OPTIMISING AUSTRALIAN NETWORKS AND SPEEDING ELECTRIFICATION WHY TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN TRANSMISSION COULD BE A GAME CHANGER FOR THE GRID Jack Curtis, Neara Co-Founder
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ultiple reports released throughout 2023, including the New South Wales Government’s Electricity Supply and Reliability Check-Up, have reinforced the main challenge facing Australia’s energy sector: we need to diversify our approach to the clean energy transition or risk losing grid reliability. In fact, this report’s specific recognition of untapped capacity sitting within the grid highlights the pressing need for infrastructure optimisation beyond physical projects and transmission lines, with new methodologies like digital analysis critical to maximising the grid’s full potential. Australian network service providers (NSPs) are increasingly deploying AI and machine learning-powered capabilities to unlock untapped network capacity and bring renewables online faster. This diversified approach aims to de-risk the clean energy transition by sourcing untapped capacity,
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but technology can and should be playing a greater role in stabilising energy supply as renewables are brought online. Based on digital modelling of the NSW network, there are up to 10 gigawatts of available yet untapped capacity sitting within the existing grid with a clear accessibility pathway. This volume of available power requires little network augmentation and funding and could provide more energy than HumeLink, Central West Orana and Eraring combined. Essentially, this would give us enough renewable generation in time to counter the exit of fossil-fuelled power stations like Eraring, without waiting for the delivery of new transmission projects. With further analysis and modelling, this figure could rise significantly not only in NSW but across Australia. Neara’s AI-enabled digital modelling of Essential Energy’s network, which covers nearly 900,000 homes and businesses, allowed
the network to unlock significant capacity across its 1.4 million conductors by showing the volume of energy distribution available to be transported could more than double with only minimal cost and time investment required. By modelling each span individually, capacity in certain parts of Essential’s network was twice as high as previously thought under a crude standards model. These findings alleviated the requirements for export limits on rooftop solar and allowed larger systems to be installed on residential and commercial premises.
Sourcing network capacity with advanced digital line ratings Digital line ratings can play a critical role in bringing renewable energy online at an accelerated pace. In the United States, EMPACT Engineering scaled its adoption of Neara’s platform for wider processes including line ratings, allowing the identification of more