Name: Innovation In The Renewable Energy Space
Uploaded: 2024-06-28T01:06:33.984Z

Renene Windsor 2.vtt

Subtitles

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Renene: So what I spoke

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about at the conference was

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the scale and the nature

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of the renewable energy

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zones in particular being

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large greenfield projects.

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You have the greenfield

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and then you have the scale

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means that we really have

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the opportunity to throw out

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all the old rules and start

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from a new, a new mindset

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in how we design those.

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So its really created an

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environment that's perfect for

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innovation and collaboration.

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I'm Renene Windsor.

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I lead the Aurecon energy team

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in New South Wales and ACT.

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So team's been involved with

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the I guess planning and

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concept and now delivery of

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many of the major transmission

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line and energy infrastructure

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projects in New South Wales.

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Tuan: What do you think are

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the key challenges Australia

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faces in its transition

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to renewable energy?

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Renene: So I think

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the transition is

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happening now right?

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So we're in it and the

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challenge is can we

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transition quick enough

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to implement that?

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So step back and you know,

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the key challenge is first

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you have to attract the clean

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energy investment money into

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the projects and they're

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quite different financial

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and commercial models.

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So that's important.

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We've heard a lot yesterday

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in particular around the

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community and environmental

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benefits and making the

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minimal impact or improvements

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we can in that space.

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And bringing the

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communities along with

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those environmental  studies

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and concerns in the areas.

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And then finally it's just

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getting in and getting the

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projects delivered as soon

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as possible because of

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the urgency we have with

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the looming 2050 targets.

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The global pressures

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for climate change.

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We have to, we have to

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act with quickly now.

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Yeah, so I think because

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it is looming right and

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2050 is not that far away.

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The only options we have

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are large scale solar.

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Wind.

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Onshore and offshore.

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And then complimented

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with pumped hydro and

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large scale battery.

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I mean the recent CSIRO

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report, the GenCost report

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has reconfirmed that saying

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that, you know those core

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renewables are the viable and

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available options we have to

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meet those dates in the manner

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and the time that we need to.

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So what I spoke about

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at the conference was

{{00:02:51}}
the scale and the nature

{{00:02:53}}
of the renewable energy

{{00:02:55}}
zones in particular being

{{00:02:56}}
large greenfield projects.

{{00:02:59}}
You have the greenfields.

{{00:03:02}}
And then you have the scale

{{00:03:03}}
means that we really have the

{{00:03:04}}
opportunity to to throw out

{{00:03:06}}
all the old rules and start

{{00:03:08}}
from a new, a new mindset

{{00:03:11}}
in how we design those.

{{00:03:12}}
So it's really created an

{{00:03:14}}
environment that's, that's

{{00:03:15}}
perfect for innovation

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and collaboration.

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So some of the examples that

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we've been involved with.

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If we start with the

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environmental, planning

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and EIS approval stage,

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Aurecon Air is a product

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we have, which is like a

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digital platform for the

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environmental impact report.

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So it's an interactive virtual

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platform where you can have

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all the interactive maps.

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And the community as well as

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all of the stakeholders on

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government or client side or

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the people pulling the report

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together can all work together

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and share information in

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real time and interactively.

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So it just makes it so much

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easier to communicate, for

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example with communities

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because these environmental

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impact statements are

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becoming so large now.

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And almost unwieldy.

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Like it's difficult to

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navigate the document,

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especially for communities.

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So anything we can do, like

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making that digital and

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interactive is a great start.

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Then if you go into the

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engineering side of it.

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Again because of the

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Greenfield nature, there's

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so much opportunity.

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You can look at the scale,

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you can look at modulizing

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and standardizing parts of

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the substations because you're

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rolling out consecutively

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multiple substations.

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Greenfield substations

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of the same arrangement

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and voltage arrangement.

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You have the opportunity

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to, to make changes at a

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network level rather than

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an individual substation.

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So you can look at making the

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digital substations, using

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61850 and operating those at

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a network level, which has

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all the additional flexibility

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that comes with that but also

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the time and cost savings

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with less copper, less

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cables, smaller buildings.

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And remote testing as well.

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So there's a lot of

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benefits for that for

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the digital substations.

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And also lattice towers.

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I mean, we haven't built

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these greenfield projects

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in Australia for decades.

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So alternatives and looking

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at different lattice tower

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arrangements like we've done

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on some of our projects,

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which then with different

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configurations, you're

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able to reduce steel and

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concrete volumes and costs.

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But also looking at

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different construction

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methodologies too that could

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minimize the impact with

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communities and the local.

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Tuan: At this conference,

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one of the big themes I've

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seen is collaboration.

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And in terms of, well

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energy projects are quite

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large, quite complicated.

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What do you, in your

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experience, what do you think

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are the key stakeholders that

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people,  energy organizations

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should be collaborating with?

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Renene: So I think for

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us with the recent large

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scale projects, it's not

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a particular group of

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stakeholders, it's just the

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breadth of the stakeholders.

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So particularly if you look

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at the REZs, which almost this

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morning they were described

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as a hybrid PPP arrangement.

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Right from the

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conception you've got

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the finance, the owners.

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The constructors,

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the designers and the

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operators all sitting

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together from the start.

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So there's a much broader

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stakeholder group for

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that collaboration with.

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And that's where it comes

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with, you know, we can

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design at the start with the

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end in mind because you're

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sitting with the future

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operator right from the

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start and working together.

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So it's just it's the breadth

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and the volume of the team.

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stakeholders rather

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than one particular.

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Tuan: How does Aurecon stay

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ahead of the curve in terms

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of keeping up with the tech

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trends in the energy sector?

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Renene: Yeah so the team

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we like to think, you

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know that everything we do

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has eminence, digital and

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innovation at the core of it.

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And the strength we have is

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that we, Aurecon, we're a

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group of advisors, designers

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and engineers all together.

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So there's a strength

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in all of us working

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together and being open to

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doing things differently.

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So it's more having that

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culture and environment

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that encourages it and

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looks for ways to make it.

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Another example of something

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we're excited about

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is, the potential with

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generative AI in this space.

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So we have the tool, is

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Recall for Aurecon and where

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we have these knowledge

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hubs set up where, you

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know, there's an existing

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database that's been built

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up over decades of designs

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and drawings and documents.

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Just 600,000 pages or

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something in that just

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from pulling all of that

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past experience together.

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And then if you can overlay

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that with the generative

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AI, the potential of what

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that could bring,  and help

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in the design process or

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even through construction

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and RFI management and

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things like that so.

Renewable Energy Zones

Expert Insight

Renene Windsor, leader of the Aurecon energy team in New South Wales and ACT, discusses the transformative potential of renewable energy zones, emphasizing innovation and collaboration in greenfield projects. She outlines the key challenges and opportunities in Australia's renewable energy transition, highlighting the importance of community engagement, rapid project delivery, and embracing new technologies.