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Low voltage concerns over solar sharer

Published 2 days ago • 6 min read

Hey Reader, in today's edition:

  • Solar sharer's undervoltage questions
  • Balcony solar reviewed in Victoria
  • Investment predictions for 2026

Solar sharer could be a grid headache

One of the more contested energy market reforms of 2026 will be changes to the Default Market Offer (DMO). Following an unexpected announcement from the government in November, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland will also need to prepare for the new ‘Solar Sharer Offer’ providing free electricity to households for at least 3 hours in the middle of the day.

Retailers have been asking for more time to do so, and, as former Energy Networks Australia CEO Andrew Dillon explains in this guest post, distribution networks will also be considering what it might mean for daily operations.

Expert view

“Solar Sharer is named for the idea of utilising excess solar generation. En masse, you would think that while SSO will increase demand at 11am, the impact should be quite manageable as most grids have net solar export on most days.

But this misses two critical factors for distribution networks:

  1. it’s the ends of the bell curve that cause problems, not average days
  2. low-voltage grids are local, not national. Supply and voltage issues depend on the low-voltage assets on your street, their settings and what they can handle.

Solar-induced overvoltage has been an issue for Distributed Network Service Providers for the last decade. We now face the risk that actions taken by networks to keep solar-driven voltage levels down will worsen undervoltage during free electricity demand surges.”

Andrew Dillon
Energy policy and strategy expert

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Victorian inquiry to explore renewable options for apartments

Shared rooftop solar, balcony solar, community batteries and virtual power plants will all be considered as part of a Victorian inquiry into renewable and affordable energy for apartments.

The parliamentary inquiry comes in the wake of individual state-based policy measures, including grants for apartment building owners who install solar. The Victorian government (with support from the Commonwealth) currently provides rebates of up to $140,000 per property for owners corporations choosing to install rooftop solar.

The Victorian inquiry will explore recent developments in energy supply and technology, along with the barriers and inequities renters and social housing tenants face in accessing renewable energy.

While 1 in 3 Australian homes now has rooftop solar, around 12% of Victoria’s 2.5 million households live in apartments. Of these around 63% are renting, according to the government, with low-income households overrepresented among apartment residents.

“Increasing the uptake of residential solar on rented apartments and social housing could ease the burden of high electricity prices on some of Victoria’s most vulnerable households,” Committee Chair Juliana Addison said.

The inequity facing people without access to solar and/or batteries is also being considered as part of the Australian Energy Market Commission’s pricing review.​

Expert view

“The inquiry seems to be solely focusing on seeking to identify and propose solutions to the built environment so new technologies (solar, batteries etc) can be included in residential apartments. There have always been significant challenges trying to get these technologies into apartment buildings due to design, relationship to the owner's corporation/body corporate and the split incentive with regards to landlords and renters, to name a few.

The inquiry might be missing some low-hanging fruit, that is the opportunity for occupants in these dwelling types to be reassigned to daytime saver-type tariffs taking advantage of the significant supply of renewable energy and rooftop solar that already exists.

This is a live issue at the moment as the Australian Energy Regulator finalises the Victorian electricity distribution price review. The Victorian policy on network tariff reassignment is currently limiting the uptake of these particular types of products and analysis by the Victorian distribution companies has shown this would benefit a significant number of households, not only those in apartment buildings.”

Gavin Dufty
National Director Energy Policy & Research, St Vincent de Paul Society Australia

Catch Up

Capital

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Utility-scale renewable investment in 2026 will reach $5.1 billion, BloombergNEF predicted, with wind projects accounting for 95% of the total. Despite record government investment, and around $7 billion invested in utility-scale solar and wind in 2025, BNEF is not expecting investment to return to the peaks seen in 2018 or 2022. Getting projects to financial close remains challenging, the group said, with the CIS expected to be the key driver for new renewable energy capacity in the next five years. Offshore wind is expected to remain challenged — BNEF forecasts an estimated 18.5GW of capacity will be withdrawn in the year ahead.

