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PowerResponse
With PowerResponse you can earn rewards by changing how you use electricity during peak times or contributing energy to the grid that’s stored in energy storage systems, to help lessen demand on the electricity grid during peak times.
Most of the time there is enough electricity for everybody. But sometimes the grid is stretched to its limits when demand is really high. Like when we all turn on our appliances when we get home from work, or when there is a disruption in supply. This puts pressure on the grid to meet the increased need for power.
With PowerResponse, we’re mobilising the EnergyAustralia community to help learn whether a community effort to shift or reduce electricity use can help maintain grid reliability when demand is high.
If we all make a small change to how we use electricity during peak times, or help by contributing energy to the grid that’s stored in energy storage systems, we could make a collective difference to reducing overall demand on the grid. This could mean avoiding or deferring costly upgrades to the electricity network for those few times a year when there’s increased pressure on the grid.
A virtual power plant is a network of energy storage systems working together to provide electricity to the grid when it’s needed most.
This means your energy storage system, along with others in the community, will be enrolled in a software platform designed to group together multiple energy storage systems.
This platform can then inject renewable energy quickly into the grid at times of peak demand, keeping the network stable and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
As a participant, you can help to reduce the demand on the grid during high energy usage times and receive rewards for allowing EnergyAustralia to effectively manage your energy storage system in the lead up to and during these periods of peak demand.
PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant
Participating in EnergyAustralia’s PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant requires an energy storage system (such as a battery) to be installed at a property with a smart meter, where the electricity account is with EnergyAustralia and no one in the household requires life support equipment.
No, you must provide your consent by signing up to EnergyAustralia’s PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant program.
Email us at virtualpowerplant@energyaustralia.com.au to register.
You won't need to install any additional hardware providing you have a compatible battery or inverter. You may be required to download an application e.g. Tesla App.
We’re working to include more inverter types in our PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant. Register your interest here or email us at virtualpowerplant@energyaustralia.com.au and let us know the inverter and battery you have.
For us to successfully enrol you to our PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant, we need to add your device’s serial number.
If you have a Redback Smart Hybrid energy storage system, your serial number is displayed on the right-hand side at the bottom of your inverter.
If you have a Tesla Powerwall 2 energy storage system, there are two ways you can find your serial number:
Via the app
Inside the gateway door
The part number and serial number appear on a sticker inside of the gateway door.
The part number is preceded by "(P):"
The serial number is preceded by "(S):"
If you have an Alpha-ESS, the serial number starts with ‘AL’. See the following example.
If you have a SolarEdge inverter, refer to the below image to find your serial number.
The term of your agreement is in your welcome email. The agreement begins from the date that you sign up if you already have a system installed and commissioned at your property.
If you wish to opt out during the term of the customer agreement you will need to contact us by calling 1800 089 629 or emailing virtualpowerplant@energyaustralia.com.au.
If you choose to no longer participate in our PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant, we won’t access your battery anymore. You can verify this by checking directly with the inverter or battery vendor to confirm if your battery is enrolled in a virtual power plant program.
Your access to the app will not be affected by cancelling your enrolment in the PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant program.
If you switch your electricity account to another provider, you will no longer be able to participate in EnergyAustralia's PowerResponse Virtual Power Plant. Refer to details of the terms and conditions in your welcome email.
PowerResponse events and rewards
You don't need to take any action during a PowerResponse event, just ensure your energy storage system is still connected to the internet which is part of its daily operation.
When EnergyAustralia activates a PowerResponse event, up to a maximum of 80% of the energy that has been stored in your energy storage system throughout the day will be used to provide additional energy back to the grid.
EnergyAustralia may charge up your energy storage system prior to the PowerResponse event and discharge during the PowerResponse event.
EnergyAustralia may charge, discharge or maintain energy in your energy storage system to support the grid. Energy discharged will always be consumed by your home first, before any excess becomes available to us to remotely manage as part of a PowerResponse event. Your device is programmed to retain a minimum charge to maintain supply to any designated backup circuits in case of a local blackout, and to enable the system to continue to operate after the PowerResponse event.
To allow us to maximise flexibility and respond quickly in times of peak demand for energy, you will not receive an alert before we remotely manage your energy storage system.
You should not experience an interruption to your electricity supply as a result of your energy storage system’s participation in the PowerResponse event.
We’ll provide you with access to information relating to PowerResponse events where energy stored in your battery was used.
You do not need to be at home during a PowerResponse event, EnergyAustralia will be accessing your battery remotely.
You are still able to use electricity as normal. During a PowerResponse event, EnergyAustralia will only access the power in your energy storage system.
If we draw electricity from the grid to charge your energy storage device as part of a PowerResponse event, this consumption will appear on your energy bill and you will be required to pay for it.
EnergyAustralia will run PowerResponse events up to a maximum of 80 hours per year.
Turning off the main switch will de-energise the whole house.
This is considered unnecessary action to take for a PowerResponse event and EnergyAustralia do not encourage it as it means all electrical appliances, and in some cases medical devices, attached to the mains will cease to operate.
EnergyAustralia may remove participants who engage in this activity from the PowerResponse program.
We will use up to 80% of the energy your energy storage product can store. We will keep a minimum charge level of 20% for your own consumption.
This will depend on the capacity of your battery at the time of discharge, the length of time of the PowerResponse event and any export limit that may be set. The maximum discharge rate is 5kW.
Yes, any power generation you can't store or use will discharge to the grid at your standard feed in rates.
If there is insufficient charge in your battery for a PowerResponse event, we may charge it up using electricity drawn from the grid. The actual rate payable by you for this electricity will depend on the applicable usage rates that apply at the time of charging.
No. We cannot override internal settings.
No. We cannot override internal settings.
In the event of a grid outage, we cannot charge or discharge your battery. Nor can we control your system if your internet is down.
No, discharging the energy storage system is within its normal capabilities. EnergyAustralia will ensure that it will not undertake any activities during a PowerResponse event to affect the warranty of your system.
No, this feature is currently unavailable; however, this is something we are working on.
Rewards are in the form of bill credits applied to your electricity account. Please refer to your offer terms and conditions in your welcome email for details on how and when you will receive your bill credits.