In conversation with
Lena Parker
Lena is the General Manager for Ventia’s Energy Solutions business where the team focus on Behind the Meter (BTM) solutions including generation, storage, efficiency (scalable demand and consumption reduction) and enablement (metering, EV charging infrastructure) programs of work across large assets and estates to drive energy security, resilience and emissions objectives for our clients who consume ~15% of electricity in Australia
As part of the Clean Energy Council’s Distributed Energy Leadership Forum, General Manager Lena Parker recently participated in a webinar as part of the council’s launch of the Consumer Energy Resources roadmap.
This roadmap outlines measures needed to empower stakeholders to take the next steps in Australia’s electrification journey.
Below is an edited excerpt from Lena’s panel discussion contribution.
How does the Consumer Energy Resources (CER) roadmap interact at the industrial end of the market?
Looking at the opportunity in government infrastructure, we’re not talking about policy here we’re talking about the physical assets, we’re talking about social housing, schools, hospitals, defence facilities and large administration buildings which are all prime locations for installation of things like rooftop solar and storage.
The non-residential market makes up 80% of consumption of energy in Australia and they have between four to six million of the rooftops so there’s a significant opportunity to leverage that space. They're also the largest landowners across Australia so behind the meter opportunities can be accelerated for generation and storage.
There are a lot of challenges that are more difficult to solve - we should take the opportunity to focus on what we can do rather than the things we haven’t solved yet
Giving people in social housing access to Consumer Energy Resources is something talked about in the report. What is the opportunity there in your view?
We’re very passionate about looking at the most efficient ways to improve access for those in social housing to things like solar energy. The road map outlines the ways in which we can make this happen. We know that renters and tenants in social housing are interested in this, but with the cost of living this is not necessarily where they would choose to use their disposable income. We are seeing examples in some states where they're stepping in and not letting this cohort fall through the cracks and it's taking others a little longer to follow suit.
If there was one area of priority you’re keen to see a focus on, what would it be?
There are a lot of challenges that are more difficult to solve, but there’s also a lot there that is ready to run and we should take the opportunity to focus on what we can do rather than the things we haven’t solved yet.