SEANZ spent two days at Downstream 2016, the annual electricity industry conference held at Skycity in Auckland. The conference was notable this year for its theme - the emergence of distributed energy technologies and impacts on the industry.
In many interesting forums over two days a full range of views were espoused by leaders of the industry, with general agreement that whether they liked it or not, solar was part of our future energy mix. Also prevalent was the view that with the price of storage dropping there was potential for considerable gains to be made for all parties by their incorporation into the grid.
There were still a few dinosaurs in attendance but most were excited by the opportunities that engaged consumers armed with apps, energy management systems, solar, storage and an EV created.
Given that solar and storage adoption is being led by prosumers rather than utilities it was great to see much discussion about the increasing role of the prosumer in the market.
Most participants acknowledged that customer service had been virtually non-existent in the past but that needed to change if retailers were to survive.
SEANZ Chairman Brendan Winitana presented and participated on the battery storage panel alongside Simon McKenzie from Vector and Ian Mason from University of Canterbury.
Brendan’s message was loud and clear - provide for customers or lose them. Brendan presented analysis which shows the price trajectory of storage following that of solar PV, meaning it won’t be long before it is commercially viable for most households to install – a proposition that will really change the shape of the industry.
One of those companies leading this new model is SEANZ member Vector, whose CEO Simon McKenzie told the crowd they have had over 2000 enquiries from households keen to install Powerwall batteries. Vector see big opportunities in supplying new distributed energy technology to its customers but also in integrating it into the grid to help defer expenditure on a growing and aging grid.
Another ready to embrace empowered consumers was Powershop’s Hamish Wilkie who said there was “huge potential” for retailers to provide tools to prosumers with solar and storage to help them make the most of these technologies.
The message from visiting Australian speakers was that the rate of change had been impossible to keep up with and that those in the industry here should be wary of being caught unprepared. Although the growth in Australian had been driven by government subsidies, the rate of growth of solar and storage here could catch many companies off-guard here if they don’t adapt quickly and offer consumers a service they want.
Generally, there was a high level of excitement among those industry players who are progressive and looking for opportunities to grow their business and deliver what consumers want. The SEANZ stand alongside SEANZ member and technology supplier YHI ensured our industry was highly visible You can be sure that if the industry wasn’t across the impacts of distributed energy systems before the conference, they are now.
