The Australian federal government will roll out 400 community batteries to store excess energy produced by household solar power systems, according to a report.
ABC News reported that Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the programme would allow Australians with rooftop solar to reap the benefits of storage without the cost of a household battery.
“Once the community battery is up and running, then households will be able to apply to participate to store their renewable energy,” he said. It would cost just a couple of dollars a week, he said.
The government is offering grants of A$100,000 ($70,000) to A$500,000 ($350,000) for groups to install and run the batteries. In most cases it will be an electricity distributor or an electricity distributor in partnership with a community group, Bowen said.
Bids for the first batteries open at the end of the month. Of the first tranche, 13 batteries will be installed in Queensland, 15 in New South Wales, 15 in Victoria, three in the Australian Capital Territory, two in South Australia, two in Tasmania and six in Western Australia. Batteries will be up and running this year, he said.
More than three million homes, or 30% of Australian households, produce their own electricity with solar panels, according to the climate change and energy ministry.
In December the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced funding to eight grid-scale battery projects across Australia. Part of ARENA’s Large Scale Battery Storage Funding Round, each battery will be equipped with grid-forming inverter technology, allowing them to provide essential system stability services.
Total project value is A$2.7 billion ($1.9 billion) and capacity of 2.0GW/4.2 GWh. These projects represent a ten-fold increase in grid-forming electricity storage capacity operational in the National Electricity Market, said ARENA.
Photo: Yarra Energy Foundation’s Fitzroy North community battery, the first inner-urban community battery in Australia.
