South Australia to test benefits of energy-smart homes

A public expression of interest has been issued in South Australia for a trial that will test the benefits of flexible energy-smart homes.

Launched by South Australia’s minister for Energy and Mining, Tom Koutsantonis, and SA Power Networks chief operating officer Mark Vincent, the AU$13.8 million ($9.4 million) Energy Masters project will research the value of energy-smart households.

The programme also aims to provide information about how tech standards can be changed to deliver better customer outcomes as more customer energy resources (CERs) are integrated into the grid.

Under the project, 500 South Australian households will optimise their energy use, participating in a research programme led by RACE for 2030.

As part of the research, households will trial SA Power Networks’ ‘flexible network connection’, combining their Flexible Exports initiative with a new flexible import limit.

SA Power Networks will be able to send signals to households, via an HEMS (home energy management system) device, which will optimise the energy use of designated flexible appliances in response to the network conditions.

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Households selected to participate will receive a free Clipsal Cortex HEMS to optimise their home energy use, subsidies for new heat pump hot water systems or smart split-system air-conditioners, covering 50-90% of the installed cost in most cases, and access to retail offers from partner retailers Amber Electric and EnergyAustralia, which reward customers for using energy flexibly.

Beyond this project, modelling undertaken by SA Power Networks suggests that customers who electrify their homes and vehicles could halve total household energy costs.

Recent industry reports estimate that such demand-side flexibility presents an opportunity to avoid between AU$20 billion ($13.6 billion) and $30 billion ($20.4 billion) in generation and network investment across Australia.

Energy Masters is being led by SA Power Networks, who is contributing AU$2.8 million ($1.9 million) to the initiative.

For placements in Energy Masters, households that have expressed interest will be carefully selected by the project team to make sure the research is representative of as many South Australians as possible.

Fifty places of the 500 in Energy Masters are set aside for low income and energy-hardship households to ensure they are supported to join.

Households are able to express their interest at www.saenergymasters.com.au from now until 2 December 2024.