Economic and Investment Models for the Future Grid (CSIRO Future Grid Flagship Cluster) (Cluster Project 3)

The project will provide a comprehensive understanding of the changing face of the electricity sector under a emissions constrained world. The transition to a lower emissions technology base will require significant structural and economic reforms to the electricity market. The project will examine the costs and benefits of this structural change via a range of modelling frameworks:

• With respect to wholesale electricity markets, the main focus are the impacts on the National Electricity Market (NEM) in terms of price levels and volatility resulting from different network topologies.
• The additional costs of investment in transmission and distribution networks for the different network topologies will also need to be calculated to estimate impacts on retail prices.
• Implement the mathematical models for each of the case studies to develop cost/benefit analysis for defined ‘renewable clusters’ in the NEM.
• Examination of alternative transmission network topologies to enhance greater deployment of generation and interconnection

Partner Organisations

• CSIRO

• The University of Sydney

• The University of Newcastle

• University of NSW

• The University of Queensland