Discover Energy에 대한 그동안의 지원과 믿음에 감사드립니다. 여러분의 지원이 없었다면 이렇게 교민을 위한 에너지 회사로 빨리 자리잡을 수 없었을 것입니다. 그러나 에너지 도매 가격의 급등으로 인해 가능한한 최단 시간에 중요한 가격 조정 결정을 내려야 했습니다. 고객님들께 충분한 시간 여유를 두고 가격 조정을 안내 드리지 못해서 많은 불편을 드린 것으로 알고 있습니다. 여기에서 진심으로 고개 숙여 사과드립니다.
Discover
Energy는 제 두 번째 회사이자 두 번째 자녀와 같습니다. 디스커버 에너지는 항상 본연의 뜻을 지키며 건강하고 씩씩하게 성장시키기 위해 노력해 왔습니다. Discover Energy 설립 이후 호주 가정과 교민의 에너지 비용을 절감하고, 모든 가정에 친환경 에너지를 제공할 수 있도록 돕고자 노력했습니다. 이것이 우리의 핵심 목표였습니다.
그 결과 지난 3년 동안 어느 회사보다도 더 낮은 에너지 가격과 최고의 서비스를 제공하기 위해 최선을 다했으며, 호주의 복잡한 에너지 시장을 모든 사람이 더 저렴하고 편리하게 접근할 수 있도록 만들기 위해 노력했습니다. 이러한 저희의 노력으로 고객님들께 더 명확하고 투명한 시장이 되길 바랍니다.
최근 몇 년 동안 재생 에너지가 빠르게 발전했지만 석탄 발전과 천연 가스와 같은 전통적인 에너지원은 여전히 시장의 80%를 차지합니다. 또한 에너지 산업 자체는 예측할 수 없으며 정치요소 등의 외부의 큰 시장 상황에 영향을 받습니다. 현재와 같은 불안한 외부 요인에 지속적으로 영향을 받아 새로운 에너지 기업가 정신은 얇은 얼음 위를 걷는 것과 같은 불안함이 있었습니다. 최근 우크라이나 전쟁의 여파로 이러한 상황은 더욱 악화되었고 올해 초부터 에너지 도매가격이 급격히 오르기 시작했습니다.
화력 발전소와 천연 가스 발전소가 없는 새로운 Tier 2 에너지 소매업체인 Discover Energy에게는 도매 에너지 가격의 급등은 의심할 여지없는 큰 타격이 되었습니다. 이로 인해 단기간의 가격 급등이라는 결과를 드리게 되었습니다. 이에 대해 다시 한번 마음 깊이 죄송한 마음을 전합니다. 고객님들이 하나 둘 떠나가는 모습을 보며 저도 무한한 슬픔을 느낍니다. 요금 인상으로 인해 고객들께서 피해보지 않도록 하는 것이 저희 회사가 바라는 바며, 저희 회사를 아끼셨던 모든 고객들이 가장 적합하고 저렴한 에너지 플랜을 찾을 수 있기를 바랍니다. 저희 회사 임직원 모두 좋은 서비스와 좋은 플랜을 위해 얼마나 많은 노력을 기울였는지 알고 있습니다. 떠나보내 드리는 모든 고객은 우리 임직원의 헌신적인 서비스와 관리의 결과였습니다. 여전히 저희 임직원들은 고객을 고객보다는 친구에 가깝다고 말합니다. 그래서 이 친구들에게 이별을 고하는 것이 굉장히 마음이 아프다고 합니다. 저 또한 저희 직원들의 노력의 ‘열매’를 붙잡지 못해서 너무 죄송합니다.
최근에 우리는 더 적합하고 저렴한 에너지 요금제를 확보하는 데 도움이 되기를 희망하면서 고객에게 적극적으로 연락하고 있습니다. 다른 에너지 리테일러로 전환하고 싶지만 무엇을 해야 할지 모르겠다면 언제든지 저희에게 연락해 주십시오. 가장 적합한 에너지 계획을 찾도록 도와드리겠습니다.
