DE VPP Online Sign Ups: A Guide

By Javad Jazaeri, Discover Energy VPP Solution Manager In March 2022, Discover Energy launched the VPP Smart Feed-in Algorithm, which is currently helping our VPP customers in SA maximise the value of their solar feed-in by exporting their excess solar when it has a higher value. The algorithm uses machine learning to forecast load and generation at the household level based on the historical data, weather data, retail and network tariffs, and wholesale prices and then uses these forecasts to find the most valuable times to export electricity into the grid. In Discover Energy, we have been trialing this forecast-based algorithm for a number of our customers in South Australia. This figure from 17th May 2022, below shows how this algorithm changed the feed-in pattern for one of our customers. The excess solar and some of the stored electricity were directly fed into the grid in the morning when the feed-in had a higher value the grid needed more electricity. The total amount of solar being exported was the same, only the time of export was shifted to periods with higher feed-in value. The algorithm ensured that enough solar energy was available to fully charge the battery before the peak period. Figure: Data from VPP customer in SA,17 May 2022 For more information, visit https://www.discoverenergy.com.au/vpp

13th May 2022 Current Discover Energy customers may be aware of upcoming changes to their rates and offers, while new or prospective customers may have noticed that we have closed the sales function of the website, and are currently not accepting any new sign-ups. Below is a short explainer on why we have made these changes. We hope to open up sales as soon as possible. If you have any queries please contact customerservice@discoverenergy.com.au , chat to us via the chat box or ring 1300 658 519. Why have we stopped selling? We will have to stop accepting any new customers on market offers as we are reviewing our current pricing for electricity and gas in all states and anticipate a SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE in prices for all customer usage on our gas and electricity plans.  And as such we would not like to welcome any new customers to Discover Energy with a price rise expected in the first week or two of being our customer. Why are we lifting prices? Wholesale prices are increasing  – AEMO* recently reported a 141% increase year on year and the Wholesale prices have continued to increase in April and May averaging nearly $200 NEM wide. So far in 2022 there has been unprecedented conditions in the wholesale market – prices of oil, gas and coal have seen significant increases because of world events such as the war in Ukraine and the after-effects of Covid-19 on energy supply chains have conspired to increase prices up to 500% in the case of spot gas.  Coal and gas generators (and hydro) have passed on these increases to their wholesale costs by pushing up the price they bid generation into the electricity market, with the bid prices for black coal, hydro and gas either tripling or doubling in the market.  This has pushed the cost forward of the spot energy that small retailers must purchase to supply our customers.  And as we don’t make money when the wholesale market price increases, we have no choice but to pass these increases onto our customers. As a small growing Retailer this price rise affects us adversely because we don’t own large coal or gas generators we just buy excess solar from our customers via feed-in-tariffs; and unfortunately the value of solar in the market has been declining at the same time as the price for peak energy has been increasing. *See AEMO quarterly dynamics report https://aemo.com.au/-/media/files/major-publications/qed/2022/qed-q1-report.pdf?la=en&hash=981BA7016C0C9A25947F0F05198EDB96 What’s does the future look like for electricity prices and Discover Energy customers? In the short-term, the outlook for electricity prices suggests that the prices will likely remain elevated. In the medium term, it is difficult to imagine that coal and gas prices will remain as high as they have been so far in 2022, and so the market expectation is for prices to fall in coming years. As soon as prices are reduced, Discover Energy will share any reductions with our customers.  However, the energy industry is going through a major transition where we would expect some further price volatility as the incumbent generators seek to extract as much value from their old generators and the market adjusts to a high renewable and high storage grid.  What can customers do now? Unfortunately, all electricity and gas retailers will be forced by the current circumstances to change their prices. At Discover Energy, we will proactively contact customers who recently joined OR who have high peak or annual usage to let them know a change to their rates is coming and discuss what options they have to best manage their bills.  This might be to check the government websites such as Energy Made Easy to find a better plan, or move onto a time of use tariff if the customer can lower their consumption in peak periods (generally weekdays – morning and evening). What about VPP and Solar? Discover Energy will continue to support the uptake of Solar and Battery installations in Australia.  In fact, we expect that the current electricity market will drive more customers to want to install solar and battery and we will be able to facilitate these installations by our extensive installation partner network thanks to our partner organisation One Stop Warehouse.  We will continue to operate our VPP platform and innovate via new smart EV charging and other new technologies that will support our customers and help insulate them against future price rises. Any questions? Need support? Please contact customerservice@discoverenergy.com.au , chat to us via the chat box or ring 1300 658 519.

