24/7 TRUZERO

Tracking Renewables Utilisation for Zero Emission Reporting and Operation.

Overview

There is increasing demand from businesses for 24/7 renewables, which goes beyond net 100% targets and can drive development of flexibility for firming to assist a transition to a high renewable energy grid. However, there is no established mechanism to validate renewable generation matched with demand hour by hour. Businesses also currently lack visibility on how their renewable energy purchasing decisions, related firming contracts and onsite energy management impact their energy costs and risks, the carbon-intensity of their electricity use, and that of the grid more generally.

Uptake of 24/7 matched renewables purchasing with green firming including flexible demand could help business improve their energy cost, risk and carbon emission outcomes and contribute to improved integration of renewable generation with resulting system-wide benefits.

This project explored the opportunities for 24/7 time matched energy procurement through 3 streams:

Stream 1: Stakeholder engagement to understand views on the role for time matching in Renewable Energy PPAs and certification in the Australian context, including the motivations, objectives and requirements of customers and renewable energy project developers, within a changing policy and certification context.
Stream 2: Development of an open source modelling and analysis tool to facilitate improved decision-making around increased renewables matching in PPA contracts.
Stream 3: Development of a modelling approach to assess the potential impact of 24/7 contracting on investment in renewable energy and clean firming in the Australian NEM