Flexible Exports Case Study
Background
The background to the Flexible Exports project began back in 2021, when South Australia Power Networks (SAPN), working with SwitchDin, was able to introduce the first iteration of flexible solar exports. In September 2021, powered by smart and internet-connected inverters using SwitchDin’s collaborative team of experts, software engineers and scientists and additional original equipment manufacturers and installers.
This government and industry supported initiative provided an innovative and brand new breakthrough service to new or upgrading solar customers. For the first time SwitchDin was able to participate in introducing an alternative to reduced fixed export limits in the overloaded parts of the network.
The stakeholders involved included industry, government and consumers, with the initial trial rolled out to areas served by the Sheidow Park substation in South Australia in 2021. New areas were included in the trial from 14 February 2022. From 1 July 2024, the ground-breaking flexible export initiative was rolled out more broadly to provide the flexible export option now available across all South Australia’s networks.
The results are that today South Australia is a world leader in renewable energy, having significantly reduced its reliance on fossil fuels. With clean energy, notably wind and solar power, supplying more than 75% of the state’s electricity needs since 2023. In that year there were periods where the entire state was powered by rooftop solar alone. From energy specialist Dr Gabrielle Kuiper’s technical perspective, powering a jurisdiction of almost two million people with majority wind and solar ‘is a globally significant achievement and an impressive feat’.
The SA state government has set a goal that by 2027 clean net renewable energy will deliver 100% of the requirements of the state.
The case study
SwitchDin built on this original work in South Australia to support the recent Flexible Exports work with New South Wales’ Distribution Network Service Provider, Endeavour Energy. This was a greenfield implementation given Endeavour Energy had no existing CSIP-AUS utility server solution in place. In this instance SwitchDin brought Endeavour straight onto the AWS cloud infrastructure as part of its first implementation with them. This meant the DNSP had a cloud-native deployment from Day One.
Timing: The initial test environment setup onto SwitchDin’s utility server only took a few days. The bulk of the implementation, about eight weeks, involved Endeavour Energy developing its REST client integration with our utility server and conducting functional testing. The remainder of the eight weeks involved onboarding Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) onto the infrastructure, issuing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates, completing pre-production testing and a final production deployment.
From a security perspective SwitchDin currently deploys Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) virtual power network (VPN) to create a secure, encrypted tunnel for B2B data transmission between Endeavour and SwitchDin.
Endeavour Energy forecasts that half its 1.2 million customers (serving approximately 2.7 million people) will have solar panels connected to the grid by 2040. As of September this year (2025) Flexible Exports is a standard offer for Endeavour’s solar customers, nearly doubling the amount of solar energy that can be exported to the grid. It is currently enrolling customers with eligible inverters (Fronius, GoodWe, Solis and Sungrow) and expanding to include more brands.
This image outlines the Long Form Identifiers (LFDIs) that uniquely identify the current active connections that Endeavour Energy has either under management or outside management for Flexible Connections and the various OEMs being used.
Outcomes
This case study showcases how a cloud-centric deployment of the utility server can meet compliance and operational needs efficiently, as a supplement to existing on-premise OT and IT solutions. By laying down the digital foundations for initiatives such as Flexible Exports, SwitchDin is instrumental in assisting Australia’s clean energy transition and helping to both expand and build a more resilient grid network.
Benefits include:
● Direct customer savings: Participating customers are already seeing financial benefits — e.g. one customer reported saving over $200 in just three months.
● Faster payback on solar investments: By maximising solar exports, customers can accelerate the return on their investment in rooftop solar systems.
● Enhanced grid reliability: Real-time network monitoring, combined with machine learning, ensures export limits are optimised without compromising grid stability.
● Scalable DER integration: Using data from more than 700,000 network points, Endeavour Energy can model grid performance down to the individual rooftop level, enabling smarter DER orchestration at scale.
● Reduced curtailment and waste: By dynamically adjusting export limits, the solution minimises energy curtailment, ensuring more clean energy is used rather than wasted.
● Accelerated energy transition: Flexible Exports helps fast-track decarbonisation by making better use of existing solar infrastructure and empowering customers to participate in the clean energy future.
● Technology leadership and collaboration: The program positions Endeavour Energy as a world leader in grid-edge DER management.
