Bringing holistic energy modelling to WA's largest property portfolios with EnergyTec

“Gridcog gives us confidence when we model systems and financial benefits for clients. It reinforces our credentials.”

Explore how EnergyTec, Western Australia's largest embedded network service provider, is using Gridcog to centralise energy modelling, accurately represent the WA wholesale market, and help property owners unlock the next wave of commercial and industrial solar and BESS investment.

EnergyTec is a trusted authority in the Western Australian energy and property market, with a growing presence on the east coast across the National Electricity Market (NEM). The business is WA's largest embedded network service provider, looking after meter reading and billing for hundreds of clients and almost 2,000 properties every month, alongside a technical advisory function covering renewables integration, smart metering, data analytics and energy procurement.

EnergyTec's clients span airports, university campuses, retail, mixed-use residential, age care, land lease communities and retirement villages.

“All of these properties have the same issues. Where do we start with renewables? How do we integrate them, with the right tariff structures, into an existing embedded network? That's where we specialise.”

Rob Rye is Technical Services Operations Manager at EnergyTec, leading the team's technical work across renewables procurement, new technology integration, metering and day-to-day project problem solving. He brings three decades in the built environment to the role, starting in mechanical services before moving into building efficiency and energy market work, and the last seven years at EnergyTec focused on metering, renewables deployment and modelling.

A long-standing relationship, picked up at the right moment

Rob has known the team behind Gridcog from a previous chapter of his career, when their earlier company provided energy data analytics software for an asset management business he worked with. He has been following the Gridcog journey closely ever since.

“It got to the point where our clients required in-depth energy project modelling for their future and financial decisions. After our first meeting and demonstration with Gridcog, we were sold.”

The challenge: pulling fragmented modelling into one place

Most of Rob's energy efficiency and modelling work over the last 20 years has been done manually, using a patchwork of internal calculators and a few modelling tools that were strong in some areas but weak in others. As EnergyTec's clients have started asking bigger, more interconnected questions about renewables in their embedded networks, that fragmented approach has started to creak.

EnergyTec needed an energy modelling environment that would give the team a holistic view of a project, save time, and let team members pick up each other's work without manipulating the underlying data.

“Having everything in one place, with Gridcog, was essentially what we were looking for. It saves time, we can document all of the variabilities, and other team members can access the work without changing anything. It works perfectly.”

Why EnergyTec chose Gridcog

What set Gridcog apart, Rob says, was its understanding of the Western Australian wholesale energy market. The WEM has its own structures, rules and operational nuances, and getting them right matters when you are putting long-term financial decisions in front of clients.

“Gridcog demonstrated a stronger understanding of the WA wholesale energy market than the alternatives. The depth and accuracy of the modelling was clear when we reviewed it.”

Gridcog also lets the team represent specific market constraints and explore different pricing dynamics, including modelling tariff structures and potential tariff increases over the life of a project. “That's where the strength is,” Rob says, “and it's what set Gridcog apart from any alternate solutions.”

How EnergyTec is using Gridcog

EnergyTec's project team is small, with two or three people working on a given project at any time, so efficiency matters. Having every project model in a single, well laid out workspace means the team can see exactly how colleagues have built a model, duplicate setups for similar building types, and move quickly through what would otherwise be highly complex projects.

“We've used Gridcog to model two of the biggest property portfolios in WA. Even though they're complex projects, the platform actually reduces the complexity of putting something like that together.”

Reports that move conversations forward

Rob picks out Gridcog's reports and visualisations as integral to how EnergyTec delivers feasibility studies. The reports give clients a clear view of system limitations, financial outcomes and the impact of design changes, and clients in turn have used them to take projects to financiers and other key stakeholders.

“If X changes or Y changes, the outcome is right there in a simple-to-understand report. That strengthens our credibility when we're dealing with a client.”

Insights EnergyTec couldn't get any other way

Embedded networks are complex by nature, and Rob highlights three areas where Gridcog has unlocked a level of insight that would be very difficult to achieve otherwise.

Energy flows inside and outside the network

Gridcog gives detailed visibility into how energy moves through an embedded network and interacts with the external grid, and connects those flows directly to financial outcomes. “You can get there manually if you work at it long enough,” Rob says, “but other tools we've used or come across just don't make this kind of visibility achievable.”

Comparing tariff configurations side by side

The team can model and compare multiple tariff configurations within a single project, clearly assessing the impact of different network charges. That supports better-informed decisions on tariff structures inside an embedded network and on cost optimisation more broadly.

Optimising renewables against the site load profile

Gridcog quantifies the effects of renewable technology choices against a specific site load profile, helping the team improve alignment between generation, consumption and overall network performance.

Working with Gridcog's industry team

Rob describes the support EnergyTec has received from Gridcog's industry team as exceptional..

“The team has been consistently supportive, and really patient with me. I throw out a lot of minor or routine queries, and they always come back with a smile. They give us clear walkthroughs, especially on complex modelling scenarios with multiple inputs and parties.”

Our Gridcog Account Manager also stays in regular contact, checking in on how the team is using the platform and where the next opportunities are.

Looking ahead: a step change for WA's commercial and industrial sector

EnergyTec is still in the early stages of its Gridcog journey, with two or three sites modelled to date and ramp-up planned over the next year. Rob expects daily use to become the norm as more clients move from feasibility into implementation.

What's exciting Rob most is the growing uptake of solar and battery storage in Western Australia's commercial and industrial sector, which he sees as underrepresented in the WEM today. With energy prices where they are, many properties are reaching the point where on-site generation and storage deliver strong commercial returns.

“There's significant opportunity for property owners to achieve meaningful cost savings and improve the long-term profitability of their assets. Gridcog gives them and us the tools to confidently take those numbers to shareholders, banks and other stakeholders.”

For EnergyTec, Gridcog is becoming the modelling backbone behind that next wave of investment, supporting clients from feasibility through to implementation and ongoing optimisation. It is also reinforcing EnergyTec's credentials as a trusted technical advisor in a market that is changing fast.

Reflections on success

If you're a technical advisor or property portfolio operator looking to centralise modelling, sharpen your client conversations and unlock the next wave of solar and storage investment, reach out to our industry experts today.

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EnergyTec: https://www.energytec.com.au/

Rob Rye (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-rye-45a89742/