More than 2,500 smart meters have been deployed in homes across the Illawarra region of NSW, under a plan to link with hot water systems to help manage the increasing number of residential solar PV systems across the electricity network.
The smart hot water program is known as Off Peak + and is being rolled out by NSW electricity distributor Endeavour Energy in partnership with Intellihub.
The innovative new program was officially launched with the help of NSW Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean, on site with customers in Haywards Bay in the Illawarra region of NSW.
“Nowhere else in Australia are we seeing this level of collaboration and innovation within the electricity sector to produce community wide benefits,” Mr Kean said.
It will replace old last century ripple control technology to manage hot water load control, but also help regulate voltage across the grid - a potential impediment to increasing solar load being exported to the main electricity network.
The smart meter can also be used to dynamically control each hot water system by Endeavour Energy or any of the 10 electricity retailers participating in the program. This means hot water systems can be switched on to soak up solar energy on low demand days when large amounts are being exported to the electricity grid.
It provides a smart platform for electricity retailers to create innovative new products that benefit their customers.
The smart meters have been installed in homes supplied by Endeavour Energy’s Albion Park Zone Substation.
Data is now flowing from the meters to its network operation centre and further roll outs across homes in Western Sydney and the NSW South Coast are being planned.
Link to media release and fact sheet
