London, 19 March 2024 – Piclo, the global marketplace for flexibility services and market access, has been chosen by leading distribution network service providers (DNSPs) CitiPower and Powercor, to deliver the cloud-based local flexibility platform in Victoria, Australia. This marks Piclo’s entry into the Australian energy market.
As Victoria continues its rapid energy transition, with population growth, home electrification, and rise of EVs, the need for grid flexibility has never been more important.
Piclo’s flexibility marketplace, Piclo Flex, enables network service providers such as Powercor to source flexible electricity from sellers during times of high demand or low supply. This not only helps to remove constraints and reduce the costs for networks to serve customers, but also supports in the decarbonisation of grids, providing flexible electricity over expensive bulk power from traditional coal or gas powered sources.
CitiPower and Powercor deliver electricity to around 1.27 million Victorian homes and businesses in Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD), inner suburbs, and about two-thirds of regional Victoria. By partnering with Piclo, CitiPower and Powercor will further explore third party options to solve network constraints, seeking flex capacity across their networks.
Piclo CEO and Co-founder, James Johnston, said:
“We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with CitiPower and Powercor, which signals our launch into Australia, as the country continues to embrace a rapid energy transition and the potential of distributed energy resources. This represents a significant milestone for Australia as it embarks on its flexibility journey..”
CitiPower and Powercor Head of Network Planning, Andrew Dinning, said:
“Having seen Piclo’s work with other networks internationally, we’re excited to partner with them in 2024. This project will help to further develop our own capabilities as a Distribution System Operator and open more of our network constraints to build the market for flex in Australia.”
CitiPower and Powercor move electricity to and from more than 1.27 million homes and businesses Melbourne’s CBD, inner and western suburbs, through central, northern and western Victoria to the South Australian and New South Wales borders.
Our purpose as a Distribution System Operator is to ensure all forms of distributed energy resources – such as solar, batteries, smart appliances and electric vehicles – are integrated efficiently and flexibly in a system that benefits customers.
Our network of poles, wires and other infrastructure are playing a critical role in supporting Victoria’s clean energy transition. We are at the forefront of finding innovative ways to support Victoria’s energy transition through projects and trials investigating community batteries, smart charging for electric vehicles, and microgrids and other community energy projects.
Our teams operate from multiple depots, our Bendigo-based customer contact centre and our CBD headquarters to deliver reliable, safe and affordable electricity by operating, managing and maintaining all network assets and metering services.
ENDS
[This notice was update on 26th March, 2024]
Piclo’s mission is to decarbonise the grid. We develop software solutions that make our energy networks smarter, flexible and more sustainable. Piclo Max, our market access platform, enables flex sellers (such as EV and battery owners) to access all electricity markets from one place. Piclo Flex, our flexibility services marketplace, enables flex buyers (system operators) to source flexible electricity from flex sellers during times of high demand or low supply.
To date, Piclo has over 300,000 registered flexible assets representing 22 GW of registered flex capacity, with flexibility contracts awarded totalling £74m and 2.6 GW+ of flexible capacity procured.
Piclo currently operates in six global markets: in the UK, supporting all six Distribution System Operators (UK Power Networks, SP Energy Networks, Electricity North West, Northern Powergrid, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and National Grid Electricity Distribution); and the Transmission System Operator (TSO) (the ESO); in Ireland (ESB Networks), Italy (E-Distribuzione), Portugal (E-REDES)); in Australia (CitiPower, Powercor); and in the United States in New York State (National Grid) and Connecticut (United Illuminating). Aside from its leading position in the UK, Piclo has a growing presence in Europe, USA and the Asia-Pacific.
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