Knowledge Sharing
Image credit: ARENA
The results for knowledge sharing provide additional information about industry-wide learning for the PBS performance measure ‘Effectively manage projects in accordance with agreement terms to deliver intended outcomes, learn and improve’.
ARENA invested significant effort to ensure that its projects delivered the maximum benefit by sharing knowledge and lessons learned to improve understanding, build networks and inform decision-making.
Every newly-contracted project during 2018-19 included a Knowledge Sharing (KS) Plan as part of the funding agreement between ARENA and the funding recipient.
The KS Plan sets out what information and knowledge generated during the activity will be provided, and how, when and with whom it will be shared.
The KS deliverables are relevant to the specific project outcomes and also aim to provide industry with knowledge that can help de-risk follow-on projects, accelerate deployment of safe and commercially viable technologies, increase public understanding and confidence in new technologies, support capability development, and inform future policy-making.
In addition to project KS deliverables, this reporting period has seen an increase in ARENA-led activities to maximise the impact of ARENA project knowledge. This involved a significant program of work, which included convening two major ARENA Insights Forums to share lessons from projects that cut across technologies and inform the broader industry.
Feedback from the Forums indicated that ARENA KS is highly valued by industry and opportunities to collaborate and share knowledge directly in forums and workshops is viewed as important to the establishment and expansion of networks. In the June forum, 95 per cent of respondents reported making new connections at the event.
International engagement helps inform industry and government to better navigate the energy transition. Inviting international speakers to share expertise, knowledge and experience is an important part of this. The Knowledge Sharing ARENA Insights Forums provide an opportunity to share international lessons that inform ARENA projects and the broader industry.
The keynote speaker at the second ARENA Insights Forum, Ms Lorraine Akiba, former Commissioner at the Hawaiian Utilities Commission, provided lessons and challenges from a high renewables grid and Hawaii’s transition to 100 per cent clean energy by 2045. ARENA arranged a schedule of meetings for Ms Akiba to speak to key players in the Australian energy transition.
ARENA also led seven workshops and webinars in which industry players and state governments shared lessons learned from ARENA projects and discussed the challenges and opportunities of renewable energy technologies.
In addition, this reporting period saw the development of the ARENA Insights newsletter to share reports, lessons and insights from ARENA’s projects directly to industry audiences. Eight editions were delivered to approximately 2000 subscribers.
Activity performance measures
Provide information, advice and knowledge to advance renewable energy
PERFORMANCE MEASURE Number of knowledge sharing products by type (includes reports, presentations, blog posts, videos, policy submissions etc.) SOURCE Corporate Plan 2018-19 p14-15 |
RATIONALE FOR MEASURE Synthesising knowledge and lessons learned and making them widely available in the form of reports and written submissions is an indicator of the extent to which ARENA is contributing to building the publicly available knowledge base for renewable energy technologies. |
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RESULT
PRODUCT |
NUMBER PRODUCED |
USERS |
---|---|---|
Insights Newsletter |
8 |
1,927 readers with an average of 23% click through rate or average of 635 clicks (engagement) per edition |
Public reports uploaded to Knowledge Bank |
70 |
Accessed by 3,508 readers with 94% of readers who visit the Knowledge Bank downloading a report 8,619 total unique visits to the Knowledge Bank 8,076 total unique report downloads 24 average daily visits to Knowledge Bank |
Public presentations uploaded to Knowledge Bank |
20 |
Accessed by 535 users |
Public reports commissioned and/or prepared by ARENA and uploaded to the ARENA Knowledge Bank |
19 |
Accessed by 2,545 users |
Policy submissions |
11 |
Accessed by 24 users via the ARENA website (submissions are also available from the relevant policy agency website) |
Blog posts |
84 |
71,613 unique views |
Videos |
15 |
194,249 unique views on Facebook |
Infographics |
7 |
129,440 unique views on Facebook |
*Also shows results for outcome performance measure: Number of users of knowledge sharing products
PERFORMANCE MEASURE Number of knowledge sharing events delivered (includes virtual events e.g. webinars) SOURCE Corporate Plan 2018-19 p14-15 |
RATIONALE FOR MEASURE Bringing people together is an effective way of facilitating the exchange of knowledge. This measure is an indicator of the extent to which ARENA facilitates in person knowledge sharing. |
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RESULT
EVENT |
NUMBER |
ATTENDEES |
---|---|---|
Insights Forums |
2 Forums |
Total of over 300 attendees |
Workshops and events facilitated by ARENA's Knowledge Sharing Team |
7 events |
Total of over 295 attendees |
*Also shows results for outcome performance measure: Number of users of knowledge sharing products
The first ARENA Insights Forum was held in Sydney in November 2018 and was split into two streams: large-scale projects and distributed energy resources. This forum had 13 presenters, 33 panelists and 135 attendees.
