“The electrification of everything” was under discussion as a panel of energy experts gathered at the CEDA State of the Nation in Canberra.  

Ventia General Manager Energy Solutions Lena Parker facilitated the session, which discussed issues including financing the energy transition and the implications for energy providers of the electrification of buildings and other infrastructure.

Hear from Lena on why she thinks conversations like this are critical to Australia’s ability to advance the electrification agenda.

In any conversation I am part of when it comes to the energy transition, you’ll hear me say “policy drives investment”. So it was great to have three key thought leaders in the electrification space come together for a conversation around the challenges and opportunities facing Australian government, businesses, energy producers and providers and our communities.

Keeping up momentum

One of the key themes that was clear throughout the conversation was that we’re not moving fast enough.

Co-founder of Rewiring Australia Saul Griffith kicked things off for us highlighting where things are now and where the opportunities are. He believes Australia is in the perfect position to lower emissions and the cost of living by aggressively electrifying everything to address demand and increasing the uptake of solar and battery storage to address supply.

He also argues for grid neutrality in Australia. For the past century or so, our model has been what’s known as ‘hub and spoke’ – where electricity is generated in large central power plants and flows through wires into customer buildings and homes. The electricity goes one way.

The argument – and the need now – is for electricity to behave more like information and travel in both directions. The customers at the end of the wires, you in your homes and your company in its office building, will produce electricity, for example through solar panels, and feed that back into the grid.

Policy driving investment

This is where my statement about policy driving investment comes back in, because this model is incumbent upon our government making changes to the National Electricity Market’s model.

But it’s not just about policy. There’s a cost element to all this, as there always is!

CEO of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Ian Learmonth talked about the funding that the CEFC is providing to businesses and communities to help us achieve our decarbonisation goals. He noted that there needs to be an investment in 6 gigawatts of renewables each year. The total fund sits at $30.5B, and their funding is going towards renewables, storage, alternative fuels and rewiring the nation.

We all agree that it is critical that everyone in Australia can afford to participate in the electrification of everything, because there are costs involved to consumers. If you’re struggling to pay your mortgage and keep food on the table, you’re not going to be worrying about switching out your gas oven or putting solar panels on your roof.

Ian noted that the CEFC are looking at ways they can help low-income families as well as renters, as the standard opportunities for low-cost finance just won’t reach those with poor credit scores or the inability to finance any sort of loan.

So what about the energy providers, like Ausgrid?

CEO Ausgrid Marc England says they are focused on connecting customers, and ensuring a strong, reliable source of electricity. It may not surprise you to know that he also said they’ll take power wherever it comes from and get it to consumers. But equally, he’s passionate about getting better at using existing infrastructure to improve energy generation.

He also raised the importance of aligning local communities with the need to increase renewable energy generation sources. There has been a perception that no communities want wind farms or solar farms in their backyard, however when you speak to communities and find out what matters to them, and it’s clear what the benefits will be to them in terms of cost reduction and surety of supply, there is often less resistance.

Ian and Saul agree that organisations involved in the generation and transmission of power have gotten a lot better at engaging with communities, recognising that the social license to operate is a critical element of their business. A lot of work has been put in over the years and communities are more open to the development that needs to happen, but engagement needs to happen early, consistently and be done well.

In conclusion

I believe that there is no more powerful effector of change than public policy: Australia is well-positioned to lower emissions and costs through electrification, but I argue that this is contingent on a more decentralised, bidirectional electricity grid. Providing financing options for low-income households, aligning local communities through early and meaningful engagement, and effective policies are the lynchpin for mobilising the investment and social license required to accelerate Australia's energy transition.

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