Plugfest and industry conference

Plugfest and industry conference

Plugfest is an interoperability testing event for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Australia's first Plugfest event is supported by the ANU Centre for Energy Systems and will take place at the Canberra Institute of Technology, Woden from Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 October 2026.

This event will enable EV charging companies and software developers to test their products for technical compliance (OCPP & CSIP-AUS) and interoperability with other manufacturers.

Who should attend?

Industry Conference: Charging station manufacturers, CSMS providers, software developers, Charge Point Operators, utilities, retailers, aggregators, Distributed Network Service Providers, electricity retailers, aggregators, researchers, government agencies and organisations working across EV charging, DER integration and vehicle-to-grid integration.  

Plugfest Testing: Charging station manufacturers, CSMS providers, software developers, Charge Point Operators, utilities, retailers, aggregators.

You can register for the conference, Plugfest testing, or both. 

What to expect

Wednesday 21 October, Conference and networking (9am - 6pm)  
Hear from leading Australian and international experts on: 

• Grid-smart charging and CSIP-AUS integration 
• Cybersecurity for EV charging infrastructure 
• Local controller architectures 
• Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) developments 
• Interoperability testing best practice and implementation experience 
• Current and future OCPP developments 

The conference will conclude with drinks and canapes, providing an opportunity to connect with peers, partners, and industry leaders. 

Thursday 22 & Friday 23 October, Plugfest testing (9.30am - 6pm) 
OCPP 1.6 and / or 2.0.1 and 2.1 and & CSIP-AUS 1.2 and 1.3

Round-robin collaborative testing with multiple charging station or CSMS vendors.

Participating in testing can help your organisation:  

• Test interoperability across different products and platform vendors 
• Identify implementation and compatibility issues early 
• Strengthen the performance and reliability of your solution 
• Build practical capability for grid-smart charging and vehicle-grid integration 

What: Open Charge Alliance Plugfest and Industry Conference
Where: Canberra Institute of Technology, Woden
When: Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 October 2026
Register here: OCA Plugfest & Conference Australia
 

Cost

• Conference attendance (+ testing observation): $300 per person  
• Onsite Plugfest testing: $800 per participating organisation. One representative should submit registration on behalf of the organisation’s testing team and include the details of all participating team members.
• Online Plugfest testing is also available, however onsite attendance is highly encouraged to make most of this hands-on opportunity.

Find out more

Watch this Vehicle-Grid Network webinar to learn how Plugfest works, what to expect from the testing and how technical teams can prepare.

Contact Oliver Hill, Program Leader - RACE for Electric Vehicles, if you have any questions: oliver.hill@racefor2030.com.au

Plugfest is delivered by the Open Charge Alliance in collaboration with the Vehicle-Grid Network and the RACE for 2030 CRC. The event is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).