On the data centre front, BNEF predicted 300MW worth of new capacity will begin construction in Australia in 2026, significantly below the estimated 10GW of proposed data centre capacity that exists around the country.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has invested $70 million in the Queensland Investment Corporation’s Fund 2, which is focused on reducing emissions in the energy and transport sectors. QIC is understood to be targeting a $US2 billion ($3 billion) final close by March. (AFR)

Projects

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Gas transmission provider ATCO Australia plans to decommission its gas network in the West Australian town of Albany over three years, starting this year. The company said the cost of replacing the ageing infrastructure would be too much and would ultimately fall on consumers. (Albany Advertiser)

Construction of a 66MW solar PV and 200MW BESS facility has been proposed for Collie, WA. The Palmer Renewable Energy project will join several other BESS projects in the area.

Regulation

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The number of gas customers in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT fell for two quarters in a row for the first time since detailed data from the Australian Energy Regulator became available in 2019. There are still more than four million residential gas customers on the east coast. State initiatives are moving slowly to encourage electrification, with Victoria last year walking back a ban on new gas appliances and instead phasing out gas hot water systems in new homes from 2027. (AFR)

Energy systems

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CS Energy blamed an internal IT network overload caused by human error for the unplanned outage at its Callide C Power Station. One of the units returned to service on Monday, with the other expected to be back online today. The company said it had taken corrective actions to prevent a recurrence.

Technology

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Hyundai has announced plans for a pilot-scale direct reduced iron plant at its Dangjin Steelworks in South Korea. DRI is a cleaner method of making iron that relies on gas or hydrogen, not coal, to turn ore into iron. (Canary)

The world’s largest battery-electric ship has commenced trials on the River Derwent in Hobart with Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania putting the 130-metre vessel through its paces. The vessel is powered by more than 5,000 batteries with 40MWh of installed capacity. (PV Magazine)

Research

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The total lifecycle cost of maintaining a wind turbine could be reduced by 15% by proactive detection and repair of damage to the blades, according to a review from Chinese and Singaporean researchers. The researchers combined strain measurement, vibration analysis, and acoustic monitoring, complemented by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) data analysis. By actively monitoring for changes, the combination of detection methods should, in theory, be able to flag erosion of the leading edge that leads to production losses over time.

Workforce

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Iberdrola Australia received Top Employer Certification by the Top Employers Institute for the second year in a row — the only global energy company to do so.

What's On

January 29​
​The Politics of the Impossible: Will Australia prioritise its economy and make polluters pay?

Professor Rod Sims and Superpower Institute Carbon Pricing and Policy Lead Ingrid Burfurd will speak at this webinar on the economic and political context behind The Superpower Institute’s latest report The Case for Pricing Pollution.

February 8-11​
World Renewable Energy Congress

Zenith Energy Executive ESG & Stakeholder Engagement Dominic Da Cruz, Pollination Managing Director Rob Grant, Western Australian Program Director for The Superpower Institute Jessica Shaw and European Renewable Energies Federation Vice-President Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes will speak at this Perth event also featuring researchers from around the world.

February 11​
​AEMO Quarterly Energy Dynamics

AEMO Manager - Market Dynamics Kerry Galloway will speak at this webinar on the outcomes of the last quarter of 2025.

February 11​
​Delivering on the Queensland Energy Roadmap

CS Energy CEO Brian Gillespie will deliver the keynote at this Queensland Energy Club event in Brisbane.

February 24​
​Energy Security NSW

AEMC Commissioner & Reliability Panel Chair Rainer Korte will keynote this CEDA event in Sydney also featuring ASL CEO Nevenka Codevelle, Neoen Australia Head of Development Nathan Ling, Transgrid EGM of Network Jason Krstanoski and Australian Gas InfrastructureGroup EGM Customer & Strategy Cathryn McArthur.

Level 1, 60 Martin Place, Sydney, NSW 2000
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