Workshop: Energy Storage and Demand Response for a High-Renewables Future

With the growing penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources and concurrent retirement of many baseload power plants, Australian wholesale electricity prices have increased in both level and volatility. These trends could be mitigated by energy storage and active participation of final demand in the wholesale market. And yet, increased price volatility and smaller reserve margins have not thus far resulted in large-scale investments in energy storage or development of significant demand response and real-time pricing programs.

Why is this the case? Electricity markets in Australia are seemingly fertile ground for market participants who can be flexible in their demand or supply. Is there a market design problem? Are there other regulatory barriers, or are costs still prohibitive? How might Snowy 2.0 change the equation?

This workshop will bring together industry experts, government policymakers, and academic researchers to examine the barriers to adopting meaningful levels of energy storage and customer involvement in demand response/real-time pricing programs.

The keynote speaker will be energy economist Professor Frank Wolak from Stanford University. Professor Wolak served as Chair of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator for over 10 years, and he has worked on the design and regulatory oversight of most the world’s major electricity markets. Professor Wolak has also worked on how to design transmission planning, expansion, and pricing protocols to enhance wholesale electricity competition and support the expansion of renewable energy resources in a number of jurisdictions globally.