In a recent podcast, SA Power Networks CEO Andrew Bills and Senior Manager Enterprise Innovation James Brown, discussed how the role of the electricity distributor is evolving from Distribution Network Service Provider (DNSP) to Distribution System Operator (DSO). We share five short highlights from the discussion below, where they break down the biggest challenges and opportunities of the DSO shift.

Our evolving energy system

South Australia is a global leader in solar energy. This is fantastic news, but it means our electricity network is changing fast! We now have thousands of customers with their own solar, batteries, and electric vehicles (EVs). These ‘customer resources’ are known as Consumer Energy Resources, or CER, and customers want to connect them to the electricity grid.

This means we aren’t just delivering power in one direction anymore, but enabling a two-way flow of electricity, making it possible for homes and businesses to share the clean energy they generate. To manage this, SA Power Networks’ role is evolving, from being a distribution network service provider (DNSP), to becoming a distribution system operator (DSO).

What is a DSO?

The DSO role is all about managing flexibility in the electricity network, in a way that is fair to all energy customers. Our job is to be the smart system manager for all the local electricity travelling to and from homes and businesses. To do this effectively, we need to:

1. See available resources: Know how much energy is being produced and shared across the network from resources like batteries and solar panels.
2. Manage resources: Keep all the energy flowing safely within the network’s limits.
3. Unlock value: Leverage the energy generated by customer devices in a way that is fair to them, to avoid expensive physical upgrades to network infrastructure, making the energy transition cheaper for everyone.

Conversation: Insights on the DSO shift

Below are five short video snippets from a recent discussion with our leaders, breaking down the biggest challenges and opportunities of the DSO shift.

The core role: Managing flexibility

If you want to understand what the DSO’s job is, this is where to start. It's all about being the flexibility manager. We discuss the three main ways we get visibility of local energy and use resources to support the grid, helping to plan and operate the system efficiently.

Solving the customer trust gap 

Many customers have spent a lot on solar and batteries, but are they seeing all the benefits? We discuss the ‘trust gap’ that forms when customers are not seeing the results they expected. The DSO role helps fix this by simplifying things for the consumer and creating system-level value that lowers costs for all.

The big picture: It's 'and', not 'or'

In the national energy debate, people often argue that the energy transition will be better served by more investment in either large-scale systems and transmission or localised energy production at a smaller scale. We explain why a successful transition needs both. As a DSO, we can ensure national planners can see the capacity from local networks. This avoids planning mistakes and ensures smarter, cheaper investment across the whole energy system.

The multi-billion-dollar prize and fairness

The stakes are huge. Studies by the AEMC estimate billions of dollars of potential savings in the energy transition across the national energy market (NEM). We discuss the potential savings that could be available by activating local flexibility. We also discuss the big problem of the ‘two-speed system,’ where only those who can afford technology benefit. We must solve this fairness issue with better interoperability standards and community solutions.

Benefits for every customer

The best news is that flexibility saves money for everyone. We discuss the difference between a direct benefit (if you own consumer energy resources like rooftop solar, home batteries or EVs) and an indirect benefit (the saving everyone gets when we can use flexibility in place of network upgrades). The goal of the DSO is to ensure these savings benefit all customers.

More

Read more SA Power Networks news in the Future Energy space