It has been nearly two years since the OpenADR Alliance exhibited at the Power+Utilities event in Melbourne. That event was a significant milestone in educating attendees on the OpenADR protocol and included Terry Paddy, Managing Director of member company Cortexo, who introduced the New Zealand FlexTalk project.
Cortexo, a New Zealand-based energy solutions provider with 20 years of experience in remote control and monitoring, has been a key player in this space. Their involvement with OpenADR began in 2017, leading to the certification of their VTN and VEN products in early 2024.
As the region continues to evolve, Terry has provided new insights into the progress of OpenADR and his latest initiative, Flexviz. While Australia focuses on immediate supply security via the IEEE2030.5 standard. New Zealand is proactively testing a flexibility market. OpenADR has proven ideal for linking flexibility suppliers and utilities in recent trials.
Our latest white paper: OpenADR 3 for DER Grid Code Management and Building Operating Envelopes discusses the distinct roles of OpenADR vs. IEEE 2030.5 as well as other industry standards for DER. OpenADR and IEEE 2030.5 serve complementary roles in DER management, with OpenADR focusing on high-level communication and IEEE 2030.5 on device-level control. Read more at: https://www.openadr.org/openadr-v2g-and-der-
Though OpenADR adoption in New Zealand is in its early stages, it is progressing steadily. Transpower, a national grid operator and OpenADR Alliance member, has already transitioned from initial trials to operational services using a VTN to signal grid events.
To support this shift toward flexible demand communication, the Flexviz platform was developed with support from Ara Ake. Flexviz acts as a "shop window" for energy flexibility, providing real-time data from Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) like solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers. Updated every five minutes, the platform helps utilities identify available flexibility to make smarter, faster network decisions.
With New Zealand’s electricity demand forecast to double by 2050, unlocking flexibility through platforms like Flexviz is essential to avoid massive infrastructure upgrade costs. Flexviz offers clear benefits across the sector:
- Utilities: Gain visibility into local flexibility to reduce network strain.
- Aggregators: Coordinate flexibility from multiple DER sites for the grid.
- DER Owners: Make resources visible and monetizable.
For more information on Cortexo please visit https://www.cortexo.com/
