Sydney, October 22, 2025 – Enel X has been recognised as a finalist in the prestigious Australian Financial Review (AFR) Energy Awards 2025, in the Sustainability category, for its pioneering Commercial Refrigeration Flexible Demand Project backed with funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). The finalists and winners were announced at the AFR awards ceremony last night on 21 October.
By transforming refrigeration from a passive energy load into a grid-responsive resource, Enel X is helping to stabilise the electricity system, lower energy costs, and accelerate the transition to clean energy.
The Commercial Refrigeration Flexible Demand initiative is the first large-scale Australian demonstration of refrigeration load flexibility at both retail and warehouse levels. Through Enel X’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP), refrigeration assets across supermarkets, retail stores, and warehouses dynamically adjust electricity usage in response to market signals without compromising safety or cooling standards.
Key innovation streams include:
- Retail Refrigeration: 440 grocery, beverage, and convenience sites delivering 15.5 MW of flexible demand.
- Refrigerated Warehouses: A first-of-its-kind Flex Retail Electricity Supply Agreement with Lineage, Inc., providing 5.4 MW of flexible demand while protecting the business from electricity market volatility.
Together, these initiatives unlock 20.9 MW of flexible capacity from everyday assets like refrigeration, proving that distributed assets can provide meaningful firming services to the grid while cutting emissions and reducing costs.
Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA, said: “We’re excited to see the Enel X project rolled out across Australian supermarkets and other businesses with refrigeration. We want to see projects like this demonstrate the benefits of flexible demand – to individual electricity users and all users via a more efficient grid. By demonstrating and proving the technology to prospective users, we’re hoping to see increased uptake as electricity users look to it as an attractive option.”
David Hicks, National Energy and Refrigeration Manager, Lineage, Inc., said: “Partnering with Enel X has allowed us to use our existing assets more intelligently, reducing exposure to market volatility, controlling costs, and contributing to a more stable grid. It’s rewarding to see this collaboration recognised nationally for delivering both sustainability and business outcomes.”
With coal retirements accelerating and renewable generation increasing, flexible demand is emerging as a critical tool to help firm the energy system. Businesses across retail, logistics, mining, manufacturing, and data centres have the potential to provide dispatchable capacity, optimise operational costs, and support a more resilient grid.
Enel X’s VPP manages 750+ MW across 550+ sites in Australia and New Zealand, helping organisations turn operational flexibility into measurable value as energy systems transition to renewables.
