Theme II: Meeting the technical challenges of the energy transition

Successful energy transition is reliant on a host of technical innovations to meet the challenge.

Research in Theme II complements the policy design and economic modelling focus in Theme I from a technical and scientific viewpoint. Research enables and supports technological and energy market design innovation in Australia and Germany. Projects rely on electricity network data, network optimisation models, climate, wind and sunshine data plus geological knowledge on potential energy storage techniques to develop scenarios that dramatically increase the share of renewables in existing energy infrastructure.

A large component of this research contributes to the START Project.

In Australia, some of the focus is on  improving understanding and reducing uncertainty in research findings that relate to the National Electricity Market (NEM).  In Germany, the REMIND modelling framework — which integrates the economy, the climate system and the energy sector within a global multi-regional model — is being tested on the same configuration as Australian energy models to improve comparability and shared learning.

Existing projects and potential new projects within Theme II rely heavily on involvement and engagement from energy sector stakeholders including industry, government, peak bodies, community groups and research groups. If you are interested in this work and would like to contribute in some way, please contact us.

Projects

Completed

This is a collaborative effort between the University of Technology Sydney, the German Aerospace Center, and the University of Melbourne to develop transition pathways consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5˚C without relying on unproven negative emissions technologies or techniques, such as bio-energy with carbon...

In Progress

Land transportation and gas use for low temperature air and water heating are currently the second and third largest contributors to emissions in the residential and commercial sectors in Australia, after electricity. This project explores the electrification of these sectors, policy changes to accelerate the...

Completed

Energy transition is happening globally and in Australia and Germany. It is occurring in response to rapidly changing technology costs and as countries move to implement policies in line with the Paris Agreement goals. This transition poses policy and technological challenges. If managed well, it...

Completed

Small-scale (residential) prosumers are constrained from actively participating in wholesale electricity markets. Instead, prosumers are typically served by residential aggregators and retailers. This leads to inefficiencies as the prosumers are not incentivised take into account the overall demand and supply status...

In Progress

As the Australian energy transition continues, a range of new challenges and opportunities are beginning to emerge that can allow consumers and communities to actively participate. As part of the Renewable Energy Research Investment Partnership (RERIP), this project focuses on the market integration...

In Progress

On the path toward a zero-emission economy, public information about emissions from the electricity, transport and other sectors is delayed, often by a year, and in developing countries at times by five years or longer.

This project provides a platform to communicate live trends...

In Progress

This research project aims to broaden the understanding of current and future low-carbon prospects of Germany and Australia’s electricity sectors. Germany began a gradual transition to renewable energy more than ten years ago. In contrast, Australia has experienced a boom in the renewable sector in...

In Progress

This project builds a detailed web-based open source grid integration and optimisation modelling tool for the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). It is partly funded by ARENA and led by IT Renewables . Other project partners are: United States Strategic Energy Analysis Center of the...

 

CORE Partners

 

RESEARCH PARTNERS