To be ‘smart’ is to value natural resources so that at a minimum, our impact on the planet is neutral.
An off-grid mentality
A CLARA smart city utilises an “off-grid” mentality when it comes to managing energy. CLARA has a clear focus on renewable generation, storage and sustainability. This will support more affordable energy provisions for residents and businesses.
Powering a CLARA smart city
CLARA has investigated potential energy solutions and technologies that could be adopted in a CLARA smart city. Some of the energy sources that could be included are:
- Solar
- Floating solar
- Waste to energy
- Hydrogen
- Wind
Stored energy would be used to provide peak demand support. Batteries deployed across the city would also provide stabilisation, demand support and network redundancy. Energy storage technology continues to evolve offering the potential to meet the peak power demand of a city using renewable resources.
Achieving a level of self-sustainability
CLARA’s subsidiary CLARA Energy is undertaking a green hydrogen project to bring dispatchable renewable energy to market at scale.
Smart energy measures
To achieve a level of self-sustainability, CLARA will need to deploy a range of smart energy measures including:
- Smart energy options such as building control, occupancy level detection, and automation of HVAC systems, with the use of LED and smart lighting solutions, building design standards and facility planning guidelines
- Demand side management and load shifting to smooth out load demand profiles
- Integration of district level energy ,management systems and whole-of-neighbourhood chilling and heating solutions
- Maximisation and integration of all available renewable energy solutions
- Waste management including incineration and conversion into electrical and heating solutions