Author: EcoJouleE

27 November 2020

EcoJoule Energy have proudly thrown their support behind a campaign aimed to get the Energy Regulator to make a regulatory change which would allow Conservation Voltage Reduction in Australia.

There is a simple regulatory change which uses an existing in-place incentive scheme for electricity network businesses that with a very simple augmentation would put in place the right sort of cost signal that applies to the entire national grid.

EcoJoule Energy thanks Renew and, in particular their Illawarra branch, for driving a public petition to gain public support and leading the call to the Australian Federal Energy Minister to make the required the changes.

EcoJoule Energy Executive Director, Tony Ferguson said “EcoJoule is a keen supporter of the #FTV campaign and we are devoting substantial funding to help promote it. We believe that there is a huge opportunity here to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. Sure, we produce technology which can be used to implement voltage reduction. We just want to see the voltage reduction finally implemented and we encourage other equipment suppliers and service providers to the electricity industry to join us in supporting #FTV. This needs to happen!”

Mike Wishart, CEO of EcoJoule Energy, said “I agree with Tony, I see us as a strong supporter.  Yes, we have a vested interest in selling our technology but even without this we would want to see this regulatory change implemented.”

Senior Strategy Adviser to Ecojoule Energy, Ty Christopher, presented a highly informative Webinar on Wednesday 25 November to Renew Australia and members of the public who have enthusiastically registered their interest. It was a well-informed presentation which garnered a high level of interest and positive response.

Ty Christopher said, “I am passionate about using new technology to transform the electricity grid to benefit consumers. Voltage levels have been held at the high end of the allowable range ever since the Australian standard changed to reduce the main voltage level over 20 years ago. Up until recently, cost-effective solutions to the problem of over voltage supply have not been available. Now they are available, using Australian developed, Australian designed and Australian manufactured technology.”

Further information about the #FixTheVoltage campaign can be sourced by visiting the Fix The Voltage website at FixTheVoltage.org containing links to the petition and social media supporting the campaign.

1 September 2020 – The Directors at EcoJoule Energy are privileged to welcome Mark Johnson AO as the newest investor and shareholder in the Company.

In a joint statement EcoJoule Directors Mike Wishart and Tony Ferguson said, “Mark has had a distinguished career and has been a respected leader in Australian business. He has had a long association with the energy industry – more than 20 years as a director of AGL, including six as Chairman, and has been Chairman of Alinta Energy since 2010. We at Ecojoule Energy are delighted to have the opportunity to benefit from Mark’s considerable insight into the energy industry and his extensive experience in guiding successful outcomes for business.” 

Mark is Chairman of Alinta Energy and Dateline Resources. He is a Senior Advisor to Gresham Partners and Advisor to Bank of Tokyo Mitsubish MUFG in Australia. He has spent more than 50 years in banking and corporate finance and retired as Deputy Chairman of Macquarie Bank in 2007 and as Chairman of Macquarie Infrastructure Group in 2010. He has also served as a Chairman of AGL Energy and Guinness Peat Group and as a Director Pioneer International, Sydney Futures Exchange, Santos and Westfield Holdings.

He has recently retired from the Advisory Board of the APEC Study Centre at RMIT University, the Board of Governors of the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide, the Board of Directors of Asialink and the Advisory Council of SMART Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong.

Mark was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) in 2010 and is a Commander of the Order of the Crown (Tonga) and a Life Governor of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) from the University of Melbourne, and an MBA from Harvard. He is a Fellow of the AICD.

Mark’s appreciation of innovation and entrepreneurialism in business provided the perfect platform for his interest in EcoJoule Energy. EcoJoule Energy’s business relies on creating innovative products to build the energy generation network of the future.

15 July 2020

• Ty Christopher has joined EcoJoule Energy as Senior Adviser – Strategy and Business Development
• Ty’s immediate previous position was as a Senior Executive in a major energy company in NSW holding responsibility for infrastructure development and reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer
• Ty is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong and well known in the electrical industry for his innovative and transformational leadership.

EcoJoule Energy is delighted to announce that leading electricity industry executive Ty Christopher has joined EcoJoule Energy as Senior Adviser – Strategy and Business Development. Ty will join the Company’s Executive Committee and take a key role in steering the Company’s future.

EcoJoule CEO Dr Mike Wishart said today ”I am absolutely delighted that Ty Christopher, one of the most senior executives in the Australian electricity distribution industry, has chosen to join us at EcoJoule. Ty shares our vision of deploying smarter, cheaper and more effective ways of distributing Australia’s abundant energy to end users, particularly households. I can think of no-one better than Ty to deliver this challenge.”

Ty’s role will include both EcoJoule’s product and market development strategy. The Company’s products already include a power line mounted voltage stabiliser being tested and deployed by Australian distributors, and a smart battery inverter with the ability to greatly improve power quality in remote areas while supporting the aging remote area infrastructure. Several further R&D projects are in the pipeline. “While our initial focus is Australia, the world also needs our solutions,” added Dr Wishart.

Ty Christopher said “In Ecojoule I have found an organisation that shares my core commitment to deliver cheaper and cleaner power to customers utilising Australian-developed technology. Through our ongoing development of new technology and our Australian based manufacturing, EcoJoule is delivering the grid of the future here and now.”

12 June 2020 – Ausgrid is investigating the potential of new low voltage regulation technology from EcoJoule Energy to help optimise the benefits to consumers who have, or may invest, in Distributed Energy Resources (DER), such as rooftop solar or batteries. 

Junayd Hollis, Ausgrid’s General Manager – Asset Management said “By regulating the voltage at 230V feeder level, Ausgrid can create additional hosting capacity for DER.  A more stable voltage can also be maintained for all customers, which is good for appliances and minimises the curtailment of DER export.” 

The efficient integration of DER will provide benefits to non-DER owners by enabling Ausgrid to improve network utilisation and maintain the reliability and security of its network at a lower total system cost, which reduces electricity costs to all consumers.

“We are quietly confident that the EcoVAR unit from EcoJoule Energy will prove to be an economic upgrade path to increase hosting for additional DER.  This results in a win-win scenario for Customers, Ausgrid and the industry in general” Junayd said.

Dr Mike Wishart, CEO of Ecojoule Energy said “Ausgrid are the largest electricity distributor on Australia’s east coast – championing their vision of renewables playing a major role in reliable electricity generation. EcoJoule Energy are proud of this opportunity to partner with Ausgrid to fulfil our primary objective of delivering sustainable, cost-effective, more reliable electricity solutions to our fellow Australians.”