NEM Reform: Unlocking the demand side in future energy markets
This report was prepared by independent experts Dr Gabrielle Kuiper and Dr Dylan McConnell from UNSW Sydney for the EEC.
The report sets out design principles and recommendations to unlock the potential of the demand side and ensure its meaningful integration into the future high variable renewable energy (VRE) electricity system. It draws on both international best practice and a detailed understanding of the NEM to examine how to enable demand-side resources, including aggregated distributed energy resources, to compete on a level playing field with firmed renewable generation and storage.
The first three chapters of the report correspond directly to the scope of the NEM Review, by examining ways to increase demand-side participation in the short-term spot market, medium-term derivatives market, and long-term investment market.
The report then considers related mechanisms and institutional arrangements, that both support the delivery of and deployment of demand-side resources, including: distribution network support services; state and federal policies for technology deployment; and enabling technical and institutional mechanisms.
About the project
This report was produced as part of the NEM Reform – Activating the demand side in the National Electricity Market (NEM) project, a project funded by the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre (RACE).
The project aimed to develop practical, actionable recommendations that unlock demand-side potential and ensure it is meaningfully integrated into energy system planning, operations, and reform processes, in the context of the ‘National Electricity Market wholesale market settings review’ (NEM Review).