By Javad Jazaeri, Discover Energy VPP Solution Manager Australia’s electricity grid is rapidly transforming toward a decentralised, two-way power system in which houses with solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and energy storage capabilities supply a significant portion of the electricity demand throughout the day. As an example, in South Australia more than one in three households have rooftop solar PV installed which can provide more than 1 gigawatt of energy to the grid. While distributed solar PV present a zero-emission electricity source there are also new challenges emerging, such as rapidly declining “minimum operational (grid) demand”. What is minimum operational demand? Figure 1: Operational demand for the NEM between 2017 and 2021. This shows a reflection of the downward trend in demand over a whole season. Source: AEMO Operational demand means demand supplied from the national power system (or grid). Minimum operational demand means the lowest level of demand from the grid in any given day, week or year. Minimum operational demand is extremely sensitive to ongoing uptake of solar PV, weather conditions, and local economic activity. Figure 1 shows the downward trend between 2017-2021. What if minimum operational demand gets lower and lower? As minimum operational demand keeps getting lower, new standards and system services are required to keep the power system secure and reliable. The challenges include (for details see AEMO): Voltage managementUnintended disconnection of distributed solarEmergency frequency control schemesSystem restart Networks and AEMO are looking for ways to limit the amount of solar export during the periods of minimum operational demand including Emergency Solar PV Shedding. This option prohibits the customers from exporting to the grid which reduces the customers revenue from feed-in tariff. How can VPPs mitigate this issue? At Discover Energy, we believe there is a better way to to mitigate minimum operational demand. Our VPP customers can mitigate the issue of minimum demand by using our state-of-the-art Smart Feed-In algorithm. The algorithm can defer charging of the battery to periods of time when there is too much PV feed-in electricity in the grid. Based on the forecasts for prices, load and solar productions, the VPP Smart Feed-In Algorithm may bypass battery charging and export the net solar electricity (the excess solar electricity not used by the household loads) to the grid in the morning and charge the battery later in the day instead. Smart feed-in algorithm maximises the value of VPP for our customers while ensuring the security and reliability of the grid. This is likely to be the future of VPP participation in NEM. How does Discover Energy’s smart feed-in algorithm work? The algorithm changes the way your battery charge from the solar panels by charging battery when the value of feed-in export is small and by-pass the battery when the value of feed-in export is higher. We are trialling this approach to ensure there is benefit to the grid, the network and the VPP customer. The example below illustrates the impact of smart Feed-In on a battery*. When the system is operating on SSCM, in Figure 2, it only starts to export to the grid once the battery is fully charged, in this example from 12PM. However, at that time there is too much solar in the grid and therefore the wholesale price of feed-in is significantly lower that other times of the day. Figure 2: Operation of a residential battery system under SSCM mode The Smart Feed-in algorithm recognises the higher value of exporting the net solar to the grid earlier in the morning and postpones charging your battery from 12pm (see Figure 3). In this example, the total amount of solar being exported to the grid is the same, only the time of export is shifted to periods that will generate more benefits to your system. Figure 2: Operation of a battery under a smart feed-in algorithm We believe our smart feed-in algorithm benefit to the grid, the network and the VPP customer by optimising the battery operation. The Smart Feed-In trial will run for 3 months with selected VPP customers in South Australia to evaluate the algorithm and enhance its performance if needed. For more information head to our website or email us on support_vpp@discoverenergy.com.au. *Individual results may vary depending on load and generation profiles, system specifications and other factors. References: AEMO Energy Explained Minimum Operational Demand SA Department of Energy and Mining: Regulatory Changes for Smarter Homes