The roll out of Community Batteries to neighbourhoods across Australia continues today, with Expressions of Interest opening for community batteries across Australia.
The Albanese Government’s Community Batteries for Household Solar Program will deliver 400 community batteries to help lower household electricity bills, deliver reliable renewable energy and ease pressure on our power grid.
With the first round of funding for 58 community batteries announced before the election already well underway, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has been tasked with delivering the remaining 342 batteries to communities across Australia.
Community batteries enable households to store energy for use during peak times and share excess power with other households, further encouraging the uptake of solar PV systems and easing prices through reduced network costs.
The $120 million round-one ARENA funding will be evenly split among distributed service network providers (DNSPs), which are organisations that own and manage energy network hardware, and other non-DNSP proponents.
Community batteries supported through ARENA’s funding will provide energy storage to the distribution network, and range in size from 50 kilowatts to 5 megawatts. Applications are open for up to $20 million per application to build a minimum of five batteries.
Renewable energy is by far the cheapest form of energy and the Albanese Government helping deliver it across the country.
Large-scale wind and solar farm investment commitments grew nearly 50 per cent in 2022, the majority of that increase after the May election.
The landmark Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), agreed with States and Territories after years of delay, will drive around $10 billion investment in clean, dispatchable, and reliable power.
And all of this clean, cheap and reliable and energy will be connected with the Government’s Rewiring the Nation plan, to modernise the electricity grid and meet the demands of the rapidly changing market.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the rollout will be welcome news to communities keen to take advantage of cheaper, cleaner energy backed up by storage.
“The Government committed to deploying 400 community batteries across Australia, and we’re delivering on that commitment” Minister Bowen said.
“One in three households in Australia now has solar panels on their roofs. We have the highest uptake in the world, and we can take advantage of that for our grid and for household energy bills.”
The batteries will be located in communities to provide additional support to ease grid constraints and reduce electricity costs. They will provide benefits at a local distribution level for nearby residents, regardless of whether they have a rooftop solar system.
Information on submitting an expression of interest can be found here: www.arena.gov.au
