Name
Mike Bradford
Job title
Program Director - Project Jupiter
Organisation
Western Power
Speaker biography
Mike Bradford is the Program Director for Project Jupiter. Project Jupiter brings together project partners – Western Power, Synergy, AEMO and Energy Policy WA in a three-year program to accelerate the integration of rooftop solar, customer and community batteries into WA’s main energy system through virtual power plants (VPPs). Mike brings his broad experience in managing complex business transformations, new product and market development, commercial partnerships, enhanced customer experience, and technology commercialisation to support the delivery of Project Jupiter.
Speaking At
Presentation title
Project Jupiter – Accelerating Distributed Energy Resources through VPPs in the SWIS
Presentation summary
With 40% of WA households reaping the benefits of rooftop solar, and more than 3000 systems being added monthly, our uptake of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is among the world’s highest. Battery adoption is also set to surge with the combined State and Federal WA Residential Battery Scheme underway, enabling 100,000 household batteries. Smart, coordinated DER and storage will be critical to meeting capacity challenges. One exciting program under way to transform WA’s main energy system is Project Jupiter. Jupiter is a three-year program led by Western Power, in partnership with Synergy, AEMO, Energy Policy WA and with $20.8M funding from ARENA, to develop systems, markets and tools needed to integrate DER at scale through Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). Our vision is to realise the full potential of DER in WA’s energy transition by developing Australia’s first energy system and market where DER is safely and securely integrated at scale for the benefit of community. By 2028, all new solar and batteries connected to the network will be visible, compliant and VPP-ready – helping households and businesses unlock more value from their assets while providing network support services and capacity in the market. By March, the project will have completed Milestone 2, providing fresh insights on: • Building foundations for VPPs at scale – technical systems, customer participation models, value frameworks, policy and regulation. • Pathways for realising the value for the electricity system and consumers from aggregated residential DER. • How Jupiter is shaping Australia’s broader energy transition.