마지막으로 지난 3년 동안 저희를 믿고 성원해 주신 모든 분들께 감사드립니다. 창업은 어렵지만 열심히 하면 반드시 결실을 맺을 것이라고 믿습니다. 이번 가격 조정이 큰 영향을 미쳤지만, 고객의 이익을 최우선으로 하는 저희의 원래 취지는 변함이 없습니다. 앞으로 우리는 재생 가능 기술에 더 집중하고 모든 가정에 녹색 에너지를 지속적으로 제공할 것입니다. 가정용 배터리를 설치했거나 자동차를 구입할 계획이라면 계속해서 관심을 가져주십시오! 녹색에너지의 길에 여러분과 함께 하겠습니다.
다시 한번 Discover Energy를 이용해주시는 모든 분들께 진심으로 감사드리며, 신뢰와 성원에 감사드리며 가까운 시일 내에 그린에너지 분야에서 다시 만날 수 있기를 바랍니다!
In March 2022, Discover Energy launched the VPP Smart Feed-in Algorithm, which is currently helping our VPP customers in SA maximise the value of their solar feed-in by exporting their excess solar when it has a higher value.
The algorithm uses machine learning to forecast load and generation at the household level based on the historical data, weather data, retail and network tariffs, and wholesale prices and then uses these forecasts to find the most valuable times to export electricity into the grid.
In Discover Energy, we have been trialing this forecast-based algorithm for a number of our customers in South Australia. This figure from 17th May 2022, below shows how this algorithm changed the feed-in pattern for one of our customers.
The excess solar and some of the stored electricity were directly fed into the grid in the morning when the feed-in had a higher value the grid needed more electricity. The total amount of solar being exported was the same, only the time of export was shifted to periods with higher feed-in value. The algorithm ensured that enough solar energy was available to fully charge the battery before the peak period.
Khách hàng hiện tại của Discover Energy đã và sẽ nhận được thông báo tăng giá , các khách hàng mới hoặc khách hàng tiềm năng có thể nhận thấy rằng chúng tôi đã đóng chức năng đăng ký trên website và hiện không chấp nhận bất kỳ đăng ký mới nào. Dưới đây là phần giải thích ngắn gọn về lý do tại sao chúng tôi thực hiện những thay đổi này. Chúng tôi sẽ trở lại sớm nhất có thể!
Nếu bạn có bất kỳ thắc mắc nào, vui lòng liên hệ customerervice@discoverenergy.com.au, trò chuyện với chúng tôi qua hộp trò chuyện hoặc gọi số 1300 658 519.
TẠI SAO CHÚNG TÔI TẠM NHƯNG NHẬN KHÁCH HÀNG MỚI?
Chúng tôi sẽ phải tạm ngừng nhận bất kỳ khách hàng mới nào vì chúng tôi đang điều chỉnh giá các gói điện gas hiện tại của chúng tôi ở tất cả các tiểu bang và dự đoán mức giá sẽ tăng cao đối với tất cả khách hàng. Do đó, Discover Energy tạm ngưng đăng ký khách hàng mới với mức giá dự kiến sẽ tăng trong một hoặc hai tuần đầu tiên trở thành khách hàng của chúng tôi.
TẠI SAO CHÚNG TÔI TĂNG GIÁ?
Giá bán sỉ (wholesale price) đang liên tục tăng mạnh – AEMO * gần đây đã báo cáo mức tăng 141% so với cùng kỳ năm ngoái và giá bán sỉ tiếp tục tăng trong tháng 4 và tháng 5, đạt mức trung bình gần $200 NEM.
Từ đầu năm 2022 đến nay, thị trường đã xảy ra rất nhiều biến động chưa từng có trước đây – giá dầu, khí đốt và than đã tăng đáng kể do các sự kiện thế giới như chiến tranh ở Ukraine và hậu quả của Covid-19 đối với chuỗi cung ứng năng lượng, tăng giá tới 500% trong trường hợp gas.
