en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has granted regulatory sandbox trial exemptions to VIOTAS and Enel X, allowing them to expand their participation in the Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism (WDRM).

The WDRM pays participating large customers to reduce their electricity usage when demand is high. This helps lower demand and exerts downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices during peak periods, ultimately translating into reduced energy costs for all consumers.

Under the National Electricity Rules, only sites with a single connection point to the grid can currently participate in the WDRM, meaning sites with multiple connection points are ineligible. This prevents many large commercial and industrial customers, such as manufacturing plants, ports, logistics centers, water treatment facilities, and data centers, from participating.

The trial exemptions will allow VIOTAS and Enel X, both of which provide demand response services to other large commercial and industrial energy consumers, to each test up to 10 sites with multiple connection points in the WDRM. They will measure customer response across all connection points to ensure genuine demand reduction is achieved.

These trials will last up to five years, subject to conditions that protect market integrity and maximize learning outcomes. Exemption conditions include that all trial sites must be accredited by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the first two sites must be operational within six months, and VIOTAS and Enel X must report to the AER, AEMO, and the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) every six months. VIOTAS and Enel X are also required to publicly release non-confidential versions of these reports on their websites.

AER Board Member Jarrod Ball stated that the trial exemptions will support new ways of managing peak demand and assist the AEMC in considering a rule change request proposed by Enel X to expand the WDRM. If successful and scaled up, these trials will help reduce the level of grid investment needed to manage peak energy demand and exert downward pressure on customer bills through lower wholesale electricity prices. The trials will also provide practical examples for the AEMC when considering the rule change proposal. Allowing VIOTAS and Enel X to conduct trials will promote competition, help more customers participate, and provide diverse and useful evidence from multiple sites in the National Electricity Market.

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