Menu

Regulatory Framework for Commercial Microgrids on Regulated NT Networks

Apr 2024

This report is based on observations from the first ever installation of a commercial, ‘islandable’ microgrid in Alice Springs at the Desert Knowledge Precinct. The installation has provided key data on the potential benefits and constraints of integrating a microgrid based on solar PV and a battery energy storage system (BESS) on to a constrained, regulated, power network. It highlights how the current system, regulation framework and associated connection process may need to change to more easily integrate private microgrids.

Type: Report Future Grid publication   Format: PDF

File

Download PDF File

The instal­la­tion of a com­mer­cial micro­grid at the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct allowed us to exam­ine the real-world process of design­ing, procur­ing, and deploy­ing a micro­grid and inte­grat­ing this into the Alice Springs elec­tric­i­ty net­work under the cur­rent reg­u­la­tions. Through this sub-project, led by Ekisti­ka and Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia (DKA), we aimed to under­stand more about: 

  • The exist­ing reg­u­la­to­ry frame­works for deploy­ment of micro­grids on reg­u­lat­ed net­works with­in the NT. 
  • The poten­tial ben­e­fits, con­straints, and bar­ri­ers to micro­grid deploy­ment as they apply to the var­i­ous project stake­hold­ers (micro­grid own­er, site ten­ants, dis­tri­b­u­tion net­work ser­vice provider (DNSP), elec­tric­i­ty retail­er etc).

What is a microgrid?

A micro­grid is a local elec­tri­cal grid with defined elec­tri­cal bound­aries, act­ing as a sin­gle and con­trol­lable enti­ty. It includes gen­er­a­tion and stor­age, and is able to oper­ate in both grid-con­nect­ed and in island­ed mode. 

How does the DKP micro­grid work?

The DKP’s micro­grid is cur­rent­ly oper­a­tional and includes the use of a zero export Bat­tery Ener­gy Stor­age Sys­tem (BESS). Com­bined with the pre-exist­ing Solar Cen­tre, the micro­grid reduces the precinct’s reliance upon the exter­nal pow­er net­work by stor­ing excess solar and dis­charg­ing that ener­gy dur­ing times of low solar gen­er­a­tion. The BESS is also capa­ble of oper­at­ing in ​“iso­lat­ed” mode, dis­con­nect­ing com­plete­ly from the wider Pow­er and Water network. 

AZZO visit BESS

Key results

The project showed that set­ting up a com­mer­cial micro­grid is tech­ni­cal­ly fea­si­ble under exist­ing reg­u­la­tions. How­ev­er, the eco­nom­ics of these projects remain chal­leng­ing and there are lim­it­ed oppor­tu­ni­ties to realise and accrue ben­e­fits for all project stakeholders. 

The find­ings may help devel­op a reg­u­la­to­ry frame­work to bet­ter enable the con­nec­tion of future net­work-inte­grat­ed micro­grids and ensure that the poten­tial ben­e­fits of these micro­grids can be bet­ter under­stood, realised and accrued. 

Read the full report