In 2023, approximately 4,000 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy—around 9.3% of utility scale renewable generation — was wasted, or “curtailed”. Much of this energy could be directed to off-peak hot water systems if those systems’ timing could be changed from overnight to daytime peaks. Such a change could provide flexible demand for renewable energy, delivering financial...

This paper uses data provided by Buildings Alive to demonstrate the potential of load shifting in commercial buildings to reduce costs, emissions and contribute to solving some of the infrastructure challenges facing Australia’s electricity systems.