The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has awarded a $1.2 million grant to support the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in partnership with AusNet to co-design a Consumer Energy Resources (CER) Data Exchange with industry.
The CER Data Exchange will seek to simplify and support consumer energy resource (CER) integration through developing a common digital infrastructure to facilitate information sharing, market access and coordination across the National Electricity Market (NEM).
This 'digital spine' will simplify and derisk CER integration for all industry organisations and maximise the value of new and existing CER.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the project will help unlock the value of consumer energy resources.
"As an ever-growing share of our electricity comes from sources like rooftop solar, work needs to be done to properly integrate these resources into the electricity grid," Mr Miller said.
"This work will help maximise the value of consumer energy resources, encouraging investment and helping to drive the transition to renewable electricity.
AEMO will be collaborating widely on the design of the CER Data Exchange, to ensure the final outcome is a design that all participants can work with."
AEMO will co-design the CER Data Exchange with the input of industry through a series of workshops to understand industry needs and requirements, explore industry perspectives on data governance and operating models, and seek input on a preferred option.
The project builds on recommendations from Project EDGE, an ARENA-funded AEMO project that demonstrated an off-market, proof-of-concept CER marketplace.
As part of Project EDGE, a cost benefit analysis conducted by Deloitte Access Economics concluded that a CER Data Exchange could help unlock between $5.15 and $6.04 billion in benefits over the next 20 years.
AEMO's 2024 Draft Integrated System Plan (ISP) Step Change scenario forecasts that by 2050 CER in the NEM could reach 86 GW of rooftop solar and 27 GW of flexible demand.
Without adequate digital infrastructure, these resources risk being poorly integrated and underutilised, denying consumers and the electricity grid their full value.
Work on the CER Data Exchange is already underway, with the first of AEMO's workshops scheduled for June 2024. Recommendations from the Project are expected to be made in late 2024.
