deX offers a tech answer to blackout woes

The deX exchange promises a new energy ecosystem, shifting the market from a centralised to a decentralised model.

GreenSync founder Dr Phil Blythe. Source: Supplied.

As debate rages over the place of renewable energy in Australia’s overall power mix, one local tech start-up, GreenSync, has launched a platform that it says could transform the way electricity grids are used.

The deX energy exchange, launched with funding from government agency Australian Renewable Energy Agency, will let consumers, businesses and communities trade the value of energy generated by solar panels and stored in battery packs in an open marketplace.

GreenSync founder and CEO Phil Blythe told The Australian the exchange would effectively create a new energy ecosystem, shifting the market from a centralised to a decentralised model.

“Essentially the discussions at the moment about to deal with blackouts are what power stations we should be building,” Dr Blythe said.

“The blackout issues we’re seeing are very real issues, but for next year and the year after, the fastest and most economic ways to address this is to use existing resources within businesses or households.”

Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg hailed Greensync’s platform as an important bridge between users and local utilities.

“It provides a platform for rooftop solar and battery owners to trade with the grid,” he said.

“This holds the potential to deliver on the government’s commitment to increasing the reliability of Australia’s energy system, while supporting a more effective and cost-competitive rollout of renewable energy to households.”

Dr Blythe said Greensync’s goal was to create virtual power plants or aggregate many smaller resources, to address stability and reliability issues.

He added that the pilot projects would be supported by a reference group comprised of government and academic bodies, including the ACT and Victorian governments, the Australian National University, the Australian Energy Market Operator, the Australian Energy Market Commission and Energy Consumers Australia, to begin from June this year.

The projects will use networks situations in ACT and Victoria to establish market value. ActewAGL will be piloting deX with batteries deployed in the ACT government’s Next Generation Energy Storage Program while United Energy will be piloting deX in the lower Mornington Peninsula, which is forecast to experience network constraints caused by peak summer demand.

ARENA boss Ivor Frischknecht said the deX platform would likely reduce the cost of renewables in Australia, and the investment was delivering on the agency’s goal of accelerating Australia’s shift to renewables.

“To smoothly transition to a renewable energy future, we need new technologies and markets,” Mr Frischknecht said.

He added that Australia has world-leading levels of rooftop solar, but had no marketplace for consumers to access the full value of these systems.

“DeX is a software-based marketplace that will for the first time allow households and businesses to trade the grid services their batteries and rooftop solar can provide with their local network operators,” he said.

“This could encourage more investment in solar and batteries, supporting the grid, reducing the need for infrastructure investment.”