Reactive Technologies (Reactive), the grid resilience tech company that provides accurate measurements of inertia and other electric grid functions, has secured AUD 1.43 million ($959,000) from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for a project to provide real-time, accurate grid inertia measurements. The Victoria State Government Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action (DEECA) also provided funds for the project.
What does Reactive bring to the partnership?
Reactive secured the funding through ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program, which supports projects that optimize the transition to renewable energy. The trial will be deployed with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and supported by DEECA, Melbourne Energy Institute (University of Melbourne), and Neoen. The trial will operate over a range of conditions including high solar, high wind, and high demand periods across Victoria.
Neoen’s Victorian Big Battery, a utility-scale energy storage installation, will send a small signal into the grid that Reactive’s Extensible Measurement Units (XMUs) will measure. Following the XMUs’ measurement, Reactive’s patented GridMetrix® software will analyze the data and allow AEMO to view inertia values in real time on the GridMetrix® dashboard.
“Continuous measurement of inertia will become highly valuable as it will allow less conservative grid operation and ultimately the ability to accommodate more non-synchronous generation such as solar and wind,” said Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA.
“Reactive’s measurement tools could change the way the NEM is managed. With real-time data available to AEMO, they could also then optimize customer-side generation which has been proven to contribute as much as 30% of total inertia to the National Grid in the UK.”
With two-thirds of its coal power stations expected to close by 2040, accurate grid inertia measurements will be crucial to enabling more renewables to connect to Australia’s grid. Grid inertia – the ability of generators to maintain a steady power supply in the face of disruptions – becomes harder to track with legacy tools as more generators are added to a grid.
To meet this challenge on grids around the world, Reactive’s GridMetrix® tool provides new levels of visibility into grid functions, replacing estimates and modeling of inertia and enabling operators to predict and plan for guaranteed sources of inertia to keep the power grid stable.
What does this mean for Reactive Technologies?
“We are proud to have earned this funding from ARENA, and we are eager to show how powerful our tech is when it comes to facilitating a smooth transition to net zero carbon grids without sacrificing reliability or resilience,” said Marc Borrett, CEO of Reactive Technologies.
“Australia is one of many countries around the world that is taking admirable steps toward accelerating their energy transition and have rightly identified measurement of inertia as a crucial component of that transition. We applaud the roles the federal and Victorian governments are playing in this project and look forward to deepening our collaboration with ARENA and other Australian government agencies as we begin our work,” Borrett added.
Reactive Technologies was founded in Finland and the UK and has deployed its tech in the UK, Japan, Italy, and New Zealand. The firm expanded to North America in 2022, offering the most accurate measurements of inertia and other grid functions and helping to curb climate change with tools that allow for the maintenance of grid reliability while adding renewables.
In addition, Reactive Technologies also gives utilities and grid operators critical intel for maintaining resilience as they add renewables and DERs, and will continue its global expansion as more countries move to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon power grid.
