We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Western Australian Government’s Low Load Responses – Distributed Photovoltaic (DPV) Generation Management discussion paper.

We appreciate that the rapid uptake of rooftop solar PV by households and small businesses is presenting a challenge to the system operations and recognise the urgent need for mechanisms to assist with issues around minimum load and facilitate the further expansion of solar PV. This week we saw Western Australia reach a new minimum demand record and with solar PV contributing 63.1% of total generation, it is clear that this is a problem in need of urgent solutions.

Any potential solution, however, must be designed in consumers’ best interests with measures taken to ensure a social licence is gained and maintained.

For this reason, we are pleased to see the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Roadmap considering market-driven incentives for turning down output from DPV. We consider this provides a more preferable solution in the longer term, providing consumers with greater choice and helping to build trust in the sector. We would also encourage the WA Government to look beyond curtailment and congestion measures to actively supporting the shifting of loads to during the day.

Overall we see the development of DPV management programs as important to ensuring the continued growth of DER in Western Australia. Read our full thoughts on the program in our submission here.