3. Demonstration Projects
3.1 Smart Village
The NSW Government has contributed $1.5 million to the Smart Village, a two-year trial and demonstration project that will transform Newington and Silverwater into Australia's first smart-grid suburbs, where appliances can be switched on and off remotely using an iPhone, people can get around on plug in electric scooters and energy costs and carbon emissions are graphed minute by minute on individual household webpages.
The Smart Village is in line with the Commonwealth Government's Smart Grid, Smart City, a $100 million initiative aimed at developing a commercial-scale smart grid demonstration project. Smart grids incorporate advance communication and communications technologies to the existing electricity grid. Smart grid infrastructure uses sensors, meters, digital devices and analytic tools to automate, monitor and control the two-way flow of energy from power plant to plug. This enables a combination of applications that can deliver a more efficient, robust and consumer-friendly electricity network. For example, a smart grid can help consumers reduce their energy bills through the use of energy efficient 'smart appliances' that can be programmed to run on off-peak power. It can also identify and resolve faults on the electricity grid, automatically 'self-heal' and thus reduce operation and maintenance cost.
Ausgrid and Sydney Water aim to trial the ‘Smart Village’ program in Newington and potentially expand it across NSW, which could create:
- customer energy savings of $355,000
- customer water savings of $54,000
- peak demand reduction of up to 69kW in summer and 112kW in winter – enough to power more than 30 homes
- a greenhouse gas emission reduction off 2,440 tonnes
- water savings of 28,500 kL.
3.2 BASIX Multi-Unit Residential Cogeneration Demonstration Project
The BASIX Multi-Unit Residential Cogeneration Demonstration Project is an initiative of the NSW Department of Planning. The Department, in partnership with residential development companies Lend Lease, GPT and Mirvac, is trialling and showcasing cogeneration technology in a residential setting, with a focus on reducing energy consumption and greenhouse emissions.
