CSIRO launches National Energy Analysis Centre

CSIRO has announced the launch of the National Energy Analysis Centre (NEAC) to provide research to support, accelerate and de-risk Australia’s energy transition.

CSIRO said NEAC is an independent, collaborative research centre delivering data-driven insights to support Australia’s journey to net zero.  It will combine real-world anonymised energy data from households and businesses with energy system modelling, analysis and visualisation tools, equipping decision-makers with a toolkit to steer Australia’s energy transition with greater clarity and coordination.

CSIRO Energy Director Dr Dietmar Tourbier said the new national infrastructure will help to accelerate and de-risk the energy transition.

“Transforming the energy system will impact every sector of the economy and every part of society,” he said. “A transition of this scale and complexity needs a coordinated, long-term perspective. NEAC will help Australia navigate this journey by providing the trusted insights planners and policymakers need to inform action and reduce risk.” 

NEAC will consist of:

• a ‘Living Lab’ of thousands of people in real homes and businesses across Australia, pre-recruited and ready to participate in research;
• a Systems Science Toolbox with rich, curated datasets in a coherent multi-energy systems framework, and analytical models, workflow tools and spatiotemporal visualisations; and
• extensive innovation networks of NEAC users and collaborators.
   

Researchers, network planners, government agencies and industry will be able to use the NEAC Living Lab to more deeply understand how Australian families and businesses use energy now and in the future, to develop effective infrastructure and programs at the lowest cost to consumers.

Including a diverse range of households and businesses in the NEAC Living Lab will help develop effective energy infrastructure and programs that provide reliable, secure and affordable energy.

CSIRO is inviting Australian residents 18 years old and over to sign up to the Living Lab.

Heath Raftery is a Living Lab participant and is anonymously sharing his circuit-level electricity use and indoor temperature and humidity data.

“I joined NEAC because I’ve been following the energy transition and see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Australia to look at the electricity grid with the consumer in mind,” he said. “I’m a renter, so there’s not much I can do infrastructure-wise, but having input via NEAC will help governments and providers to consider the third of the population that is renting, as they develop policies and products.

"I’m also hoping that the information I get about my family’s energy use habits can help us to reduce our bills.”

The Living Lab is already supporting one multi-institution residential research project, while the Systems Science Toolbox is being used as part of a study into optimising energy within industrial hubs.

Organisations interested in using NEAC are invited to attend a webinar on 11 August to find out more.

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