Các nhà máy phát điện than và khí đốt (và thủy điện) đã làm tăng chi phí của họ bằng cách đẩy giá đấu thầu phát điện vào thị trường điện, với giá đấu thầu cho than đen, thủy điện và khí đốt trên thị trường tăng gấp ba hoặc gấp đôi. Điều này đã làm tăng chi phí năng lượng thời điểm mà các nhà bán lẻ nhỏ phải mua để cung cấp cho khách hàng. Và vì chúng tôi không thu được lợi nhuận khi giá wholesale tăng mạnh, chúng tôi không có lựa chọn nào khác ngoài việc áp dụng khoản tăng này cho khách hàng của mình.
Là một nhà cung cấp dịch vụ điện gas đang phát triển, điều này ảnh hưởng rất nhiều đến chúng tôi thì chúng tôi không sở hữu các máy phát điện chạy bằng than hoặc khí đốt, chúng tôi chỉ mua năng lượng mặt trời bán ra từ khách hàng của mình và từ các nhà máy sản xuất điện gas; và thật không may, giá mua solar trên thị trường đã giảm cùng lúc với giá điện ngày càng tăng.
TƯƠNG LAI CỦA GIÁ ĐIỆN VÀ KHÁCH HÀNG DISCOVER ENERGY SẼ THAY ĐỔI NHƯ THẾ NÀO?
Trong các tháng tiếp theo, các chuyên gia dự đoán giá điện sẽ tiếp tục tăng. Tuy nhiên, wholesale market vẫn liên tục điều chỉnh giá, vì vậy chúng tôi hy vọng giá sẽ giảm vào những năm tới. Ngay sau khi giá được giảm, Discover Energy sẽ thông báo khách hàng trong thời gian sớm nhất.
VẬY KHÁCH HÀNG NÊN LÀM GÌ?
Rất tiếc, vì tình hình thực tại, tất cả các nhà cung cấp dịch vụ điện gas đều phải tăng giá. Tại Discover Energy, chúng tôi sẽ chủ động liên hệ với những khách hàng mới tham gia HOẶC có mức sử dụng cao hàng năm để cho họ biết sắp có thay đổi về giá cước và thảo luận về những lựa chọn họ có để quản lý hoá đơn của mình một cách tốt nhất.
VPP VÀ SOLAR SẼ RA SAO?
Discover Energy sẽ tiếp tục hỗ trợ việc lắp đặt năng lượng mặt trời và pin ở Úc. Trên thực tế, chúng tôi kỳ vọng rằng thị trường điện hiện tại sẽ thúc đẩy nhiều khách hàng muốn lắp đặt năng lượng mặt trời và pin hơn và chúng tôi sẽ có thể hỗ trợ việc lắp đặt này bằng mạng lưới đối tác lắp đặt rộn nhờ tổ chức đối tác One Stop Warehouse của chúng tôi.
Chúng tôi sẽ tiếp tục vận hành nền tảng VPP của mình và đổi mới thông qua tính năng sạc EV thông minh mới và các công nghệ mới khác sẽ hỗ trợ khách hàng của chúng tôi và giúp cách nhiệt họ trước sự tăng giá trong tương lai.
Vui lòng liên hệ chúng tôi qua customerervice@discoverenergy.com.au hoặc gọi số 1300 946 898 nếu bạn cần hỗ trợ hay có bất kỳ thắc mắc nào.
A virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a collection of distributed energy resources that are coordinated together as a single power plant. If you have a solar-and-battery system or an EV charger, you may be eligible to enrol these assets into our VPP and take advantage of our VPP Platform (Manta).
Manta is our state-of-the-art VPP Platform that enables our customers to minimise their electricity bill. It is a cloud-based software that uses machine learning and smart algorithms to trade customers’ electricity into the market and maximise their energy income.
Here are four reasons why Manta is one of the most popular VPP platforms in Australia:
1)Algorithmic trading: Our proprietary algorithms use advanced machine learning to find the optimum moments to sell power into the electricity market. The prices in the electricity market changes every five minutes and the market can be very volatile. Some of our customers have substantially benefited from our algorithmic trading. The figure below shows some of the recent trades for one of our customers in South Australia.
2) Manual trading: Manta also enables our VPP customers to manually sell their electricity into the market by providing them real-time wholesale prices. Our VPP customers can experience trading electricity into the electricity wholesale market.
