Horizon Power Business Model Pilot Phase 1
- $1.9m Funded by ARENA
- $7.07m Total project cost
Summary
Horizon Power is conducting a pilot project to test the commercial viability of delivering decentralised, high penetration renewable energy to entire towns across regional Australia, and prove that distributed energy resources (DER) can increase renewable energy penetration on existing microgrids.
Key results
- Horizon Power is transforming its business model from predominantly centralised fossil-fuelled generation to largely decentralised energy delivery into its networks. We foresee our customers playing an increasingly important role in providing energy for their community
- The project has broadened our understanding of the impact of the energy transition on Horizon Power’s business model, system planning, technology choices, operational practices, and the development of innovative customer-facing products
- Horizon Power conducted a series of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) technology trials which added considerable knowledge to our understanding of DER aggregation into virtual power plants and how to orchestrate DER in a microgrid setting
- The trials have helped us build a clearer understanding of the technical and economic viability of a high penetration DER business future for towns across regional Australia.
Learn more
Report: Carnarvon DER Trials End of Project Lessons Learnt
This report presents the consolidated lessons learnt from the Horizon Power DER Trial in Carnarvon and discusses the final project observations and remaining knowledge gaps.
Report: Horizon Power Carnarvon DER Trials Technical Report #2
This report presents the key findings from several studies that were completed as part of the Carnarvon DER Trial.
Media Release: Horizon to Trial Distributed Energy Systems in Carnarvon
ARENA has announced it will fund a pilot project by Horizon Power to trial distributed energy systems in Western Australia.
Report: Horizon Power Carnarvon DER Lessons Learnt #1
This Lessons Learnt Report discusses initial technology choices, customer onboarding into the trials, and infrastructure deployment for the Horizon Power Carnarvon trial.
Report: Horizon Power Carnarvon DER Trials Technical Report
This report provides an overview of the data acquisition systems and results of studies into PV fluctuation and voltage rise on the Carnarvon distribution network.
How the project works
The project will install a variety of distributed energy technologies for households and businesses in Carnarvon, Western Australia. Technologies include energy meter devices connected to the internet to send and receive data (i.e. as part of the ‘internet of things’), solar PV, batteries and inverters with remote monitoring and control devices.
Horizon Power will use collected data and customer interaction with the technology to inform new retail models that will enable and incentivise customers to participate in the provision of energy services to the grid.
Area of innovation
The project will develop an advanced model for renewable energy integration for towns that have reached their current available solar PV hosting capacity. The project will help to resolve the economic and technical barriers of a DER system, furthering Horizon Power’s understanding of high penetration solar and enabling technologies such as battery storage and communication platforms.
Benefit
Horizon Power believes that a DER model will be the most cost effective electricity supply model for its network. The trials of distributed energy systems will explore the most cost-effective way of designing and maintaining a future grid. Project Highgarden will also explore the most economically efficient ways to design and manage a future grid to reduce dependence on centralised fossil fuelled generation and reduce carbon emissions.
Read more
ARENAWIRE Blogs
Plotting next steps in distributed energy transformation
As Australians embrace rooftop solar at world-leading rates, work is underway to create a modern, fairer electricity system for the future.
A new way of providing energy to isolated communities? Look to the Horizon...
It’s happening fast and it can’t be ignored; the way our energy system operates is undergoing a massive transformation.
What are distributed energy resources and how do they work?
According to the twentieth century model of energy distribution, large power plants fuelled by coal, hydro or gas, generated electricity that was distributed via a centralised grid.
