Vision
The Intelligent Grid Cluster is a major collaborative research venture between the CSIRO and the university sector under the CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship. It explores the economic, environmental and social impacts and benefits of the large-scale deployment of intelligent grid technologies in Australian electricity networks.
Changing Energy Futures
Human civilisation relies on adequate energy provision and currently, the global energy sector is experiencing fundamental change. However, today’s energy sector is the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions which is driving global climate change. The need to reduce the greenhouse intensity of energy generation is urgent. At the same time, threats to energy security are provoking interest in more efficient energy use and reliance on local (decentralised), renewable energy sources. The energy sector is also faced with the challenge of delivering energy services to people in developing countries, where network infrastructure is limited.
These challenges are prompting a dramatic shift in thinking and planning for energy networks. The future of energy is going to rely less on large-scale, centralised fossil fuel power stations and transmission networks. An intelligent grid will use low-emission, distributed energy technologies and advanced electricity network control systems to transform the sustainability of the electricity sector. It will be a resilient, secure network that is not subject to catastrophic failures if particular elements break down.
Research with real outcomes
The research being done by the Intelligent Grid Cluster is immediately practical to today’s energy sector. It is field of investigation with direct and easily realised benefits to the economy and to the challenges of energy supply facing us today.
The cluster members are concentrating on different aspects of future large-scale deployment of distributed energy in the National Electricity Market. The teams will:
- model the market benefits of this trend of distributed energy
- identify benefits to the network how distributed energy can alleviate network congestion and defer asset investment
- fully value the economic contribution of the intelligent grid and compare it to conventional energy technologies
- demonstrate how intelligent grid and distributed energy reduced greenhouse gas emissions with hard data
- seek ways to facilitate the uptake of these technologies
- work with key stakeholders to identify the social issues around the uptake of distributed energy and its effect on society
- explore how people connect with and understand energy and how this might be influenced by intelligent grid technologies
- create resources and public materials to assist the development of the intelligent grid, including this website, research papers, several mathematical models, summary reports and potentially an edited book
- establish extensive engagement with industry and key stakeholders
Collaboration
The cluster brings together economists, engineers, social scientists, systems scientists and policy scientists to develop integrated insights that could not be achieved by working separately. Five universities, hosting seven teams are working on different projects with a common interest. Throughout the term of the projects, they will be sharing information and providing a big boost to the reality of an Intelligent Grid.
Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation
Energy Tranformed Flagship
http://www.csiro.au/org/EnergyTransformedFlagship.html
Curtin University of Technology (WA)
http://www.curtin.edu.au
http://www.strongercommunities.curtin.edu.au
Queensland University of Technology
http://www.qut.edu.au
University of Queensland
http://www.uq.edu.au
University of South Australia
http://www.unisa.edu.au
University of Technology Sydney
http://www.uts.edu.au
http://www.isf.uts.edu.au
Internationally affiliations
Global Energy Network
