2023 Industry Innovation Award winner announced

New South Wales electricity distributor Ausgrid has won the Energy Network Industry Innovation Award 2023 for its program Project Edith – dynamic network pricing for market active consumer energy resources.

Presented at the Energy Networks Australia (ENA) annual dinner, the award recognises leadership in the design, development and application of a ground-breaking Australian energy network initiative.

Project Edith was a collaboration with Reposit Power, an aggregator that orchestrates customer resources into Virtual Power Plants that can participate in the NEM. The objective is to showcase how, through dynamic network prices, distribution networks can unlock more value for and from customer energy resources.

ENA Chief Executive Officer, Dom van den Berg said the project took a collaborative approach, co-designing alongside project partners and engaging with stakeholders from across the industry.

“Australia’s energy networks are world leaders in innovation and Project Edith shows networks taking a more customer centric approach to innovation and are engaging closely with wide range of stakeholders to ensure customers are taken on the journey to net zero,” she said.

“This project demonstrates how networks can utilise the grid in an economic manner while at the same time connecting with customers along the network.”

Project Edith is named after Edith Clarke, a pioneer of electrical power system analysis, considered the ‘Mother of Invention’ at GE alongside Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

The winners were announced at the Energy Networks Australia Annual Dinner along with the Consumer Engagement Award and the Industry Contribution Awards.