Date: Tuesday, 19 April, 2022
Time: 2 – 3pm
Forum: BSGIP webinar
Speaker: Andrew Blaver, Project Manager, Project Symphony, Western Power
Location: Zoom
Contact: Sarah Wilson, Communications Manager, Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program
Watch the recording here.
The Western Australian community is installing Distributed Energy Resources (DER) like rooftop solar at unprecedented rates. With over one in three households in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) already having a rooftop solar PV system, rooftop solar is the State’s largest power generator.
Customers with DER are already enjoying the benefits of lower electricity bills, while contributing to de-carbonising the power system. While DER installation has its benefits, the speed and scale of uptake also presents challenges to power system stability. Having excess solar energy flow into the electricity grid during the day when demand is low and then experiencing high demand in the evening when supply is low, is causing grid instability.
Project Symphony is an innovative project where customer DER like rooftop solar, batteries and selected household appliances will be orchestrated as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to address these challenges.
This talk will provide an overview of Project Symphony including the project’s use cases, with a focus on how batteries are essential in maximising the benefits of a VPP. It will also provide some early insight into Project Symphony’s system integration testing.
Format:
- 5 min welcome and introduction
- 35 min presentation by Andrew Blaver, Program Manager, Project Symphony, Western Power
- 20 min facilitated Q&A by Andrew Fraser, Leader, Engagement, Regulation and Standards, Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program
About the speaker
Andrew Blaver is Program Manager for Project Symphony. He has over 25 years of experience in the construction, communications and electricity industries in Australia, South East Asia and North America.
Most recently Andrew has been at the forefront of the customer and technology driven transition of the energy sector as Manager of the Energy Transition at Horizon Power before joining Western Power to take on the lead role for Project Symphony.
In 2019, Andrew was awarded Western Australia’s Energy Professional of the Year for outstanding leadership, enthusiasm, and innovation in the WA energy sector.