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Welcome to the Microgrids in Ag E-News for June 2021

We’re pleased to provide updates on the microgrid project roll out, our latest blog, and media release. We’ll also be shining the light on microgrid related events, resources, and projects of interest at home and abroad, including our next Community of Interest webinar.
Webinar announcement
We’re pleased to announce the next Microgrids Project Community of Interest Webinar: “Microgrid Technology: State of the market”. It will be held on August 4th, at 10am via Microsoft Teams.

The webinar will feature guest speaker Scott McGregor, CEO of Birdwood Energy, and will also include project updates and a Q and A session. Our last webinar had an overwhelming 180+ attendees from all walks of life, we look forward to sharing experiences and learnings amongst you all.
SAVE YOUR SPOT AT THE WEBINAR

Project update

The Microgrids Project team have been hard at work rolling out the initial stages of the project. In October 2020 four sites were selected as project case studies, each reflecting one of the four microgrid archetypes:

  • Single Enterprise: 1 participant in Pokolbin, NSW 
  • Edge of Grid: 1 participant in St George, QLD 
  • Large-scale Microgrid: 8 participants in the Pioneer Valley, QLD 
  • Anchor Host/Hybrid: 1 participant in Wee Waa, NSW 
This project required a commitment of 50 installed meters; we have installed at least another 10 meters in recent months to provide the richest data set possible.

With meters installed, real-time data collection has commenced, feeding directly into a custom dashboard and real-time modelling tool. While 12 months of data is collected, the team is working with other stakeholders on related projects including a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), biodigester feasibility modelling, and other agricultural production data inputs.

We have surveyed our participating farmers, establishing a baseline of social, economic, and technical factors to identify our participants’ decision-making levers. This data will help us measure the change in understanding and appetite for smart grid tech over the course of the project.

As the project unfolds, we look forward to sharing data insights as well as lessons learned, best practices, and any other supporting resources which could be of benefit to our community.

The stages of the project are illustrated in the image below.

Microgrids 101

“Microgrids are not a new concept. Australia’s Snowy Hydro-electric Scheme was the first energy network to connect self-contained regional power grids to a central state network. Those self-contained grids were, in effect, microgrids. So why are we going back to the future to resolve modern energy challenges?”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

National Renewables in Ag wrap-up

On May 19th over 320 farmers, peak bodies, industry and government representatives gathered in Dubbo for the second annual National Renewables in Agriculture Conference and Expo. The attendee numbers have grown since the first event in 2019, despite the threat of Covid hanging heavy over events. 

“It's fantastic to see this level of interest in the topic of renewables in agriculture and I really believe there is so much potential for farmers in this space,” said Karin Stark, Conference Founder and Microgrids Project partner. 

Nearly 40 speakers covered topics from solar irrigation, bioenergy from straw and piggeries, microgrid opportunities with dairies, green hydrogen, and electric utes. There were also 25 exhibitors able to talk to farmers about renewable energy options and how reducing costs can build resilience.

“On the ground, we're seeing some incredible examples of innovative farmers reducing their costs while mitigating climate change, and that gives us real cause for optimism in the sector,” Ms Stark said.

Chris Pye from ComAp presented on microgrids at the Conference, you can watch his presentation HERE

The National Renewables in Agriculture Conference and Expo will return in 2022.

Conference keynote speaker, Simon Holmes a Court, gets a hydrogen powered haircut. (Image courtesy of Renewables in Ag Confererence).

Microgrid Project spotlight: Cornwall LEM

The smart grid project we have featured this edition is the Cornwall Local Energy Market (LEM) in the United Kingdom. The project explored how residential, commercial, and community DERs could create a local energy market that also builds local resilience. The trial ran for 3 years, establishing a market valued at £16.7million that traded 310MWhs of power and saved nearly 10,000 tonnes of green house gases annually.

The trial was conducted in partnership with utility Western Power Distribution, smart grid company Centrica, and several other stakeholders including universities and government agencies.

To help visualise how a Local Energy Market works, Centrica produced an excellent demonstration model. You can watch it in action below.

Energy Savers insights

As farmers are called on to increase production while reducing their ecological footprint and input resources such as water and chemicals, research outcomes and technology that can deliver real solutions are becoming increasingly important. 

Energy is essential to drive this change, with the QFF Microgrids project taking the lead and improving on the recent work done by the QFF Energy Savers Program. 

The Program laid the groundwork for best energy practices by looking at energy efficiency on 180 current production systems, and recommended replacement technology, more effective design, and practice change. The program also considered carbon emissions reduction, and aims to achieve 6,800 tonnes CO2-e of emissions savings annually, or about 38 tonnes per farm per year if all recommendations are implemented.

Considering how to reduce emission on your farm? Find more information and next steps below. 

READ MORE HERE

In the news

Please feel free to get in touch for any information about the QFF Microgrids project.
Madie Sturgess
Microgrids Project Officer
0436 413 247
madison@qff.org.au


The flow on benefits of microgrids for agriculture project is funded by the Australian Government’s Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund.
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