Synopsis
Australia has assumed international leadership with its $100 million Smart Grid-Smart City project, the rollout of which commenced in late 2010.
In early 2009 the Labor Government announced the funding for this project under its National Energy Efficiency Initiative and invited consortia to come up with plans. Paul Budde played a key role in this process. He established Smart Grid Australia, the industry alliance that was instrumental in lobbying for the project.
The project is progressing well. Ausgrid is reaching well beyond the original target and a significantly larger number of households will be connected. Significant telecoms backbone infrastructure has already been rolled out and the last-mile customer access is nearing completion. The project will also test smart grid applications in relation to renewable energy and electric vehicles, as well as smart customer devices in the home. An update of the project was provided in late 2011 and a subsequent analysis has been added to the report as well.
The project will be finalised in 2013 and its results will be used for the government’s plan for a national smart grid rollout.
Companies covered in this report include:
Ausgrid, Newcastle Council, CSIRO.
Hot topics in this report include:
smart grid, smart meters, home automation networks, 4G, PV, electric vehicle, smart car.
