People power the South Coast’s first community microgrid

We’re fast-tracking a $8 million initiative to build our first resilient energy hub, a microgrid on the South Coast of NSW.

We’ve already held workshops as part of our engagement program to build the first community microgrid on the NSW South Coast, with great questions, lots of discussion and plenty of insights about how we can build a community microgrid together to provide a more resilient and reliable energy supply for edge-of-grid communities.

A microgrid is a local energy system that draws electricity from renewable sources such as solar panels and batteries. While it is connected to the main electricity grid, it can operate independently during outages, which is important for customers at the extremities of electricity networks where the impact from storms, bushfires, floods and other natural disasters can leave communities without their essential power supply in their time of greatest need.

Our Chief Asset and Operating Officer Scott Ryan says that the impacts of climate change and the evolving energy landscape means “we must build a robust electricity grid that can deliver a resilient and renewable power supply for generations to come. Microgrids are clever ways to use locally generated renewable energy which is cost efficient and reliable.”

Both Bawley Point and Kioloa are at the southernmost edge of Endeavour Energy’s network, and are currently served by two 11,000-volt power lines that travel 75 kilometres through terrain regularly impacted by extreme weather events.

The microgrid will be made up of an interconnected 3MW grid connected battery along with solar and home batteries, controlled by a distributed energy resources management system, to generate a renewable and reliable electricity supply that will reduce the frequency of outages.

Funded with support from the NSW Government’s Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund, we are currently recruiting around 75 local residents to take up residential batteries and be an integral part of the community microgrid.

Keep in touch with this innovative new project here.