Our new commercial subsidiary, Intium, was established in 2023 to provide innovative services for regional and rural NSW customers. The full Intium Board of Directors was formed in September 2023 and the constitution of Intium Pty Ltd was tabled in the NSW Parliament in November 2023. Intium’s Executive General Manager commenced in November 2023, leading the team to establish core capabilities. Intium secured its first Preliminary Works Agreement during the year – the Forest Glen Solar Farm Connection Infrastructure project, near Dubbo.

Essential Energy is working with customers, industry and government to accelerate electrification. Our Electrification Strategy is supporting customers to decarbonise by shifting away from fossil fuels. The Strategy encourages electrification to support customer and government net zero emission targets, while increasing network utilisation to support a least cost path to decarbonisation.

During the year, we completed an electrification study for the Charles Sturt University (CSU) campus in Orange, to support the phasing out of natural gas. CSU is progressively working towards its own net zero target, with switching to renewable energy sources a key component of the approach. Essential Energy provided advice regarding the cost of transitioning to renewables, the equipment needed and how it could be sourced – supporting CSU’s efforts towards net zero.

Stand Alone Power Systems (SAPS) are cost-effective and reliable energy solutions for customers in remote locations, providing an independent power supply using renewable energy and battery storage. As of June 2024, we have two² SAPS installed. We have commenced the design phase for another 27, for customers who have agreed to transition to a SAPS. We are aiming to install 400 SAPS by 2028–29. As SAPS are installed, we will remove unused poles and wires to reduce network-initiated bushfire risk and maintenance costs.

SAPS also play an important role in keeping communities connected during extreme weather events. In May 2024, we secured close to $1 million in Australian Government funding to acquire six portable SAPS that will support communications during extreme weather events. The funding also includes enabling works at 12 network locations historically vulnerable to flooding and bushfires. See Resilience for more details.

Essential Energy’s Australian-first trial of a hydrogen supported SAPS, for heritage accommodation in Myall Lakes National Park, ended in February 2024. The SAPS remains in service while we work through lessons learnt and next steps. The trial was a partnership with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and GreenHy2.

During 2023–24, Essential Energy committed to transitioning to composite poles to reduce the impact of extreme weather events on our customers and communities, following extensive consultation. Composite poles offer greater tolerance to extreme heat and fire conditions, compared to timber poles. Composite poles are an Australian-manufactured and proven technology, produced by locally-owned businesses in NSW and Queensland.

Much of our network consists of timber poles. Over the next five years, we plan to proactively replace 11,000 timber poles with composite poles. This is less than one per cent of our poles.

The replacements will focus on high bushfire risk areas and where the increased reliability of composite poles will most benefit our customers, such as communication sites. During 2023–24, at the request of the local community, we installed more than 30 fire-resistant composite poles in South Durras to improve network and community resilience during bushfire events.

Our Smart Energy Communities trial continued during 2023-24, with more than 200 customers using a Wattwatchers smart energy management device to monitor their energy use and solar generation and inform their choices. These insights are helping us to better understand emerging needs and options for affordable and reliable electricity supply and services.

The trial is also helping to optimise our approach to managing renewable energy exports into the network, storage and return to local communities. In February 2024, we introduced our first Dynamic Connection Agreement (DCA) for eligible customers in Tea Gardens. DCAs allow us to manage customer inverter settings to increase the solar export limit when the network can accommodate it. This gives customers the opportunity to increase their solar exports and generate a better return while improving the network’s stability.