We can make a difference
Residential Households and Businesses making a real difference to green energy.
Australian households and companies using rooftop solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles are being recognised as a major driving force of the country’s green energy transition by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
The latest version of AEMO’s 25-year planning blueprint, known as the 2024 Integrated System Plan, notes how mant people have already changed to solar along with projections of future investments to be made by households and businesses over the coming years. This will significantly change the fundamental nature of the grid. It is great to see average people being part of the solution faster than the government.
Rooftop solar is expected to grow from the current 21 gigawatts to 86 GW in 2050 and home batteries are expected to grow from just 1 GW to an estimated 7 GW in 2029-30, and 34 GW in 2049-50.
EV ownership is expected to surge from the late 2020s – driven by falling costs, which we are already seeing, and more choice of make and model along with availability. People are installing EV changing ports at their home and business, with more charging infrastructure being added in towns and cities. By 2050, 97 per cent of all vehicles are expected to be full battery electric vehicles, according to the step change scenario in the report.
AEMO says that if these assets can be “well coordinated” they can deliver significant savings and, in the case of home batteries alone, will avoid $4.1 billion in costs for additional grid-scale investment in storage.
“Consumers are already a driving force in Australia’s energy transition, and this is set to continue,” AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman says.
“If consumer devices like solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles are enabled to actively participate in the energy system, then this will result in lower costs for all consumers.”
Being mindful of energy draining appliances such as hot water systems, air conditioners, pool pumps help manage the import and export of electricity to the distribution grid.
Basically, we all need to work together to achieve these goals.