Australia has an ambitious new idea how to reduce one of the problems with renewable energy. Image via Wiki Commons.

“Renewable energy is a scam,” some skeptics say. Yet this so-called “scam” could soon power millions of Australian households for free for at least three hours a day, whether they have solar panels or not.

The plan aims to get people to shift their schedules and use more energy in the middle of the day and less of it in the evening.

Looking at the Duck’s Belly

Australia, like other countries that generate a lot of solar power, is faced with a conundrum.

Solar power is intermittent. You get a lot of it during the day, and not so much during the night. In fact, this problem is so prevalent that batteries have become the bottleneck in renewable energy deployment. During the week, however, most people are away from home at midday, and they don’t use that much electricity. Come evening, the sun vanishes, the solar panels go dark, and the grid strains as millions of people come home, flicking on lights, heaters, and ovens. This nightly crunch is often met by firing up expensive coal and gas facilities.

Under the new plan, Australians would get at least three hours of completely free power in the middle of the day. They’d need to sign up and have a smart meter (which most retailers provide for free), and after that, they’ll get the free power regardless of whether or not they have solar panels.

Solar panels are already powering more than 4.2 million homes in Australia. This renewable energy lowers bills, helping consumers pay almost 20% less than non-solar customers. But Australia isn’t making the most of its solar potential because storing energy is expensive, and people typically use less energy when solar power is at its peak.

This entire effort is designed to solve the grid’s “duck curve” — a term grid operators use to describe the daily plunge in energy demand at noon (the duck’s belly) and the steep, costly ramp-up at sunset (the duck’s neck).

By shifting demand into the “belly,” the government hopes to flatten that curve, making the grid cleaner and more stable.

Depiction of a fictitious “Duck curve” showing how energy consumption can often vary across the day. For illustrative purposes only. Credits: ZME Science.

Can It Work?

The success of this scheme hinges on a simple question: Can people change when they use power?

If the answer is ‘yes’, it could bring significant benefits, Grattan Institute’s Energy and Climate Change Director Tony Wood told 4BC Brisbane.

“If you can also move that demand for electricity towards the middle of the day, that would actually reduce the pressure on the system later in the day … and that’d be good,” Mr Wood told the radio station.

Other experts are less convinced.

“This is populist nonsense,” says Prof Bruce Mountain, director of the Victorian Energy Policy Centre. “These things have long existed in the market. There’s no need to mandate them.” The government argues that regulating the offer ensures customers get a fair deal. But Professor Mountain believes this could drive prices up.

The government is set to launch the project in July, but in the meantime it’s still collecting feedback.

It remains to be seen how successful the project will be. For now, it highlights that renewable energy has entered a new, more mature phase. It’s no longer about whether we can produce enough power; it’s more about storing and using the power throughout the day. The fact that offering *free electricity *to millions of households is even discussed goes to show just how far we’ve come.