News
22 September, 2026
Bowral hotel becomes test site for new energy management system
A Bowral hotel will become the test site for a novel new energy management system development by researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
A Bowral hotel will become the test site for a novel new energy management system development by researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
If successful the researchers say the project could have broader domestic and even global implications as the transition towards renewable gathers pace.
Researchers from UNSW have partnered with JT Solar Technology Pty Ltd and hospitality operator The Gibraltar Bowral to pilot a community power plant as part of a $4 million project supported by the Australian government through the Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TracCE) Lab to Market Fund.
As part of the project, the hotel’s newly installed 290kW rooftop solar and 200kW battery system will be paired with further solar expansion and a planned 500kW community battery.
Together the assets will cover the hotel’s own energy requirements but will also share surplus energy with nearby homes and businesses.
A novel energy management system developed by UNSW will coordinate the system – weighing live energy prices, energy demand, energy grid requirements and each battery’s state of charge and health to ensure short-term savings never come at the cost of long-term battery performance or grid stability.
The technology has been trialled in Sydney apartment complexes but this is the first time it has been used in a regional setting.
The energy management system – a large language model (LLM) - based energy management system – was developed by a team of researchers led by Associate Professor Huadong Mo and Dr Ripon Chakrabortty.
Unlike a typical virtual power plant (VPP), which treats each home or business solar array on its own and switches it on and off to chase the best electricity price, the community power plant (CPP) works differently.
It balances the interests of the energy user, the battery owner and the grid, turning surplus energy into a shared community resource.
Associate Professor Mo said he was excited about trialling the technology in an entirely new setting.
“A regional hotel serving as an energy hub and its surrounding community place very different demands on the grid,” A/Prof Ho said.
“Proving the model can adapt and deliver real impact here is what gives us confidence it can scale well beyond these sites, with real potential for broader domestic and global deployment.”
He said it offered a template that other regional community and hospitality owners could adopt to enable more resilient energy supply and more affordable energy.
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