The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $120 million in funding on behalf of the Australian Federal Government to roll out round one of its Community Batteries Funding Program.
The program will support the deployment of community batteries across the nation in an effort to lower energy bills for consumers, as well as cut emissions and reduce pressures on the electricity grid.
These community batteries store excess solar energy for later use, reducing pressures on household electricity costs.
ARENA is currently seeking applications for up to $20 million in funding to deploy a minimum of five community batteries.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the community batteries mark the next step in “optimising” distributed energy resources across the electricity grid.
“Not everyone is able to install rooftop solar, but by storing electricity close to the point of consumer demand we can reduce network costs and alleviate constraints in areas with high solar penetration,” he said.
“This will ultimately reduce electricity costs for all consumers.”
Eligibility for the funding comes down to each community battery being between 50 kilowatts and five megawatts in size and connected to the distribution network.
ARENA urged that individual households with batteries will not be eligible for the funding, with it targeted to support projects that feature larger volumes of batteries and faster deployment times.
The funds for round one have been divided equally into two streams – one for distributed network service providers (DNSP), and one which considers applicants that aren’t DNSPs.
As part of its 2022/23 Federal Budget, The Federal Government allocated $200 million for the household solar budget measure to deploy 400 community batteries across Australia and of this, ARENA was allocated $171 million in funding to deliver at least 342 community batteries.
ARENA has set aside $120 million for its initial rollout and intends on allocating the remaining amount to a future round based on learnings from this first tranche.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has been tasked with delivering an initial 58 batteries through the Business Grants Hub.