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The shift from large-scale centralised energy systems to smaller scale decentralised systems based on Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is likely to cause a sector-wide replacement of current electricity management practices and business models—creating a new energy paradigm. If handled well, such a transition will not be inherently disruptive; however, it can cause major disruption if long-held views and assumptions are not rapidly reconsidered and renewed, and new supporting structures are not swiftly put in place—hence, if disruption is experienced it will be due to a lack of strategic responses rather than the nature of the technology. This paper clarifies the nature of DERs and outlines key issues and opportunities associated with a range of associated service configurations and business models. The paper outlines key factors affecting the viability of such approaches and identifies leverage points for accelerating uptake. The paper concludes by considering how shifting landscape factors and related opportunities in the coming decades will shape the transition to a decentralised energy system. This paper contains findings from research performed at the Renewable, Affordable, Clean Energy Cooperative Research Centre (RACE CRC) in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate short-term power load forecasting is crucial to maintaining a balance between energy supply and demand, thus minimizing operational costs. However, the intrinsic uncertainty and non-linearity of load data substantially impact the accuracy of forecasting results. To mitigate the influence of these uncertainties and non-linearity in electric load data on the forecasting results, we propose a hybrid network that integrates variational mode decomposition with a temporal convolutional network (TCN) and a bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU). This integrated approach aims to enhance the accuracy of short-term power load forecasting. The method was validated on load datasets from Singapore and Australia. The MAPE of this paper's model on the two datasets reached 0.42% and 1.79%, far less than other models, and the R2 reached 98.27% and 97.98, higher than other models. The experimental results show that the proposed network exhibits a better performance compared to other methods, and could improve the accuracy of short-term electricity load forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously published studies on Australia's energy security did not examine the country's domestic energy security situation in tandem with its international energy statecraft. This paper fills this research gap. In order to provide a robust analysis of a country's strategic options in the energy sector, it is paramount to balance domestic and international dimensions, along with internal and external factors. The paper utilizes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) method to review Australia's strategic options by balancing the inward-looking, domestic risk minimization dimension (energy security), with the outward-looking, international power projection dimension (energy statecraft). The paper also applies the 4A framework (availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptance) to assess Australia's energy security performance. On the one hand, the results demonstrate that Australia has many strengths and opportunities as a reliable and stable energy supplier, endowed with traditional and renewable energy resources, and critical minerals. On the other hand, numerous internal weaknesses and external threats may affect Australia's strategic options in the future. The most pressing issue is the historical lack of strategic government intervention in the energy market, which has, paradoxically, resulted in domestic energy accessibility and affordability crisis. The market-based approach is also the main reason why Australia has not transformed its energy resources into capabilities to be used as instruments of statecraft. The paper uses the SWOT analysis and the 4A assessment as the basis for discussion on how Australia can transform its energy sector weaknesses and threats into strengths and opportunities, to benefit the national interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore wind farms are a current area of interest in Australia due to their ability to support its transition to renewable energy. Climate reanalysis datasets that provide simulated wind speed data are frequently used to evaluate the potential of proposed offshore wind farm locations. However, there has been a lack of comparative studies of the accuracy of wind speed predictions from different reanalysis datasets for offshore wind farms in Australian waters. This paper assesses wind speed distribution accuracy and compares predictions of offshore wind turbine power output in Australia from three international reanalysis datasets: BARRA, ERA5, and MERRA-2. Pressure level data were used to determine wind speeds and capacity factors were calculated using a turbine bounding curve. Predictions across the datasets show consistent spatial and temporal variations in the predicted plant capacity factors, but the magnitudes differ substantially. Compared to weather station data, wind speed predictions from the BARRA dataset were found to be the most accurate, with a higher correlation and lower average error than ERA5 and MERRA-2. Significant variation was seen in predictions and there was a lack of similarity with weather station measurements, which highlights the need for additional site-based measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions will be enabled through the transition from a centralised fossil fuel system to a decentralised, renewable electricity system. However, due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy, storage is required to provide a suitable response to dynamic loads and manage the excess generated electricity with utilisation during periods of low generation. This paper investigates the use of stationary hydrogen-based energy storage systems for microgrids and distributed energy resource systems. An exploratory study was conducted in Australia based on a mixed methodology. Ten Australian industry experts were interviewed to determine use cases for hydrogen-based energy storage systems' requirements, barriers, methods, and recommendations. This study suggests that the current cost of the electrolyser, fuel cell, and storage medium, and the current low round-trip efficiency, are the main elements inhibiting hydrogen-based energy storage systems. Limited industry and practical experience are barriers to the implementation of hydrogen storage systems. Government support could help scale hydrogen-based energy storage systems among early adopters and enablers. Furthermore, collaboration and knowledge sharing could reduce risks, allowing the involvement of more stakeholders. Competition and innovation could ultimately reduce the costs, increasing the uptake of hydrogen storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]