Minimum Demand Forum

The challenge

The Energy Security Board (ESB), in collaboration with the Australian Energy Market Commission, Australian Energy Market Operator and the Australian Energy Regulator, is making the National Electricity Market fit-for-purpose, through the Post-2050 Project.

With more and more Australians moving to rooftop solar, minimum operational demand is declining. While this is beneficial from a sustainability perspective, it does pose challenges to the security and reliability of the grid, which in the worst case can lead to problems such as state-wide blackouts, and costly remediation requirements.

Minimum demand refers to the lowest level of energy supplied from the national power system on any given day, week, or year.

An approach was needed that was inclusive of multiple stakeholders and shifted the conversation from technical feasibility to consumer-centric solutions.

Our role

RPS was engaged to support the Minimum Demand Maturity Plan Pilot, in collaboration with UTS Design Innovation and Research Centre (DIRC). We took an innovative approach to the complex problem of ‘minimum demand’, using design thinking principles to design and deliver a stakeholder co-design framework, in partnership with DIRC. Over a series of three online workshops, 60 stakeholders explored problem definition through to solutioning.

This unique approach facilitated collaboration and built common understanding between diverse stakeholders, and used a customer-centric lens to explore a complex problem in a novel way. Some stakeholders felt it was evidence of a culture change in the sector.