SwitchDin extends the capacity of Western Australia's clean, distributed grid
SwitchDin has been selected to provide key capabilities for Project Symphony, which will enable homes and businesses with Distributed Energy Resources (DER) to operate as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) connected to Western Australia’s South West Interconnected System (SWIS). Project Symphony is setting the stage for the future of DER on the SWIS, which services Perth and surrounds and where over 2,000 households are adding over 20MW of new PV systems per month.
The $35.5 million project is a partnership between the Western Australian Government, Western Power, Synergy, Energy Policy WA and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Project Symphony has received support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program.
Project Symphony is a proof point on how the McGowan Government’s Energy Transformation Strategy is paving the way for more DER to power WA’s grid. It is WA’s landmark DER orchestration pilot and it is designed to demonstrate how DER aggregation has the potential to support WA’s energy transition. It aims to tackle the challenge of managing the enormous amount of rooftop PV connected to the grid. This will enable DER asset owners to secure their place as participants in future energy market where they are rewarded for their contributions.
This is an exciting and innovative project where customer DER assets such as rooftop solar, batteries and major appliances will be orchestrated as a VPP to participate in a new energy market, unlocking greater economic and environmental benefits for the WA community. Project Symphony will explore the role that increased DER integration can play in addressing network stability challenges caused by the rapid uptake of rooftop solar.
Over half the homes in the suburbs of Harrisdale, Piara Waters and Forrestdale have solar on their roofs.
A new type of VPP
Project Symphony is one of the flagship initiatives underway to inform WA and Australia’s decentralised energy future. The project will enlist homes and businesses from two Perth suburbs where half the homes already have solar power.
Symphony will introduce a new marketplace for local network services that allows customers to earn more money not only with their solar and batteries, but also energy-consuming devices like air conditioners. Community batteries will be incorporated in this pilot project as crucial tools in supporting renewables and consumer autonomy.
Project Symphony will test the ‘hybrid model’ for distributed system operations, as laid out by the OpEN project, in the context of WA’s Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM). In this model, a VPP is dispatched centrally but devices are coordinated locally via energy retailers or aggregators.
The project lead, Western Power, will play the role of the Distribution System Operator (DSO), continuing to fulfil its obligations as a regulated Distribution Network Service Provider (DNSP) while enabling the optimal use of DER within the distribution network to deliver secure, sustainable and affordable energy services across the whole system.
Underpinned by SwitchDin’s technology
SwitchDin’s Stormcloud and Droplet technology will play a crucial role in enabling Project Symphony participants to get the most value from their systems. Stormcloud will provide secure orchestration and fleet optimisation services for the VPP and Droplets will enable connectivity to assets and site-level optimisation to optimise the returns for households participating in the project.
SwitchDin was selected for its track record and being the only vendor to have the technology and experience to deploy VPPs at scale for Australians.
SwitchDin’s experience in working with regulated utilities to deliver a cost effective and flexible end-to-end solution fully hosted and managed in Australia meant we could meet the stringent performance and cybersecurity requirements that Symphony needed, consistent with Australian Energy Sector Cyber Security Framework (AESCSF).
The Stormcloud IQ - SwitchDin’s data analytics platform - will deliver insights into the VPP’s performance, weather and market pricing to ensure the project continues to drive decision making.
Map of the key features that SwitchDin is enabling for the Project Symphony virtual power plant.
What Project Symphony will deliver
Western Australia is leading the world in the transition to a cleaner, more decentralised energy system. One in three households on the SWIS already have solar, and every month around 2,000 more households are connecting DER to the grid.
With the growth in DER, the WEM is regularly experiencing new records for both high solar energy production and low energy demand. WA is leading the way in planning for a future with high DER penetration, with a government-backed DER Roadmap and many projects that have been commissioned to help the state determine the best way to integrate more DER into the grid’s day-to-day operations.
While the growth in solar penetration is good news, vast fleets of unmanaged DER challenge grid stability, threaten power quality issues and could even cause power outages.
Until recently, the primary form of DER management has been zero export and static export limits imposed on solar system owners, resulting in solar generation being undervalued. Fortunately, new solutions such as SwitchDin are unlocking opportunities for DER on the grid, and Project Symphony will capitalise on this opportunity to maximise value for West Australians.
Solving the challenges with SwitchDin
Project Symphony is the latest addition to SwitchDin’s portfolio of projects where the company’s technology is used to turn problems associated with the growth of DER into opportunities. These projects have increased the solar hosting capacity of the grid to coordinate and manage a diverse fleet of solar inverter, battery storage units and other assets from different manufacturers by making them visible and controllable.
By connecting the broadest range of manufacturer/vendor equipment, SwitchDin preserves customer choice of solar, batteries and other DER equipment for their homes. In addition to creating flexibility for customers, SwitchDin’s technology also ensures that all enlisted equipment is able to uniformly support the reliability of a VPP.
SwitchDin’s technology has been demonstrated elsewhere in WA in Horizon Power’s Onslow DER Project and the Horizon Power and DevelopmentWA’s Smart Sun project in Broome. In South Australia and Victoria, the Flexible Exports project, led by SA Power Networks and AusNet Services, has enabled a multiplier increase in solar hosting capacity. Meanwhile, remote microgrid projects with Energy Queensland and Horizon Power have shown how SwitchDin can enable DNSPs to solve these DER challenges even in critical grid-edge and remote settings.
SwitchDin is thrilled to be selected as a key solutions provider in Project Symphony. Our central role in this project validates the collaborative approach we have taken in the industry and demonstrates our credentials in delivering solutions that work for our customers and their end users.
Project Symphony is charting new territory for VPPs in the Australian context by engaging DER owners to help bridge gaps between electricity networks and energy markets. The success of this pilot project will demonstrate the ability for SwitchDin’s technology to grow at scale and SwitchDin will be positioned to lead in Australia’s energy transition. We’re proud that SwitchDin’s technology will be part of this exciting project which we believe will prove to be an important step towards a net zero energy system.