GreenSync secures $10 million to rollout Australia’s first Decentralised Energy Exchange

Australian energy technology company, GreenSync, announced today that it has received $10 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to accelerate the national rollout of the world’s first Decentralised Energy Exchange (deX).

deX is the digital marketplace that allows electricity networks to better co-ordinate the increasing volume of distributed energy resources (DER) in the electricity grid, while helping consumers get more value from assets such as solar, batteries and electric vehicles.

To date, 100 organisations have partnered with deX, including major utilities, leading technology brands and industry bodies.

Globally, deX has been contracted for major projects in Europe and Japan. The full $32 million deX platform will be scaled up in Australia through select partnership projects with Governments, networks and technology vendors over the next three years.

As an open access software platform, deX enables transparent and localised marketplaces to operate. Consumer owned devices – solar, smart appliances, batteries and electric vehicles – that are registered with deX will be visible to the network. These devices can then be contracted for grid services such as supplying energy during peak demand, managing frequency or grid voltage, or reducing network constraints.

A technology agnostic platform, deX will be open to all technology providers, networks and retailers, creating opportunities for further innovation that takes us towards a transactive grid, where services from DER are valued, participation increases and overall system efficiency and reliability are maintained.  

GreenSync CEO, Phil Blythe, welcomes the support from ARENA.

“ We are incredibly proud that Australian technology is paving the way for energy grid transformation globally.

“deX was developed as a practical solution in response to Australia’s energy challenges today but it has become the new architecture for decentralised, flexible energy grids of the future that will be powered, in the vast majority, by renewables.

“This investment by ARENA is a major endorsement for deX and Australian clean-tech innovation. It’s an exciting step in unlocking extra value for energy asset owners, while helping manage stability during this period of massive energy transformation.” Mr Blythe said.

ARENA CEO, Darren Miller, said that deX has the potential to be a key pathway for ensuring DER can be integrated into the grid, and would play a role in transforming Australia’s electricity market into a two-way, decentralized modern grid.

“Studies indicate that virtual power plants could account for 700 MW of capacity by 2022 and consumer-owned distributed energy could account for up to 45 per cent of all generation within two decades.

“In a rapidly evolving energy market and growth in consumer energy, GreenSync through their deX platform are addressing vital issues with DER including physical integration and visibility with the grid, ensuring network limits are considered when dispatching, and achieving financial market integration to ensure value is maximised for consumers that own DER.

“The deX platform is an exciting project for ARENA in that this project was initially developed at an A-Lab session in consultation with energy companies, was piloted and is now in the final stages of being rolled out as a commercial product that could change the way energy is bought and sold in the future.” Mr Miller said.