3) Transparency: Manta is directly connected to our APP and our billing system, which means the customers have full visibility of when and how their batteries are used. The figure below is an example of what our VPP customers see in their app.
Our customers love our transparency when it comes to the financial settlement of each trade. If the trade is initiated by the DE’s algorithm, the customers will receive 50% of the revenue and if the trade is initiated by the customer, the customer will receive 100% of the revenue.
4) Minimising electricity cost: Our smart algorithms enable our VPP customers to price arbitrage – charge their batteries with the lowest cost – without the risk of being exposed to the spot price for their household consumption. Our algorithms also can shift your feed-in export to periods with highest export value and charge your EV from your solar or in periods with the lowest cost. For more on our EV visit: https://www.discoverenergy.com.au/electric_vehicles
And many more: Manta enables our VPP customers to increase their revenue through a variety of market (energy, FCAS,…) and off-market (network solutions, trials, peer-to-peer trading,…) opportunities. We are constantly innovating and increasing these capabilities to improve the value of VPP for our customers.
Current Discover Energy customers may be aware of upcoming changes to their rates and offers, while new or prospective customers may have noticed that we have closed the sales function of the website, and are currently not accepting any new sign-ups. Below is a short explainer on why we have made these changes. We hope to open up sales as soon as possible.
We will have to stop accepting any new customers on market offers as we are reviewing our current pricing for electricity and gas in all states and anticipate a SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE in prices for all customer usage on our gas and electricity plans. And as such we would not like to welcome any new customers to Discover Energy with a price rise expected in the first week or two of being our customer.
Why are we lifting prices?
Wholesale prices are increasing – AEMO* recently reported a 141% increase year on year and the Wholesale prices have continued to increase in April and May averaging nearly $200 NEM wide.
So far in 2022 there has been unprecedented conditions in the wholesale market – prices of oil, gas and coal have seen significant increases because of world events such as the war in Ukraine and the after-effects of Covid-19 on energy supply chains have conspired to increase prices up to 500% in the case of spot gas.
Coal and gas generators (and hydro) have passed on these increases to their wholesale costs by pushing up the price they bid generation into the electricity market, with the bid prices for black coal, hydro and gas either tripling or doubling in the market. This has pushed the cost forward of the spot energy that small retailers must purchase to supply our customers. And as we don’t make money when the wholesale market price increases, we have no choice but to pass these increases onto our customers.
As a small growing Retailer this price rise affects us adversely because we don’t own large coal or gas generators we just buy excess solar from our customers via feed-in-tariffs; and unfortunately the value of solar in the market has been declining at the same time as the price for peak energy has been increasing.
What’s does the future look like for electricity prices and Discover Energy customers?
In the short-term, the outlook for electricity prices suggests that the prices will likely remain elevated. In the medium term, it is difficult to imagine that coal and gas prices will remain as high as they have been so far in 2022, and so the market expectation is for prices to fall in coming years. As soon as prices are reduced, Discover Energy will share any reductions with our customers. However, the energy industry is going through a major transition where we would expect some further price volatility as the incumbent generators seek to extract as much value from their old generators and the market adjusts to a high renewable and high storage grid.
What can customers do now?
Unfortunately, all electricity and gas retailers will be forced by the current circumstances to change their prices. At Discover Energy, we will proactively contact customers who recently joined OR who have high peak or annual usage to let them know a change to their rates is coming and discuss what options they have to best manage their bills.
This might be to check the government websites such as Energy Made Easy to find a better plan, or move onto a time of use tariff if the customer can lower their consumption in peak periods (generally weekdays – morning and evening).
What about VPP and Solar?
Discover Energy will continue to support the uptake of Solar and Battery installations in Australia. In fact, we expect that the current electricity market will drive more customers to want to install solar and battery and we will be able to facilitate these installations by our extensive installation partner network thanks to our partner organisation One Stop Warehouse.
We will continue to operate our VPP platform and innovate via new smart EV charging and other new technologies that will support our customers and help insulate them against future price rises.
If you have a solar tariff and clicked YES, a VPP offer will appear in the Energy Plans section. You can now select this plan.
