<
https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/electric-hot-water-could-tame-the-solar-duck-boost-renewables-and-save-billions/>
"Switching off-peak electric hot water to the middle of the day, instead of the
middle of the night, could help tame the solar duck while also slashing gas
emissions and avoiding the curtailment of thousands of gigawatt-hours worth of
cheap renewables, a new study has found.
The research from The Australia Institute and Buildings Alive finds that
re-configuring Australia’s off-peak hot water systems to coincide with peak
daytime solar production could provide around 4,000GWh of flexible demand a
year, almost the exact current level of renewable curtailment.
The report says close to three million Australian homes continue to use
off-peak electric systems to heat their water, as part of a decades-old
coordinated approach originally rolled out to soak up excess night-time supply
of coal fired electricity.
These days, the problem of excess electrons has switched to the middle of the
day, when Australia’s millions of solar rooftops can flood the grid with
ultra-cheap power, threatening grid stability and contributing to the need to
curtail the supply of large-scale wind and solar.
The report finds “no technological or economic reason” these same off-peak hot
water systems could not be realigned to solve the grid’s daytime, duck-shaped
problem – with their operation managed actively by an efficient energy
regulator.
“This is the low hanging fruit of the energy transition,” said Dr Craig
Roussac, chief executive officer at Buildings Alive.
“There are significant gains to be made from this one relatively simple and
cost-effective intervention in our energy market.
“There are so many untapped and cost-effective technologies that can shift
electrical loads to support the clean energy transition and domestic hot water
is one of the most obvious.
“State and federal governments across Australia should harness this opportunity
now, so that future pressures on the grid can be eased and Australians can get
access to abundant, clean, and cheaper energy in their homes.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
