ProfessorJoshua Newton

As mentioned in my bio, a major theme of my research concerns renewable energy technologies and the means through which their uptake can be maximised. One of my biggest projects in this realm concerns the uptake of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) where an energy company actively manages 100s or 1000s of household energy assets like rooftop solar panels and batteries in a way that they serve as a decentralised power plant able to export power to the grid when it’s most needed. According to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) 2022 Integrated System Plan, the widespread adoption of VPPs is essential for Australia’s decarbonisation. Among other projects, I have been lead-CI on three projects undertaken as part of AEMO’s Project EDGE (Energy Demand and Generation Exchange) investigating (i) what consumers see as attractive value propositions for joining and remaining with a VPP; and (ii) different strategies for building consumer trust in VPP companies.

Although the final public report for Project EDGE was only published on AEMO’s website in June 2023, there are signs this research is already informing policy and industry thinking. For example, AEMO’s Business Lead for Reform Delivery has stated that the Australian Energy Market Commission (one of the entities responsible for setting energy policy in Australia) is routinely referring to my research when discussing policy reform around how to fairly integrate energy exporting technologies into the grid. I’m continuing this work as lead CI through a separate grant jointly funded by the Centre for New Energy Technologies (C4Net) and the iMOVE CRC.

It’s exciting to be working for a university like Deakin, which is tackling the clean energy transition head-on through the development of facilities such as Hycel, a green hydrogen technology hub. I’ve been able to contribute to this important work by undertaking baseline research into community attitudes to green hydrogen across southwest Victoria, funded by Hycel. At present I have several important project proposals under review, including one with Lochard Energy and another in partnership with the NSF/CSIRO Global Centre (led by the University of Michigan) which will also delve into the mechanisms through which social licence for large-scale renewables can be generated.

For more details on my consumer behaviour-related research, please check out my blog, The Aisle Wars (link in side bar).