Modelling a sustainable future for Queensland’s residential electric power supply

Abstract

The Australia’s electricity prices have increased substantially over the past few years. There are evidences suggesting that running cost of power stations have not changed much, but one of the main reasons for this price increase is because some of the coal-fired power stations in Australia have recently closed. These power stations closures have resulted in reducing supply, so this had contributed to higher retail energy prices. The other main reason for this price increase is because there is very little interest in investment in energy sector, which is due to lack of policy certainty in Australia. When electricity price rises, customers become concerned about its impact on their electricity bills. One option to keep the cost of electricity in long term low is to supply residential electricity by rooftop solar photovoltaic supported by battery storage (stationery of mobile such as electric vehicle (EV)). The objective of this paper is to present the results of a study conducted to prove that solar PV combined with energy storage device offers a much cheaper and reliable electricity for residential homes in Queensland, especially in North Queensland.