Australia To Develop Prototype Smart Grid Smart City

Australia is to develop a prototype smart grid, according to IBT ‘Smart Grid, Smart City’ will be Australia’s first commercial scale-smart grid and the country as set aside $100M to fund the project. ‘Smart Grid, Smart City’ It is an integral part of the Government's plan to address the challenges of climate change. It is also an important part of the Government's record $10 billion commitment to support energy efficiency, renewables and other low pollution energy technologies.

The project will be implemented in partnership with EnergyAustralia as lead partner and a consortium of partners including IBM Australia, AGL Energy, GE Energy Australia, Hunter Water Australia, Sydney Water.

A similar Smart Grid, Smart City project is currently being done in China’s Tiajin Eco-City  with Hitachi providing Community Energy Management Systems (CEMS) technology. The main test area is Newcastle with though smaller trial elements will be undertaken in Newington, the Sydney CBD, Ku-ring-gai and the rural township of Scone.

This will mean improved energy efficiency and improvements in the way households use electricity to help to reduce cost of living for Australian families. The Smart Grid, Smart City project will help industry address the challenges of growth in peak electricity demand placing a strain on ageing assets.