What is research@AEMC?

With the rapid pace and scale of the energy transition, connecting with researchers is vital to cultivating a broad and rigorous vision of potential futures that inform a robust policy design.

research@AEMC seeks to support forward-thinking, evidence-based policy development for Australia’s energy markets by forging meaningful connections between the AEMC and academics engaged in topics critical to our work. This collaborative approach keeps us informed of cutting-edge research and innovative ideas, and enables us to shape the research agenda by sharing real-world problems with the academic community. 

Our Workstreams

To facilitate this vital exchange of knowledge and ideas, our program is structured around five workstreams:

Research Partner Program

We actively engage with academic and research institutions to explore opportunities for collaborative research, knowledge sharing or those enlightening ‘aha’ moments that introduce fresh perspectives. Understanding what different researchers are working on allows us to connect our policy teams with the right experts when needed.

For example, we recently established a memorandum of understanding with Monash University to help us understand our common research interests and ways of working together.  The MOU is intended to act as a prototype to guide further collaborations with other research institutions.

We welcome researchers interested in the energy space to share their work with us and explore research projects aligned with our research priorities (see below). We are open to supporting these projects with in-kind contributions and letters of support. If you would like to connect, please email us at research@aemc.gov.au

Breakfast of champions seminars

We encourage academics to join us to talk about their early-stage projects in collegial ‘breakfast seminars’, where we learn about cutting edge research from Australian and international academics. Our breakfast of champions seminars facilitate an informal knowledge exchange between the AEMC and the academic community. These sessions provide academics with hands-on advice on how energy markets operate, while offering academics a platform to showcase their innovative research. These seminars have become a highly anticipated opportunity for our staff to learn and grow, creating widespread connections with the research community. 

Connecting policy and research forums

Since 2023, we have hosted annual, invite-only forums that bring together researchers and policymakers in open dialogue. These half-day sessions focus tightly on one theme and support our work program by equipping our policy teams with the latest evidence and insights through free-flowing and fearless debate. 

Here is a list of our forums to date:

  1. ‘Imagination’ in July 2023
  2. Distribution Evolution - tariffs, services and regulations for a consumer-driven future in April 2024
  3. Beyond the transition - Exploring the future of wholesale electricity market design in a high VRE world.

Speaking engagement at conferences

We  encourage our staff to participate as speakers at academic conferences, where we not only share our work but also learn from the broader research community. Our staff has presented at conferences such as the State of Energy Research Conference (SoERC), the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE) conference and the Australian Conference of Economists.

Postgrad program 

In partnership with the Rozetta Institute, we offer opportunities for postgraduate students to engage with our work, providing a platform for emerging talents to contribute to research that shapes our policy work. 

Our research interests

If any of these workstreams sound interesting to you, we invite you to engage with us around our eight research interests, which inform our forward-thinking projects.

  1. Future of wholesale electricity markets    
    1. How does bidding behaviour of fuel-constrained, zero marginal cost resources (such as batteries) influence price formation and the form of the market price settings
    2. What new or missing markets could improve the efficiency, reliability and flexibility of the future wholesale electricity market and how might they be best integrated into existing market frameworks? 
  2. Climate change adaptation, valuing resilience and planning under uncertainty
    1. How can resilience be defined, measured and valued within energy market frameworks, as well as the interrelated services of communications and water?  
    2. How can regulatory frameworks remain adaptive to uncertain and compounding climate risks? (e.g. bushfires and floods) 
  3. The future roles of transmission and distribution electricity networks in a high CER world 
    1. What sets of governance, data-sharing models and standards would be needed to enable better coordination between transmission network service providers, distributor network service providers, retailers and CER aggregators? 
    2. How does the role of these stakeholders evolve as CER penetration grows? For example, would the role and value of transmission change in a largely self-supplying distribution system? 
  4. Future supply and demand for security services in a transitioning grid  
    1. How can trials or sandboxes test and validate emerging technologies for system security and inform how they can be valued, procured and coordinated? 
    2. What is the technical and economic potential of grid-forming inverters and other new technologies to provide essential system services? 
  5. The future of gas     
    1. What regulatory principles should guide the management of under-utilised assets in a transitioning energy system? 
    2. What role could low-carbon gas alternatives play in supporting Australia’s green industrial future? 
  6. Efficiency and flexibility of customer demand 
    1. How price elastic is the operation of various CER devices including EV charging, and what factors influence consumer price elasticity – over the short- vs long-term? 
    2. How do behavioural and social factors influence consumer investment and operating decisions for CER?  
    3. What are the opportunities and barriers for industrial electrification (for example, of process heat) and associated efficiencies? 
  7. Behavioural insights and nudges 
    1. Are there decision-making biases and heuristics among consumers, market participants and investors that we need to account for in policy design?  
    2. Can we better harness the power of nudges to effectively implement consumer-focused policies, for example, to better integrate CER? 
    3. What social or structural incentives could complement or replace traditional behavioural nudges in energy policy? 
  8. Equity and the energy transition 
    1. How do market and regulatory frameworks need to evolve to support place-based solutions that reflect local and environmental priorities of First Nation People? 
    2. How do vulnerable customers understand and navigate technology risks and opportunities to participate in the energy transformation? How can these customers be protected from transition-related costs? 

Get involved

At AEMC, we are committed to listening, learning, and collaborating with our research community. We invite you to explore our research@AEMC program further by contacting us at research@AEMC.gov.au.

 Your contributions are key to ensuring that our policy thinking reflects the best available research and responds effectively to the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition.