Purpose

The Australian IEA Consortium (AIEAC) was established in mid-2004 to enable Australian organisations to participate in multi-national R&D projects carried out under the auspices of International Energy Agency Implementing Agreements.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an intergovernmental body committed to advancing security of energy supply, economic growth and environmental sustainability through energy policy co-operation.

The IEA provides a framework for international co-operation and collaboration in energy technology R&D, deployment and information dissemination under more than 40 Implementing Agreements.  These Agreements enable experts from different countries to work collectively and share results, which are usually published.

In IEA terminology, multi-national R&D projects are called ‘Tasks’.  AIEAC provides a vehicle whereby its member organisations share the costs of participating in IEA Tasks.  AIEAC members can therefore participate in international collaborative energy research at moderate cost.

AIEAC members include energy companies, industry associations, government agencies and academic institutions.  Organisations become members of AIEAC by paying a small entrance fee and annual subscription plus a financial contribution, the level of which varies depends on the particular Task(s) the member wishes to participate in.

Operation

IEA Tasks are undertaken collaboratively under the management of an ‘Operating Agent’ (Project Director).  The Operating Agent is responsible for overall management of the Task, including deliverables, milestones, schedule, budget and communications.

The actual research work for a Task is carried out by a combination of the Operating Agent and a group of Country Experts, depending on the nature of the work to be carried out.  Each country which is participating in a Task nominates one person as its Expert.  Each Expert is responsible for carrying out any research work within his/her country which is required for the Task.

All Country Experts for a Task meet regularly to review and assess the progress of the work completed by the Operating Agent and by the group of Experts.  Experts meetings are usually held between two and four times a year on a rotational basis in one of the countries participating in the Task including, on occasions, in Australia.

Finances

Financial contributions from AIEAC members raise sufficient funds to pay for:

the costs involved in Australia participating in each Task; the costs payable by

• Australia to participate in each IEA Implementing Agreement (for each Agreement, these costs are apportioned across all the Tasks in which Australia is participating);
• travel by one Australian Expert per Task to attend Experts meetings; and
• the administrative costs of AIEAC.

Tasks

AIEAC currently participates in Tasks carried out under an Implementing Agreement known as the International Energy Agency Demand Side Management Programme.  The 18 member countries of the IEA DSM Programme undertake collaborative research on demand side management (DSM) and energy efficiency.  Participation in this work is a very effective way of gaining valuable information about international experience in implementing DSM and energy efficiency programs.

Since 2004, AIEAC has participated in three IEA DSM Programme Tasks:  two of these have been completed and one is still being carried out.

The IEA DSM Programme Task in which AIEAC currently participates is:

• DSM and Climate Change Task (IEADSM Task XVIII).

AIEAC also participated in the following completed Tasks:

• Network-driven DSM (IEADSM Task XV); and
• Demand Response Resources (IEADSM Task XIII).

DSM and Climate Change Task (Current)

This Task is investigating the potential contribution to mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that can be made by demand side management technologies.  The Task is also examining the extent to which GHG emissions mitigation measures can provide benefits to electricity systems.  Currently, DSM and GHG emission mitigation measures are implemented quite independently.  DSM measures are implemented primarily to assist and improve the operation of electricity systems.  Any impacts (positive or negative) of DSM measures on climate change are only a minor consideration, if they are considered at all.  Efforts to mitigate GHG emissions from electricity production have focussed on improving the efficiency of both electricity generation and end-use.  However, emission mitigation measures focussed on increasing end-use efficiency have usually not considered any benefits to the electricity system (eg peak load reduction) that might be gained through implementing the measures.  The overall aim of the DSM and Climate Change Task is to reconcile these two different approaches so as to identify circumstances in which DSM can contribute to mitigating GHG emissions and emission mitigation measures can achieve benefits for electricity systems.  The Task will then determine what is required to maximise the emissions reductions and electricity system benefits from these two types of measures.

Participants in the DSM and Climate Change Task comprise Australia, France, India and Spain.

Further information about the DSM and Climate Change Task is available at the Task website.

Network-driven DSM Task (Completed)

This Task focussed specifically on problems in electricity networks and concentrated on the most appropriate DSM measures to overcome the types of network problems which were linked to the blackouts seen during 2003 in the USA and Europe.  The Task identified and developed a wide range of DSM measures which could be used to relieve network constraints, including energy efficiency, interruptibility, fuel switching, distributed generation and power factor correction.  Such network-driven DSM measures are often more cost-effective, and may also have lower environmental impacts, than network augmentation (ie building ‘poles and wires’).  The Task also studied DSM activities which provide services for electricity network system operators, achieving peak load reductions with various response times for network operational support.

The Network-driven DSM Task involved the international collaboration of Australia, France, India, New Zealand Spain, South Africa and the United States.

Further information about the Network DSM Task is available at the Task website.

Demand Response Resources Task (Completed)

Demand response resources comprise changes in electricity consumption levels and patterns, either requested of customers by an upstream electricity supplier or undertaken directly by end-use customers in response to the prices they pay, or are offered, for electricity.  The Demand Response Resources Task developed technology, economic and implementation tools to enable the rapid implementation of demand response to address growing peak electricity demand which could create reliability and price volatility issues in the participating countries.

The Demand Response Resources Task involved the international collaboration of ten countries:  Australia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Japan, Korea and the United States.

Further information about the Demand Response Resources Task is available at the Task website.