National Energy Efficiency Initiative
Smart Grid, Smart City
The Australian Government has committed up to $100 million to develop the Smart Grid, Smart City demonstration project in partnership with the energy sector.
The initiative will support the installation of Australia's first commercial-scale smart grid. Smart grids combine advanced communication, sensing and metering infrastructure with existing energy networks. This enables a combination of applications that can deliver a more efficient, robust and consumer-friendly electricity network. Smart grid infrastructure uses sensors, meters, digital devices and analytic tools to automate, monitor and control the two-way flow of energy from power plant to plug.
Smart grids have the potential to transform the way we use energy in our homes and businesses. A smart grid can identify and resolve faults on the electricity grid, automatically self-heal, manage voltage and identify infrastructure that requires maintenance. Smart grids can also help consumers manage their individual electricity consumption and enable the use of energy efficient 'smart appliances' that can be programmed to run on off-peak power.
The initiative is being delivered by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, in close consultation with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.
Demonstrating best practice
This initiative demonstrates Australia's position at the forefront of global efforts to use energy more efficiently, ensure network reliability and combat climate change.
Smart Grid, Smart City will deliver a fully integrated, commercial-scale smart grid and will inform the business case for broader industry investment in smart grids in Australia.
Smart Grid, Smart City will employ a mix of innovative technologies and demonstrate the potential of smart grids to monitor electricity supply, manage peak demand and help customers make informed choices about their energy use.
The project will provide a comprehensive dataset about the potential benefits of smart grid appliances, network improvements and technological efficiencies whilst offering details on the effects of greater knowledge about energy consumption on consumer behaviour. It is anticipated that interim data and results will be made available publicly over the course of the project to disseminate lessons to other electricity networks that are developing smart grids and to assist industry with the development of smart grid technologies
Smart Grid, Smart City will also demonstrate the capacity of a smart grid to integrate electricity from renewable and distributed energy sources, such as wind and solar generation, more effectively into the existing electricity network. The data may also explore the capacity of smart grids to enable better integration of distributed generation, distributed storage and plug-in electric vehicles, to allow better dispatch of energy to support the grid.
Project Design
The Smart Grid, Smart City demonstration project will deploy a live, integrated, smart grid of commercial size and scope in a community within a single electricity distributor's network. The location of Smart Grid, Smart City should provide a reasonable representation of the wider grid to produce credible results that can inform broader industry-led adoption of smart grids in Australia. For this reason, a model demonstration area would include urban, suburban, and rural areas and contain diverse network, geographic, climate and customer characteristics.
It is also anticipated that a range of smart grid technologies and applications will be demonstrated. The Smart Grid, Smart City project is expected to include demonstrations of customer applications; active voltage support and power factor correction; distributed storage; fault detection, isolation and restoration; electric vehicle support; substation and feeder monitoring; wide-area management and distributed generation.
Project timeframe
Submissions from industry consortia will be assessed by an independent panel and the successful consortium announced by Government in 2010.
Contact us
Queries regarding Smart Grid, Smart City can be sent to smartgrid@environment.gov.au
News & events
- Grant guidelines
Smart Grid, Smart City Grant Guidelines - Pre-deployment report
Smart Grid, Smart City: a new direction for a new energy era
Media releases
- Smart grids to lead energy efficiency and renewable revolution - Media release, 29 October 2009
- $100 million smart grid trial gets industry talking - Media release, 17 July 2009
- New National Energy Efficiency Initiative - Media release, 12 May 2009
Smart Grid, Smart City