The second Insights Forum was held in June 2019 in Sydney and featured an international speaker, Lorraine Akiba, a former Commissioner of the Hawaiian Public Utilities Commission. This forum had 12 presenters, 35 panelists and 195 attendees.
The workshops and events involved bringing together industry, and covered a range of topics including virtual power plants, demand response, short-term forecasting and large-scale battery storage. We also ran a webinar about SunSHIFT’s Redeployable Solar Project. There was a total of 295 attendees at the ARENA-run workshops and webinars.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE Number of ministerial and departmental briefs prepared SOURCE Corporate Plan 2018-19 p14-15 |
RATIONALE FOR MEASURE This performance measure provides an indicator of how ARENA fulfilled its function to provide advice on renewable energy technologies to the Minister. |
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RESULT
In 2018-19 ARENA prepared 15 Ministerial briefs on the following topics: seeking approval (4), providing information (9), ministerial correspondence (1) and other (1).
Outcome performance measures
Industry and government better informed to navigate the energy transition
PERFORMANCE MEASURE Third party recognition of value of ARENA knowledge sharing (e.g. citations of ARENA-provided information and supported projects in publications by relevant bodies (e.g. AEMO, AEMC)); inclusion of ARENA in relevant working groups SOURCE Corporate Plan 2018-19 p14-15 |
RATIONALE FOR MEASURE Information or data from ARENA-funded projects or activities being cited by authoritative sources is evidence of the visibility, relevance and quality of ARENA's activities and that they are positively influencing developments in the Australian energy sector. ARENA workers being invited to participate in significant bodies or initiatives within the energy sector is an indicator of stakeholder assessments of the skills and expertise of ARENA workers. |
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RESULT
ARENA-funded projects and ARENA activities were cited in a range of influential publications and also earned recognition by winning an industry innovation award.
NATURE OF CITATION |
SOURCE |
DATE |
---|---|---|
Report on Multi-criteria scoring for identification of renewable energy zones |
DNV GL |
July 2018 |
Report on Retail electricity pricing |
ACCC |
July 2018 |
Web article |
Energy Networks Australia |
September 2018 |
Report on Australian Government Funding Arrangements for non-NHMRC Research |
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training |
October 2018 |
NEM Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Demonstrations Program Consultation paper |
AEMO |
November 2018 |
South Australian Electricity Report |
AEMO |
November 2018 |
2018-19 Summer Readiness Plan |
AEMO |
November 2018 |
Energy Network Industry Innovation Award |
Energy Networks Australia |
November 2018 |
2019 Planning and Forecasting Consultation Paper |
AEMO |
February 2019 |
Report on Innovation in the Electricity Network Sector |
Energy Networks Australia |
March 2019 |
Annual Market Performance Review 2018 |
AEMC |
April 2019 |
Report on Improving DER capabilities to benefit consumers and the power system |
AEMO |
April 2019 |
Technical Integration of Distributed Energy Resources Report and Consultation paper |
AEMO |
April 2019 |
Australian renewable energy investment trends and outlook |
MinterEllison |
June 2019 |
WEM Electricity Statement of Opportunities |
AEMO |
June 2019 |
Distributed Energy Resources and Electric Vehicle Forecasts report |
Energeia |
June 2019 |
Forward looking work program (Transitioning to a lower emissions power system) |
AEMC |
June 2019 |
WORKING GROUP |
CHAIR |
---|---|
Wholesale demand response working group |
Australian Energy Market Commission |
Coordination of generation and transmission investment (CoGaTI) technical working group |
Australian Energy Market Commission |
Advanced Systems Integration Group |
