‘Game changer': Your electric vehicle can now power your home and the grid
The Clarkes, who live on a property near Tarago, south of Goulburn, NSW, and bought a Nissan Leaf in April 2023, were part of a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology trial through their electricity network Essential Energy and retailer Amber Electric.
They've made a killing. When two units went out at Eraring power station in NSW in May last year, they made $570 in two hours. When a similar event happened at Yallourn in Victoria last month, they made $370.
Having signed up to a pilot program, the couple are among the first in Australia to profit from what is known as vehicle-to-grid, or bidirectional charging, allowing people to store power in their car batteries during the day when the sun is out and power is cheap, and sell it back during the evening peak.
Francis Clarke, 85, has heard criticism that this is something only the wealthy can afford, but he argues that he is actually making power cheaper for other people.
'Everybody turns around and says, 'Oh you rich toffs – you can afford all these things and that's going to make our power more expensive,'' Clarke says.
'In fact it's not, because with me supplying power to the grid when it's in need, I'm supplying power to my neighbours. It doesn't require any poles and wires to be built, nor any high-tension leads to come in from God knows where. My power is being used locally, and the community doesn't have to pay for any of the storage that I'm paying for myself.'
Electricity distributors all over Australia have been running pilot studies for V2G charging around the country for about two years now. Standards Australia ticked off on the standard last year, and now electricity distributors such as Ausgrid are starting to green-light the capacity across their networks.
The technology is branded as a game changer for the energy revolution because it bolsters the shift from the antiquated notion of 'baseload power' to a modern distributed network. This in turn hastens the demise of the ageing coal-fired power fleet.
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The Advertiser
7 days ago
- The Advertiser
Vatican to become the world first carbon-neutral state
Italy has agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a 430-hectare field north of Rome, once the source of controversy between the two, into a vast solar farm that the Holy See hopes will generate enough electricity to meet its needs and turn Vatican City into the world's first carbon-neutral state. The agreement announced on Thursday stipulates that the development of the Santa Maria Galeria site will preserve the agricultural use of the land and minimise the environmental impact on the territory, according to a Vatican statement. Details weren't released, but the Vatican will be exempt from paying Italian taxes to import the solar panels, but won't benefit from the financial incentives that Italians enjoy when they go solar. Italy, for its part, can use the field in its accounting for reaching European Union clean energy targets. Any excess electricity generated by the farm beyond the Vatican's needs would be given to the local community, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not public. Vatican officials have estimated it will cost under 100 million euros ($A177 million) to develop the solar farm, and that once it is approved by the Italian parliament, the contracts to do the work could be put up for bids. Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher signed the agreement with Italy's ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto. The Italian parliament must approve the arrangement since it has financial implications for the territory, which holds extraterritorial status in Italy. The Santa Maria Galeria site has long been the source of controversy because of electromagnetic waves emitted by Vatican Radio towers located there since the 1950s. The once-rural site some 35km north of Rome is dominated by two dozen short- and medium-wave radio antennae that transmit news from the Catholic Church in dozens of languages around the globe. Over the years as the area became more developed, residents began complaining of health problems, including instances of childhood leukemia which they blamed on the electromagnetic waves generated by the towers. The Vatican denied there was any causal link but cut back the transmissions. Pope Francis last year asked the Vatican to study developing the area into a vast solar farm, hoping to put into practice his preaching about the need to transition away from fossil fuels and find clean, carbon-neutral energy sources. Pope Leo XIV visited the site in June and affirmed that he intended to see Francis' vision through. Leo has strongly taken up Francis' ecological mantle, recently using a new set of prayers and readings inspired by Pope Francis' environmental legacy. In the 1990s at the height of the controversy over the radio towers, residents sued Vatican Radio officials, claiming the emissions exceeded the Italian legal limit, but the court cleared the transmitter. In 2012, the Vatican announced it was cutting in half the hours of transmission from the site, not because of health concerns but because of cost-saving technological advances in internet broadcasting. Italy has agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a 430-hectare field north of Rome, once the source of controversy between the two, into a vast solar farm that the Holy See hopes will generate enough electricity to meet its needs and turn Vatican City into the world's first carbon-neutral state. The agreement announced on Thursday stipulates that the development of the Santa Maria Galeria site will preserve the agricultural use of the land and minimise the environmental impact on the territory, according to a Vatican statement. Details weren't released, but the Vatican will be exempt from paying Italian taxes to import the solar panels, but won't benefit from the financial incentives that Italians enjoy when they go solar. Italy, for its part, can use the field in its accounting for reaching European Union clean energy targets. Any excess electricity generated by the farm beyond the Vatican's needs would be given to the local community, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not public. Vatican officials have estimated it will cost under 100 million euros ($A177 million) to develop the solar farm, and that once it is approved by the Italian parliament, the contracts to do the work could be put up for bids. Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher signed the agreement with Italy's ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto. The Italian parliament must approve the arrangement since it has financial implications for the territory, which holds extraterritorial status in Italy. The Santa Maria Galeria site has long been the source of controversy because of electromagnetic waves emitted by Vatican Radio towers located there since the 1950s. The once-rural site some 35km north of Rome is dominated by two dozen short- and medium-wave radio antennae that transmit news from the Catholic Church in dozens of languages around the globe. Over the years as the area became more developed, residents began complaining of health problems, including instances of childhood leukemia which they blamed on the electromagnetic waves generated by the towers. The Vatican denied there was any causal link but cut back the transmissions. Pope Francis last year asked the Vatican to study developing the area into a vast solar farm, hoping to put into practice his preaching about the need to transition away from fossil fuels and find clean, carbon-neutral energy sources. Pope Leo XIV visited the site in June and affirmed that he intended to see Francis' vision through. Leo has strongly taken up Francis' ecological mantle, recently using a new set of prayers and readings inspired by Pope Francis' environmental legacy. In the 1990s at the height of the controversy over the radio towers, residents sued Vatican Radio officials, claiming the emissions exceeded the Italian legal limit, but the court cleared the transmitter. In 2012, the Vatican announced it was cutting in half the hours of transmission from the site, not because of health concerns but because of cost-saving technological advances in internet broadcasting. Italy has agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a 430-hectare field north of Rome, once the source of controversy between the two, into a vast solar farm that the Holy See hopes will generate enough electricity to meet its needs and turn Vatican City into the world's first carbon-neutral state. The agreement announced on Thursday stipulates that the development of the Santa Maria Galeria site will preserve the agricultural use of the land and minimise the environmental impact on the territory, according to a Vatican statement. Details weren't released, but the Vatican will be exempt from paying Italian taxes to import the solar panels, but won't benefit from the financial incentives that Italians enjoy when they go solar. Italy, for its part, can use the field in its accounting for reaching European Union clean energy targets. Any excess electricity generated by the farm beyond the Vatican's needs would be given to the local community, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not public. Vatican officials have estimated it will cost under 100 million euros ($A177 million) to develop the solar farm, and that once it is approved by the Italian parliament, the contracts to do the work could be put up for bids. Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher signed the agreement with Italy's ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto. The Italian parliament must approve the arrangement since it has financial implications for the territory, which holds extraterritorial status in Italy. The Santa Maria Galeria site has long been the source of controversy because of electromagnetic waves emitted by Vatican Radio towers located there since the 1950s. The once-rural site some 35km north of Rome is dominated by two dozen short- and medium-wave radio antennae that transmit news from the Catholic Church in dozens of languages around the globe. Over the years as the area became more developed, residents began complaining of health problems, including instances of childhood leukemia which they blamed on the electromagnetic waves generated by the towers. The Vatican denied there was any causal link but cut back the transmissions. Pope Francis last year asked the Vatican to study developing the area into a vast solar farm, hoping to put into practice his preaching about the need to transition away from fossil fuels and find clean, carbon-neutral energy sources. Pope Leo XIV visited the site in June and affirmed that he intended to see Francis' vision through. Leo has strongly taken up Francis' ecological mantle, recently using a new set of prayers and readings inspired by Pope Francis' environmental legacy. In the 1990s at the height of the controversy over the radio towers, residents sued Vatican Radio officials, claiming the emissions exceeded the Italian legal limit, but the court cleared the transmitter. In 2012, the Vatican announced it was cutting in half the hours of transmission from the site, not because of health concerns but because of cost-saving technological advances in internet broadcasting. Italy has agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a 430-hectare field north of Rome, once the source of controversy between the two, into a vast solar farm that the Holy See hopes will generate enough electricity to meet its needs and turn Vatican City into the world's first carbon-neutral state. The agreement announced on Thursday stipulates