Alice Springs residents can now access an online power demand forecast that provides awareness and visibility on their local power system.

The Alice Springs Demand Forecast provides Power and Water’s System Control with an additional tool to help manage power system volatility.

The rapid uptake of solar by households and businesses is already delivering cheaper, cleaner power right across the Territory.

This increase in behind-the-meter solar and the impending connection of new large-scale solar projects to the grid means new investments and policies are required to maintain the stability of the power system.

Being able to accurately predict output of solar generators and behind the meter installations will give System Control the ability to better plan and manage the system to maintain system security and stability.

It will further allow System Control to better manage the impacts of increasing renewable generation across the Alice Springs region by forecasting power system demand every five minutes.

The enhanced power system visibility benefits both Power and Water and Territory Generation power system operations, and supports control room operators to make more informed real-time decisions to improve power system security.

In addition, this achieves Recommendation 2a and 2b of the Utilities Commission Independent Investigation of Alice Springs System Black Incident on 13 October 2019; whereby Power and Water and Territory Generation were required to jointly report to the Utilities Commission on a plan to implement improved solar forecasting, and for the solar forecasting data to be held by the party responsible for maintaining spinning reserve.

To view the new Alice Springs Solar Forecasting Tool visit https://ntesmo.com.au/

From Eva Lawler - Minister for Essential Services, Renewables and Energy.