Essential Energy's intelligent network will provide greater visibility and control of our electricity consumption. Our customers will be able to see how much they’re using at any time of the day and night.
This information will be accessible through intelligent metering and supporting technology that displays the electricity consumption data and other relevant information including greenhouse gas emissions on devices such as in-home displays or online energy portals.
Our customers will be able to use this information to make informed decisions about how much energy they want to consume, when, and from what source.
We envisage emerging technologies such as home-area-networks that allow appliances to be turned on or off remotely will be one of a number of energy management tools our customers will expect to have at their fingertips, accessible by computer or mobile phone.
The intelligent network of the future will also allow greater use of plug-and-play technology across the distribution network. This is technology that can work with the electricity network as soon as it is connected. Examples include solar cells, power storage units and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Increased use of solar cells will allow customers and communities to become more self-sufficient. When coupled with innovative storage solutions, customers will also be able to choose whether they use the electricity they have generated, store it for later use, feed it back into the network, or even work with the network to dispatch the energy at peak times.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) are another plug-and-play solution that could revolutionise the way we use electricity and choose to commute. Combining battery storage and grid-interactive inverter technology into a hybrid electric vehicle, the PHEV could be the ultimate solution for mobile energy storage and use. Drawing electricity from the grid to charge the PHEV’s batteries, this stored energy can power the car, be discharged back into the grid-interactive inverter for use at home, or to feed back into the grid.
These are just some examples of how the intelligent network will lead to more choices and new ways to use electricity efficiently.