [or ‘constrained’] over time. This is known as ‘traditional network augmentation’. Traditional augmentation solutions are capital intensive and are typically only available in large capacity increments. Therefore, when traditional augmentation projects are undertaken by UE they are often sized with additional spare capacity to cater for potential future growth in demand.