2025 Agenda

As Australia accelerates toward a net-zero future, the decarbonisation of its electricity system is emerging as both a foundational challenge and an extraordinary opportunity.

This one-day masterclass is designed for energy professionals, infrastructure planners, policy makers, utilities, and large energy users seeking to understand and lead the shift toward full electrification of transport, heating, and industry.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand Sector Coupling
   Learn how electrification of transport, buildings, and industry will dramatically increase grid demand, and what this means for planning, investment, and infrastructure upgrades.
2. Track Australia's Path to Net Zero
   Examine key milestones, forecasts, and policy drivers shaping Australia’s decarbonisation journey, including the evolving role of the electricity sector.
3. Explore the Future of Coal and Gas
   Assess how and when coal-fired power stations are expected to exit the system, the implications for grid reliability, and the contentious future role of gas as a transition fuel.
4. Develop Strategies for Remote and Off-Grid Decarbonisation
   Explore real-world examples of decarbonisation in regional and off-grid areas using microgrids, standalone power systems (SAPS), and hybrid renewable solutions.
5. Design a Roadmap for Electrification-Driven Grid Transformation
   Create actionable strategies for managing increased electrification, including managing load profiles, enabling distributed energy, and preparing regulatory and market responses.

Attendees will leave with a clear, practical understanding of how electrification is driving Australia’s grid transformation and what actions are needed today to ensure the grid is ready for tomorrow’s decarbonised economy.

Whether you're planning infrastructure, shaping policy, or driving innovation in energy use, this session will equip you with the tools, frameworks, and insights to lead confidently into a net-zero future.

This masterclass focuses on strengthening local energy systems to be future ready, sustainable, equitable and resilient. Attendees will learn about the structure of the market, the value proposition for local scale power generation and innovating as our energy systems transform and demands intensify at the local level.

It will guide participants through the options for building, owning, and governing the infrastructure at the grid-community interface, including community-scale renewables, batteries, electrification programs, and EV charging. It will demonstrate the alignment needed between the energy sector and community stakeholders as we each play our role in local energy transitions.

Learning outcomes:

NEM fundamentals

• Structure of the National Electricity Market
• Roles of participants
• Influence of loss factors, certificates and ancillary services
• Cost structure
• The argument for (and against) localisation of power generation

Local energy transitions - what does it mean?

• Opportunities for localisation of power generation
• Economic drivers, incentives, and disincentives
• International benchmarking
• Barriers to local energy transitions
• Do you need the grid at all?

Energy transition planning at the local scale

• Resource assessment at the feeder and substation levels
• Role of intelligent GIS
• EV charging infrastructure
• Electrification, flexibility and resilience - exploring the options
• Barriers to transition

The economics of local energy investments

• Business models for local energy transitions
• Access to capital and access to roof space
• The business case for community batteries
• Decentralised vs centralised value flows
• Local energy transitions and AEMO’s Integrated System Plan

The future grid

• Crystal balling some scenarios and what that might mean
• Influence of emerging technology
• Influence of manufacturing cost reductions
• Influence of policy
• Ability to deliver megascale projects and access to land

This masterclass is designed to facilitate an understanding of the bottom-up view of the energy transition and how energy sector partners can support communities by creating replicable solutions for the challenges facing our local energy systems as we transition. As the interface between distributed energy, local energy systems, and decision-makers becomes more complex, this masterclass will provide essential expertise for energy practitioners, policymakers, and community leaders.

Explore how regulatory, policy and market levers can accelerate the adoption of new technologies and operating models.

• What specific regulatory or policy changes would most effectively remove barriers to adopting new grid technologies?
• How can regulators strike the right balance between enabling innovation and protecting consumers in a rapidly changing energy landscape?
• Where have we seen successful examples, locally or internationally, of policy or market design accelerating the uptake of emerging technologies, and what can we learn from them?
• How can market frameworks better integrate DER and new operating models without creating unintended consequences for grid stability or affordability?

Discover how AI and real-time data are transforming the way distributed energy resources interact with the grid, from enabling dynamic participation in energy markets to delivering tangible benefits for consumers and accelerating the shift to a decentralised, flexible energy system.

From predictive maintenance that keeps assets running at peak efficiency to smart home systems that shift demand in real time, discover how innovations at both the utility and household level are easing pressure on the grid, cutting costs, and creating a more responsive, resilient energy system.

• How can real-time data and AI enhance the coordination of DER without compromising grid stability?
• What are the biggest technical and operational challenges in orchestrating DER at scale, and how can automation help address them?
• How should networks balance the need for centralised oversight with the flexibility of decentralised control?
• What role will emerging digital platforms and standards play in enabling seamless real-time coordination across diverse systems and stakeholders?

Explore how smart home electrification through rooftop solar, batteries, EV charging, and behavioural demand response can ease grid pressure, shift peak demand, and unlock a more resilient, distributed energy future.

As EV adoption accelerates, their aggregate load profile and charging behaviour will have significant implications for network stability, peak demand, and local capacity constraints. When enabled by vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, EVs can operate as distributed storage assets, providing frequency support, demand shifting, and contingency reserves. What regulatory, market, and technical enablers are needed to unlock this potential while avoiding grid stress?

As renewables surge and coal retires, Australia’s energy future hinges on our ability to store power for longer. This session explores the business case, technologies, and market reforms needed to scale medium-duration batteries and why they’re the missing link in grid reliability. 

• From community batteries to grid-scale storage, what does good deployment look like, and who should lead?
• How should we determine the optimal mix between community batteries and large-scale storage to deliver both local and system-wide benefits?
• What governance or ownership models have proven most effective in ensuring batteries serve both community needs and grid reliability?
• How do we balance rapid deployment of storage with long-term planning to avoid stranded assets or underused capacity?
• In a future with widespread battery adoption, what role should networks, market operators, and communities each play in leading deployment and coordination?

Understand how new models of engagement and pricing can unlock the full value of behind-the-meter assets.

In a rare, candid conversation, two of Australia’s leading energy CEOs go beyond the headlines to share their vision for the grid of tomorrow; how to balance decarbonisation, reliability, and affordability while bringing communities with us every step of the way. 

Discover proven strategies for engaging customers as genuine partners in the energy transition from building legitimacy, fostering long-term cooperation, and ensuring community voices help shape the future grid. From transparent communication to co-designed solutions, explore how trust and collaboration can unlock smoother project delivery, greater resilience, and stronger social licence.

Discover how bold local leadership, community-first planning, and place-based investment can accelerate renewable energy uptake, reducing emissions, driving local resilience, and setting the pace for Australia’s clean energy future. 

• What advantages do local governments and businesses have in accelerating renewable energy uptake compared to state or federal initiatives? 
• How can community-first planning ensure clean energy projects deliver both environmental and social benefits? 
• What funding, policy, or partnership models have proven most effective in scaling place-based renewable energy investments? 
• How can local leadership set the pace for national energy transition goals while meeting the specific needs of their communities? 

• Reliability as a foundation: How Transgrid is addressing reliability, security, and operational risks in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.
• Stronger collaboration: Working with AEMO, EnergyCo, DNSPs, and government to manage timing risks and enable coordinated planning and reform.
• The “middle phase” of transition: Why planning must now anticipate the end state of the energy system, where infrastructure supports economic growth and digital demand, not just coal replacement.