that the development of the Santa Maria Galeria site will preserve the agricultural use of the land and minimise the environmental impact on the territory, according to a Vatican statement. Details weren't released, but the Vatican will be exempt from paying Italian taxes to import the solar panels, but won't benefit from the financial incentives that Italians enjoy when they go solar. Italy, for its part, can use the field in its accounting for reaching European Union clean energy targets. Any excess electricity generated by the farm beyond the Vatican's needs would be given to the local community, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not public. Vatican officials have estimated it will cost under 100 million euros ($A177 million) to develop the solar farm, and that once it is approved by the Italian parliament, the contracts to do the work could be put up for bids. Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher signed the agreement with Italy's ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto. The Italian parliament must approve the arrangement since it has financial implications for the territory, which holds extraterritorial status in Italy. The Santa Maria Galeria site has long been the source of controversy because of electromagnetic waves emitted by Vatican Radio towers located there since the 1950s. The once-rural site some 35km north of Rome is dominated by two dozen short- and medium-wave radio antennae that transmit news from the Catholic Church in dozens of languages around the globe. Over the years as the area became more developed, residents began complaining of health problems, including instances of childhood leukemia which they blamed on the electromagnetic waves generated by the towers. The Vatican denied there was any causal link but cut back the transmissions. Pope Francis last year asked the Vatican to study developing the area into a vast solar farm, hoping to put into practice his preaching about the need to transition away from fossil fuels and find clean, carbon-neutral energy sources. Pope Leo XIV visited the site in June and affirmed that he intended to see Francis' vision through. Leo has strongly taken up Francis' ecological mantle, recently using a new set of prayers and readings inspired by Pope Francis' environmental legacy. In the 1990s at the height of the controversy over the radio towers, residents sued Vatican Radio officials, claiming the emissions exceeded the Italian legal limit, but the court cleared the transmitter. In 2012, the Vatican announced it was cutting in half the hours of transmission from the site, not because of health concerns but because of cost-saving technological advances in internet broadcasting.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Perth Now
Vatican to become the world first carbon-neutral state
Italy has agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a 430-hectare field north of Rome, once the source of controversy between the two, into a vast solar farm that the Holy See hopes will generate enough electricity to meet its needs and turn Vatican City into the world's first carbon-neutral state. The agreement announced on Thursday stipulates that the development of the Santa Maria Galeria site will preserve the agricultural use of the land and minimise the environmental impact on the territory, according to a Vatican statement. Details weren't released, but the Vatican will be exempt from paying Italian taxes to import the solar panels, but won't benefit from the financial incentives that Italians enjoy when they go solar. Italy, for its part, can use the field in its accounting for reaching European Union clean energy targets. Any excess electricity generated by the farm beyond the Vatican's needs would be given to the local community, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not public. Vatican officials have estimated it will cost under 100 million euros ($A177 million) to develop the solar farm, and that once it is approved by the Italian parliament, the contracts to do the work could be put up for bids. Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher signed the agreement with Italy's ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto. The Italian parliament must approve the arrangement since it has financial implications for the territory, which holds extraterritorial status in Italy. The Santa Maria Galeria site has long been the source of controversy because of electromagnetic waves emitted by Vatican Radio towers located there since the 1950s. The once-rural site some 35km north of Rome is dominated by two dozen short- and medium-wave radio antennae that transmit news from the Catholic Church in dozens of languages around the globe. Over the years as the area became more developed, residents began complaining of health problems, including instances of childhood leukemia which they blamed on the electromagnetic waves generated by the towers. The Vatican denied there was any causal link but cut back the transmissions. Pope Francis last year asked the Vatican to study developing the area into a vast solar farm, hoping to put into practice his preaching about the need to transition away from fossil fuels and find clean, carbon-neutral energy sources. Pope Leo XIV visited the site in June and affirmed that he intended to see Francis' vision through. Leo has strongly taken up Francis' ecological mantle, recently using a new set of prayers and readings inspired by Pope Francis' environmental legacy. In the 1990s at the height of the controversy over the radio towers, residents sued Vatican Radio officials, claiming the emissions exceeded the Italian legal limit, but the court cleared the transmitter. In 2012, the Vatican announced it was cutting in half the hours of transmission from the site, not because of health concerns but because of cost-saving technological advances in internet broadcasting.
