Electricity Industry Fundamentals

This course will provide a clear understanding of the fundamental structure and workings of the Australian electricity industry and the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Although this course will examine the stationary energy sector as a “whole”, it will focus more on electricity than gas.

Our expert instructor will describe the structure of the Australian electricity and gas industries, design of the NEM, current electricity industry issues including renewable energy and storage integration and the CoAG energy market reform agenda.

Participants will also learn about the technical concepts and language used within the electricity industry and within the emerging renewable energy and storage and “smart grid” technology spheres. This will help them bridge the cultural gap between the existing industry and the emerging technologies.

For those who need to become experts in the energy industry, this course will provide a fundamental background.

For more information and discounts, please contact Sushil on 02 9080 4395 or email us at [email protected]

The nature of electricity and gas industries

• Australia’s energy resources within the broader global context
• The stationary energy sector energy conversion chain
• Key properties of electrical energy and the electricity industry
• Managing availability and quality of supply by ancillary services
• Coal and gas fired power stations, including co- and tri-generation
• Wind, PV and reversible energy storage
• Demand side options – efficiency and flexible demand
• Comparison of options on economic, technical, social and environmental criteria

Overview of electricity industry design

• Objectives of electricity industry design and decision-making protocols
• Structural choices in electricity industry design
• Comparison of design choices in Australia, North America and Europe
• Limitations of present industry design choices and possible future design choices based on “smart-grid” concepts

Design of electricity derivatives & derivative markets

• Contracts for difference
• Call and put options
• More complex derivatives
• Derivative market designs – OTC & exchanges

Design of the NEM

• Scope and key features that manage on-going supply-demand balance
• Participant categories & requirements
• Spot & derivative pricing using market regions & network loss factors
• Dispatch, pre-dispatch, PASA, ESOO and NTNDP

Performance of the NEM

• Security and reliability – history and trends
• Demand, spot and derivative prices – history and trends
• Market shares and market power issues
• Strengths and weaknesses of the present design

Network services in the NEM

• Services provided by transmission and distribution networks
• Network ownership, operation, investment and pricing
• Future trends in network services

Ancillary services in the NEM

• Frequency-related ancillary services
• Voltage-related ancillary services
• Security-related ancillary services
• Performance to date & future trends

Retail market design and trends

• Economic, social & environmental objectives
• Current retail market design & its limitations
• Possible future directions in retail market design

Overview of current issues for the Australian electricity industry

• Governance and institutions
• Transition to a low-carbon future, including challenges of renewable energy and storage integration
• Network investment and regulation
• Smart grid, end-user engagement and retail market evolution

Hugh Outhred is the Managing Director of Ipen Pty Ltd, a company established in 1998 to provide independent perspectives on energy, society and the environment. Hugh holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Energy.

Hugh has provided advice and taught 125 short courses since 1988 on electricity industry design and renewable energy integration for governments, non‐government organisations, the electricity
supply industry and private industry in 14 countries.

Hugh has contributed to the theory of electricity industry design since 1979 and to its practical implementation in Australia since the 1980’s. In 1985 and 1986, he was seconded to the government of New South Wales as an advisor on electricity competition and sustainability. In 1995 and 1996, he led a project for the National Grid Management Council to undertake electricity trading experiments to trial the proposed National Electricity Market trading rules prior to their formal implementation. In 1997, he was appointed as an inaugural member of the NSW Licence Compliance Advisory Board, a position he held until the Board was replaced as part of revised industry governance arrangements in 2001 and in 1998 he was appointed as an inaugural member of the Australian National Electricity Tribunal – a position he held until the Tribunal was replaced as part of revised industry governance arrangements in 2006. In 2008, Hugh was a Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, which was published in 2011.

Hugh retired from the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at the University of New South Wales in September 2007 from the positions of inaugural Presiding Director of UNSW’s Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets and Head, Energy Systems Research Group in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications.

Hugh was a Fulbright Senior Fellow at the University of California Berkeley in 1994 and has held visiting positions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA, the University of Liverpool in the UK, the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Spain, Roskilde University Centre in Denmark and Murdoch University in Perth. He has been a Board member of the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Renewable Energy, an Associate Director of UNSW’s Centre for Photovoltaic Devices and Systems and a member of CSIRO’s Energy Flagship Advisory Committee.