Innovation in Energy Award sponsor – Ara Ake support electricity distribution businesses on energy transition

A major decarbonisation initiative is currently underway and being facilitated by Ara Ake, Aotearoa New Zealand’s future energy centre, involving 8 electricity distribution businesses (EDBs) across the country.

With a focus on meaningful collaboration, the goal of the initiative is to find solutions to the challenges that EDBs face as New Zealand transitions to a low-emissions energy future.

The initiative kicked off with a workshop in June to collaboratively agree, define and articulate the big challenges for New Zealand EDBs, and there were a number of challenges highlighted.

One of the challenges New Zealand EDBs are currently faced with is how to most effectively and efficiently integrate distributed energy resources (DER) (such as solar, wind, battery, and electric vehicles) into their asset management planning and processes.

Linked to this asset management challenge, there is a shortage of skills and experience to support the decarbonisation journey, particularly in network demand forecasting and assessing the increasing volume of DER connection requests, in an efficient and timely manner.

Electricity demand in Aotearoa is forecast to increase, which will require significant investment to support this growth. Whilst investing to enable decarbonisation, electricity prices must be affordable for consumers to minimise the inequity between those who can afford to invest in energy saving optionality and those who cannot.

Following on from identifying the challenges, Ara Ake worked with US-based partner Elemental Excelerator, to attract a pipeline of global innovators with the relevant technology to apply and pitch their pilot-ready solutions to EDBs to address these challenges. They then undertook the review to shortlist the finalists of the EDBs.

In November 2023, Ara Ake announced the winners of its Decarbonisation Challenge at its first of its kind final pitch event in New Plymouth.

The Challenge received 40 entries from around the world, and taking the prize from a shortlist of six impressive finalists were New Zealand-based ANSA, and Australian-based companies Future Grid and Gridsight.

The evening had a strong turnout, with guests from across the energy sector. Finalists pitched their energy solutions to a panel of judges from the participating EDBs - Aurora Energy, Counties Energy, Orion NZ, Powerco, The Lines Company, Unison Networks, Waipa Networks, and Wellington Electricity.

The winning innovators received a combined USD$250,000 in funding to pilot their technologies with New Zealand’s participating EDBs, with the goal of scaling and commercialising it in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The work on the pilots has commenced, with pilot outcomes expected later in 2023. To read more about the winners and finalists, visit www.araake.co.nz.

Ara Ake sponsor the Innovation in Energy Award.

Click here to request an entry form.