An eligibility checklist will then pop up and require you to fill in the details. You will also be able to identify your solar installer (we will double check this info).
NB: As per the eligibility criteria, the inverter size should not exceed 10KW in total. If inverter size is greater than 10KW in total, the excess export may be limited.
If you are eligible, the eligibility button will have a green tick. You can now proceed with the regular sign-up process, as you would when switching to any energy retailer.
Our VPP staff will be in contact with you to onboard and assist in any troubleshooting. They will also guide you on how to register your inverter so that you can fully participate in the VPP.
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Any questions? Email support_vpp@discoverenergy.com.au or call 1300 946 898
Australia’s electricity grid is rapidly transforming toward a decentralised, two-way power system in which houses with solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and energy storage capabilities supply a significant portion of the electricity demand throughout the day. As an example, in South Australia more than one in three households have rooftop solar PV installed which can provide more than 1 gigawatt of energy to the grid.
While distributed solar PV present a zero-emission electricity source there are also new challenges emerging, such as rapidly declining “minimum operational (grid) demand”.
What is minimum operational demand?
Figure 1: Operational demand for the NEM between 2017 and 2021. This shows a reflection of the downward trend in demand over a whole season. Source: AEMO
Operational demand means demand supplied from the national power system (or grid). Minimum operational demand means the lowest level of demand from the grid in any given day, week or year. Minimum operational demand is extremely sensitive to ongoing uptake of solar PV, weather conditions, and local economic activity. Figure 1 shows the downward trend between 2017-2021.
What if minimum operational demand gets lower and lower?
As minimum operational demand keeps getting lower, new standards and system services are required to keep the power system secure and reliable. The challenges include (for details see AEMO):
Voltage management
Unintended disconnection of distributed solar
Emergency frequency control schemes
System restart
Networks and AEMO are looking for ways to limit the amount of solar export during the periods of minimum operational demand including Emergency Solar PV Shedding. This option prohibits the customers from exporting to the grid which reduces the customers revenue from feed-in tariff.
How can VPPs mitigate this issue?
At Discover Energy, we believe there is a better way to to mitigate minimum operational demand. Our VPP customers can mitigate the issue of minimum demand by using our state-of-the-art Smart Feed-In algorithm. The algorithm can defer charging of the battery to periods of time when there is too much PV feed-in electricity in the grid. Based on the forecasts for prices, load and solar productions, the VPP Smart Feed-In Algorithm may bypass battery charging and export the net solar electricity (the excess solar electricity not used by the household loads) to the grid in the morning and charge the battery later in the day instead. Smart feed-in algorithm maximises the value of VPP for our customers while ensuring the security and reliability of the grid. This is likely to be the future of VPP participation in NEM.
How does Discover Energy’s smart feed-in algorithm work?
The algorithm changes the way your battery charge from the solar panels by charging battery when the value of feed-in export is small and by-pass the battery when the value of feed-in export is higher. We are trialling this approach to ensure there is benefit to the grid, the network and the VPP customer.
The example below illustrates the impact of smart Feed-In on a battery*. When the system is operating on SSCM, in Figure 2, it only starts to export to the grid once the battery is fully charged, in this example from 12PM. However, at that time there is too much solar in the grid and therefore the wholesale price of feed-in is significantly lower that other times of the day.
Figure 2: Operation of a residential battery system under SSCM mode
The Smart Feed-in algorithm recognises the higher value of exporting the net solar to the grid earlier in the morning and postpones charging your battery from 12pm (see Figure 3). In this example, the total amount of solar being exported to the grid is the same, only the time of export is shifted to periods that will generate more benefits to your system.
Figure 2: Operation of a battery under a smart feed-in algorithm
We believe our smart feed-in algorithm benefit to the grid, the network and the VPP customer by optimising the battery operation. The Smart Feed-In trial will run for 3 months with selected VPP customers in South Australia to evaluate the algorithm and enhance its performance if needed.
Discover Energy is delighted to announce the full API integration of its Virtual Power Plant with Growatt.