Australian Energy Market Operator |
Post 2025 Market Design Working Group |
Energy Security Board |
Regulatory Sandbox Working Group |
Australian Energy Market Commission |
GenCost Working Group |
CSIRO |
Network Tariff Reform Roundtable |
Australian Energy Regulator |
Hydrogen Stakeholder Advisory Panel |
Chief Scientist |
Wave Energy Research Centre Steering Committee |
University of Western Australia |
WA Renewable Hydrogen Working Group |
Western Australian Department of Regional Development |
Emissions Projections Technical Working Group |
Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Energy |
HiTeMP Forum Steering Committee |
Centre for Energy Technology, University of Adelaide |
Hydrogen RD&D Roadmap Steering Committee |
CSIRO |
Hydrogen Inter-departmental Committee |
Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation and Science |
Hydrogen Working Group |
COAG Energy Council |
WA Renewable Hydrogen Council |
Western Australian Department of Regional Development |
Innovation Steering Group (EV stream) |
Energy Networks Australia |
PERFORMANCE MEASURE Number of users of knowledge sharing products (includes data on downloads, request for products, reach of knowledge sharing events etc.) SOURCE Corporate Plan 2018-19 p14-15 |
RATIONALE FOR MEASURE Indicator of the visibility, relevance and usefulness of ARENA knowledge sharing. |
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RESULT
See previous tables for users of knowledge sharing products and attendance at knowledge sharing events.
Platform |
Metric |
Number |
|
---|---|---|---|
|
reach |
1,401,749 |
|
|
impressions |
948,400 |
|
|
impressions |
743,326 |
|
ARENA website |
visitors |
766,608 |
|
Re-Wired |
downloads |
8,885 |
|
ARENAWIRE (ARENA's blog) |
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Number of direct ARENAWIRE subscribers as at 30 June |
8,207 |
||
Number of recorded unique page views (UPVs) |
150,773 |
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The top five blogs for the year (as measured by UPVs) were: |
|||
Distributed energy resources |
10,882 |
||
Hydrogen: future Australian renewables |
5,466 |
||
Relectrify: bringing new life to old lithium-ion batteries |
4,888 |
||
ARENA’s role in commercialising big batteries |
3,608 |
||
Hydrogen to become Australia’s next big export |
2,614 |
ARENA’s media reach continued to climb with 37 project-related media releases reaching a collective 37 million people, based on media monitoring data.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE Proponent and other stakeholder feedback on value of ARENA knowledge sharing (via annual survey and feedback from specific knowledge sharing events) SOURCE Corporate Plan 2018-19 p14-15 |
RATIONALE FOR MEASURE The effectiveness of knowledge sharing depends on its relevance, timeliness and ease of access to those who are most likely to use it. Direct feedback from target audiences is a way of assessing effectiveness. |
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RESULT
Feedback from ARENA’s quarterly knowledge sharing survey (66 respondents each representing one unique project):
- 75 per cent find ARENA’s knowledge sharing activities to be valuable to their work and feel ARENA is useful as a knowledge sharing resource
- 71 per cent reported that they have either formed new relationships or strengthened existing relationships as a result of knowledge sharing activities
- only 17 per cent reported that they have not been contacted to share knowledge about their project. Of these, the main reason was that the project was in its early stages.
Feedback from participants in ARENA’s Insights Forums (73 respondents):
- participants provided an overall satisfaction rating of 8.6/10 for the event
- participants provided a rating of 8.8/10 for the value of ARENA knowledge sharing to their organisation
- 95 per cent of respondents reported making new connections at the event.
Visit
https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/australian-renewable-energy-agency/reporting-year/2018-2019-73