A pilot solar-battery power project is being rolled out to 11,000 New Zealand homes. Photo / 123RF
A pilot solar-battery power project is being rolled out to 11,000 New Zealand homes. Photo / 123RF
A pilot solar battery scheme being rolled out in 11,000 homes nationwide could form part of the answer to supplying the power grid when demand is at its highest, Ara Ake chief executive Cristiano Marantes says.
Ara Ake, an independent organisation set up by the Government to promote innovation inthe electricity sector, is promoting the scheme with solar energy services company solarZero.
Marantes says the pilot could form part of the solution to meet the country’s power needs when the system is stretched.
SolarZero, a firm that installs home solar power, was sold to US giant BlackRock last year.
Marantes explained that a “low residual event” is when residual generation is forecast by power grid operator Transpower to fall below 200 megawatts for any trading period, but typically during a cold snap.
Having 30mw of power - enough for 30,000 homes - to call on under that scenario could make a useful difference for the grid, he says.
The zolarZero system will be connected to a digital platform that can then be dispatched by Transpower.
“Transpower, in certain circumstances, can say ‘we need some support here’ and make the dispatch signal. SolarZero can then export their generation to the system.
“What we are really trying to demonstrate here is whether we could use a residential solar and battery system as one of the tools to manage winter peaks in New Zealand,” Marantes said.
“We are trying to demonstrate how that would work, and then the value of that VPP (virtual power plant) being used under emergency situations.
“Bearing in mind that when you are looking at emergency situations, or what we call a low residual event -- 200 megawatts forecast – then 30mw is a not an unreasonable amount to call on.
“In a low-residual event, solutions like this one could be very useful.”
Under the pilot, Transpower would notify solarZero ahead of time that it could be called on to supply power - enough time to allow the batteries to become fully charged.
The pilot will involve installing systems in 11,000 individual solarZero homes with state-of-the-art Virtual Power Plant (VPP) technology.
The solar batteries located throughout New Zealand will provide their capacity to the electricity market system operated by Transpower and can be called on in the rare situations when there are potential electricity shortages.
Transpower says solar battery power could make a difference when the national grid is under stress. Photo / Supplied
The pilot will be the first to utilise “real-time” pricing changes introduced by the Electricity Authority in April that enable sector participants to bid and offer their demand flexibility and ‘distributed energy resources’ into the wholesale market with more certainty.
“This project demonstrates, at scale, the contribution that our own distributed energy resources can play in managing winter peaks,” he said.
The insights gained from this pilot will inform future projects.
The programme will test the potential for consumers’ rooftop solar systems with battery storage – operating in a VPP – to provide scalable energy and network services traditionally performed by large-scale, conventional electricity generators.
Electricity markets around the world are facing challenges meeting peak demand as they transition towards an increasingly renewable future.
Stephen Jay, Transpower’s general manager of operations, said Transpower had been signalling this challenge for some time as it integrated more intermittent renewable generation into its system.
“This initiative will make a small but significant difference in meeting peak demand now and will help drive the transition towards the more flexible, distributed and renewable power system of the future,” Jay said.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.
