The solar emergency backstop
Learn about the emergency backstop and how it could affect your home solar system.
What is the solar emergency backstop?
The NSW emergency backstop mechanism is a last resort, safety measure that helps protect the electricity grid when there is too much solar flowing into the grid and not enough demand. This is expected to be used rarely used and only for a short time.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and the NSW Government have introduced new protections to help manage solar flows across the grid. This means AEMO may instruct electricity distributors like Endeavour Energy to remotely and temporarily reduce some rooftop solar flowing into the grid during emergencies.
This will protect larger outages that could result in solar systems being switched off for longer periods. It will only affect solar rooftop systems from July.
Why is solar emergency backstop important?
As people have become more focused on renewable energy, consumer demand for power solutions (like solar systems and batteries) that provide greater control over energy generation and price, has dramatically increased.
As more homes generate and export solar into the grid, it can, in very rare, extreme circumstances, cause an unstable electricity supply that leads to local or even state-wide outages.
While this kind of event is a brief and irregular occurrence, it is important backstop measures are in place in case they are needed.
When will the solar emergency backstop be used?
The Australian Electricity Market Operator constantly monitors the electricity grid to recognise situations that could lead to an oversupply of energy and instability in the grid. They instruct distributors like Endeavour Energy on when to activate emergency backstop measures, and for how long.
When activated, solar emergency backstop measures safely control the amount of solar power being exported into the grid, preventing disruptions to power supply.
Emergency backstop measures will only need to be used in specific cases, when energy use is low and the amount of solar energy exports are too high to be safely managed.
How will solar emergency backstop affect my home’s solar system?
If solar emergency backstop measures are activated, your solar exports to the grid will temporarily be limited. This can briefly impact your system’s exports.