This partnership means that solar battery customers with eligible Growatt hybrid inverters* are now able to join the Discover Energy VPP and participate in Discover Energy’s game-changing energy trading platform and VPP benefits program including premium solar feed-in tariffs, free battery recharging and energy trading income.
Developed by the founders of One Stop Warehouse – Australia’s largest wholesale distributor – The Discover Energy VPP was developed to jumpstart the decarbonisation of the electricity infrastructure in Australia, by increasing the share of green, renewable energy in the electricity grid, providing grid support while rewarding solar and battery customers for investing in green hardware and propelling quicker ROI outcomes for customers.
SPH 3000 inverter and GBLI6532 Lithium battery
The Discover Energy VPP digitally connects households with solar battery connected to its network through cloud technology. Through the DE VPP, these battery networks are able to deploy aggregated stored energy back to the grid. The ability to harness stored energy through batteries allows for a more reliable and dynamically controlled deployment of energy than pure solar feed-ins alone.
Discover Energy provides one of the most dynamic energy trading platforms that allow customers to make manual trades, while also activating automatic trades with superior arbitrage returns through its predictive algorithm.
Discover Energy currently operates VPP networks in five states/territories across the country including NSW, SA, VIC, QLD (SE) and ACT.
Founded in 2010, Growatt is one of the world’s top 10 inverter brands, ranking as the No. 1 residential inverter supplier in the world. By the end of 2021, Growatt has shipped over 3.5 million inverters to more than 100 countries.
Since 2010, Growatt has set up its Australian branch, with more than 10 years of trackable local service, around 460,000 sets of high-performance on-grid inverters, off-grid inverters, hybrid inverters, and lithium batteries are installed in Australia.
“We are delighted to welcome Growatt, one of the most prominent inverter brands in the world, to our growing VPP family. Adding Growatt to its expanding roster of compatible inverter brands confirms DE’s commitment to giving end-customers the most flexibility and choice when taking the leap to battery and VPPs” says Anson Zhang, Co-CEO and co-founder of Discover Energy.
If you have experienced a power outage as a result of the current flood conditions across QLD and NSW, we encourage you to contact and follow the updates from your network distributor. Here is the list of networks distributors across QLD & NSW. (Note: you can find out your specific energy distributor from the top right of your Discover Energy bill).
move electric pump motors and portable appliances to an area above the estimated flood height.
keep your mobile phone charged and check that you have a torch and portable radio in good working order. Stay tuned to ABC radio for emergency updates
know the location of your main switch and meter box
switch off electricity to non-essential circuits before they are submerged in rising floodwaters
download your energy distributors’s power outage app and follow us on twitter and Facebook for updates. You can who find your energy distributor is via your Discover Energy bill.
If you are asked to evacuate:
switch off all appliances
cut off all electricity to the household by opening the main switch or removing switch fuses at the main switchboard or meter box.
Do this even if you have been advised that all power has been cut off to your area
make sure you have an evacuation kit with your mobile phone, charger, important phone numbers, medicine, and essential supplies.
Treat all power lines as ALIVE and dangerous:
keep well clear of ALL POWER LINES and particularly avoid contact with wires which are hanging low or on the ground, dangling in flood water or tangled in trees
do not drive across fallen power lines. If power lines have fallen across or have been become entangled in your vehicle, remain inside your vehicle, and call for help. If in danger, open the door and jump well clear keeping your hands off the vehicle and feet together
keep a good distance from power wires and poles if boating in floods. If in a wooden or fibreglass boat, do not touch the water or metallic parts of the motor when near wires or poles as they may be alive and dangerous
Before power is restored in the event of an outage your energy distributor must inspect the main switchboard and meters of areas that have been flooded. In the interim:
do not use electrical appliances which have been in floodwaters
do not handle any wet electrical equipment
do not replace circuit fuses or restore power to a household which has been flooded until your home has thoroughly dried out and been checked by a licensed electrician
The safety of our customers is paramount. While enquiries about the physical delivery of electricity, such as power outages, can only be fully addressed by contacting your network distributor, Discover Energy endeavours to assist as much as we can. If you do have an enquiry or require assistance, please call us on 1300 946 898.
