IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2021 - 4

Barry Mather and Steve Widergren
insights
from the land down under
T
4
THE 1959 MOTION PICTURE, ON
the Beach, starring Gregory Peck and
Ava Gardner, tells the apocalyptic
story of a submarine stationed in Australia.
Due to its Southern Hemisphere
remoteness, the continent is one of the
few places left to succumb to the fallout
from a catastrophic nuclear battle.
The situation is bleak, and the tale gets
bleaker. Mankind's character for hope
and survival plays large in the story.
Like On the Beach, this issue of
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine is set
in Australia. Back then, the existential
driver was the nuclear arms race and
the possibility of planned or accidental
annihilation. Although that threat re -
mains, another
is
transforming the
energy industry and electric power systems.
The driver is climate change and
the related efforts to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
Significant investments in alternative
generation sources are dramatically
changing the dynamics of operating the
Australian grids. Higher penetrations
of variable renewable resources and
inverter-based resources (IBRs), such
as batteries, are necessary to reach the
regional emission goals. The changes
that Australia is experiencing, and their
plans to further reduce emissions, resonate
with the transformations occurring
in other parts of the world.
What makes Australia unique is its
large, electrically isolated area composed
of two regionally controlled
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2021.3088700
Date of current version: 19 August 2021
ieee power & energy magazine
grids with local and overarching government
policies. Although the issues
are complex, Australia presents a
microcosm for looking at a variety of
dimensions where the energy transformation
is occurring arguably more
quickly. The diversity of issues covers
the operation and planning of the
power grids, their market coordination
mechanisms, and the government
policy and regulatory structures put in
place to guide change and the interactions
of the constituents.
In This Issue
Six excellent articles, representing
early successes, remaining challenges,
and ongoing efforts, provide a broad
perspective of Australia's power system
transformation.
✔ " Achieving World-Leading Penetration
of Renewables " : This article
addresses the primary question
of how much wind and solar
energy can be integrated into
the current, large synchronous
power system serving Australia's
south and east coasts. Grid-operating
conditions are presented
for near-term future scenarios
of ever-higher renewable generation,
including significant
growth in distributed solar beyond
currently world-leading levels.
The zones of operation leading
to considerable system impact
are determined.
✔ " Essential System Services Re -
form " : The transition of the
power system reopens discussion
of the needs and acquisition
of essential system services.
This article comprehensively
defines the essential system
services requirements and presents
the strategies for procuring
them.
✔ " Power System Operation With
a High Share of Inverter-Based
Resources " : The authors detail
the challenges of decreasing system
inertia and system strength
as higher levels of IBRs enter the
market. They discuss the current
management techniques being
used to mitigate contingency impacts
and ensure grid frequency
performance.
✔ " Renewable Energy Zones in
Australia " : This article presents
the results of an analysis- and
stakeholder-driven process to
determine the locations within
Australia where renewable energy
can be most efficiently integrated.
It details the impact
these resource scenarios have
on power system resilience and
the benefit of the integrated system
plan beyond traditional network
upgrades.
✔ " From Security to Resilience " :
The authors tackle the challenge
of addressing high-impact, lowprobability
events in low-carbon
grids. The risk of such events, the
uncertainties in system operating
conditions (which make these
events difficult to predict), and the
impact of these events on system
september/october 2021
editors' voice
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2021
