Research Driving Australia's Energy Future: Highlights from the RACE for 2030 Innovation Showcase

Innovation is at the heart of Australia's energy transition, and one of the highlights of API Summer School 2026 was a dedicated session showcasing some of the cutting-edge research being delivered through RACE for 2030.

Held on 19 May, the session brought together researchers and industry leaders working on some of the biggest technical and strategic challenges facing Australia's electricity system. From consumer behaviour and distributed energy resources to grid-forming inverters and future network architecture, each presentation demonstrated how research and collaboration are helping shape the power system of tomorrow.

The session reinforced an important message for Summer School participants: delivering the energy transition is about far more than building new infrastructure. It also requires new knowledge, new ways of thinking and strong partnerships between industry, universities and government.

RACE for 2030: Turning Research into Real-World Impact

Opening the session, Neil Horrocks, Program Leader – Networks at RACE for 2030, introduced the Cooperative Research Centre and its mission to accelerate Australia's journey towards a net-zero electricity system.

Neil explained that RACE for 2030 brings together electricity networks, market bodies, governments, universities and industry partners to deliver research with practical outcomes. Rather than conducting research for its own sake, every project is designed to solve genuine industry challenges, provide pathways for implementation and ultimately reduce costs and emissions across the electricity system.

He encouraged delegates to view innovation as everyone's responsibility, highlighting that collaboration between researchers and industry practitioners is essential if new ideas are to move beyond trials and become part of everyday power system operations. For the next generation of engineers, understanding how research informs planning, regulation and network development will become increasingly important as Australia's energy transition continues to accelerate.

Understanding the People Behind the Power System

Dr Steve Snow from CSIRO explored how consumer behaviour is becoming just as important as technology in designing Australia's future energy system.

Drawing on the Scenarios for Future Living project, Dr Snow shared insights from a "Living Lab" where households are monitored over time to understand how they use emerging technologies such as rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles.

One of the most interesting findings was that households with battery storage often develop an entirely different relationship with electricity. Rather than focusing on conserving energy, many begin to view electricity as abundant, changing how and when they use appliances. The research also highlighted that affordability, comfort and simplicity continue to drive consumer decision-making, while many households remain hesitant to hand over control of their energy systems to automated technologies such as Virtual Power Plants.

The presentation demonstrated that understanding customer behaviour is becoming just as critical as understanding engineering systems when planning Australia's future electricity network.

Building Stability in a Renewable Grid

As Australia moves towards a power system dominated by renewable energy, maintaining stability becomes increasingly complex. Dr Yuteendra Mishra from Queensland University of Technology explored how grid-forming inverters could help solve this challenge.

His research, undertaken in partnership with Curtin University, Powerlink Queensland and RACE for 2030, examined how these advanced inverter technologies can provide many of the services traditionally delivered by large synchronous generators, including voltage and frequency support.

A key finding was that where grid-forming inverters are installed can be just as important as how many are deployed. Strategic placement across the network significantly improved system stability and damping performance, highlighting the need for future planning to consider not only renewable generation capacity, but also the dynamic behaviour of inverter-based resources.

The presentation offered students an insight into one of the most rapidly evolving technical areas within power engineering and demonstrated how sophisticated modelling and collaboration are helping prepare Australia's future electricity system for very high levels of renewable generation.

Unlocking Consumer Flexibility

Dr Vikki McLeod from Queensland University of Technology shifted the focus from technology to people, exploring how households could become active participants in supporting a more flexible electricity system.

With millions of Australians now owning rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles, Dr McLeod explained that demand flexibility represents one of the largest untapped resources available to the grid. Rather than relying solely on direct control of customer assets through Virtual Power Plants, her research investigates how behavioural science, digital tools and consumer incentives can encourage households to voluntarily shift their electricity use when the system needs it most.

She introduced the proposed Project EnergyFlexor, a large-scale trial that aims to determine whether behavioural demand flexibility can become a reliable resource for network planning and operation. The research combines engineering, behavioural economics and data analytics to better understand how consumers respond to pricing signals, information and incentives.

The presentation highlighted that successful energy transition solutions must balance technical capability with customer trust, recognising that consumers ultimately want to retain control over the technologies they have invested in.

Reimagining Australia's Future Electricity System

Closing the session, Mark Paterson from RACE for 2030 challenged delegates to think beyond individual technologies and consider the architecture of Australia's future electricity system.

Through the 2035+ Flexible Grid initiative, Mark explored how the electricity network must evolve from a traditional one-way system into a highly coordinated, digitally connected and distributed energy ecosystem.

He argued that while enormous progress has been made in renewable generation and distributed energy resources, Australia still lacks a shared vision for how the future power system should operate as a whole. Rather than simply adding new technologies to existing infrastructure, Mark suggested that the industry must deliberately redesign the operational, digital and institutional structures that underpin the electricity system.

His presentation reinforced that Australia's energy transition is not only an engineering challenge but also one involving markets, regulation, digital technologies and customer participation. Successfully integrating millions of distributed energy resources will require unprecedented collaboration across the entire sector.

Together, the five presentations demonstrated the breadth of innovation currently underway across Australia's power sector. While each project explored a different aspect of the energy transition, they shared a common goal: delivering practical, scalable solutions that support a secure, affordable and sustainable electricity system.

For Summer School participants, the RACE for 2030 session provided valuable insight into how research translates into real-world industry outcomes. It also highlighted the growing importance of interdisciplinary thinking, where engineering, data science, behavioural research, economics and policy increasingly intersect.

As Australia's electricity system continues to evolve, the next generation of engineers will play an important role not only in implementing new technologies, but also in shaping the research, innovation and collaboration that will define the future of the industry.

Together, the five presentations demonstrated the breadth of innovation currently underway across Australia's power sector. While each project explored a different aspect of the energy transition, they shared a common goal: delivering practical, scalable solutions that support a secure, affordable and sustainable electricity system.

For Summer School participants, the RACE for 2030 session provided valuable insight into how research translates into real-world industry outcomes. It also highlighted the growing importance of interdisciplinary thinking, where engineering, data science, behavioural research, economics and policy increasingly intersect.

As Australia's electricity system continues to evolve, the next generation of engineers will play an important role not only in implementing new technologies, but also in shaping the research, innovation and collaboration that will define the future of the industry.