News.com.au
28-07-2025
- News.com.au
Energy bills: price gaps between providers revealed
Homeowners and renters have been told to check their next energy bill as it is likely to be a fair amount higher amid rate changes across various networks and uneven deals in the market. Increases in energy charges came into effect over July and will affect hundreds of thousands of Aussies. For most, the increases will be about 25 per cent. But Canstar analysis revealed the rises have not applied equally across networks. This has led to vast differences among provider charges, with some lower cost electricity suppliers offering rates that would work out to be about $500 a year cheaper than the industry average, Canstar noted. Canstar insights director Sally Tindall said the price gaps were often the result of differences in the size of each energy network, which meant they were passing on costs in varying ways. 'The cost of electricity is made up of a number of different factors. While wholesale costs is one of them – which is the price paid to generators for energy – there is also network costs, retailer costs and environmental costs,' Ms Tindall said. 'The increase in many of these costs is, unfortunately, resulting in higher energy bills.' Canstar revealed that some of the biggest price variances were across NSW, Queensland and Victoria. The lowest cost plans in NSW from Essential Energy and Endeavour Energy were about $507 and $460 cheaper annually than the industry average, the comparison group found. In Queensland, Energex's lowest cost plan was about $444 a year cheaper than the industry average. Victorian households could get electricity rates at about $314-$358 cheaper than the industry norm on the lowest cost plans from Ausnet, Citipower, Powercor and United Energy, the Canstar analysis showed. Ms Tindall added that price changes this month were significant – albeit lower than those recorded over 2022, when the start of the Ukraine War and other factors sparked a global surge in energy prices. 'High demand for electricity, weather events and, on occasion, coal station outages over the last year have had an impact on wholesale prices,' Ms Tindall said. 'Network costs, that is, the cost of transporting energy to your home, is a major component of (prices). Depending on the network you're on, these costs can form up to 48 per cent of an electricity bill.' Compare the Market's economic director David Koch said July increases in electricity costs would impact around 800,000 households on standing offers. These customers were simply 'paying too much', he said. 'If you're on the standing offer, chances are you're already paying more than you need to for the very same electricity supply as your neighbours,' Mr Koch said. 'We know 80 per cent of households in the National Energy Market are overpaying for electricity because in so many cases there are better deals out there.' Recent energy price increases reflect ongoing cost pressures on providers, Mr Koch said. 'Wholesale prices only account for roughly a third of your energy bill, and regulators consider an array of other factors when determining prices,' Mr Koch said. 'Firstly, network costs continue to rise for retailers. The cost of materials to maintain the network has increased and it's costing more for distributors to read meters, maintain poles, wires and pipes and transform the grid. 'People may not realise that there's also a cost involved in meeting renewable energy targets. Outdated electricity grids and networks have been expensive to maintain and will cost even more to transform over the next 10 years. 'It's regular Aussie families who will bear the brunt as some of these costs are passed on. 'None of these changes will happen overnight, so we could face a long, protracted period of price pressure.'
