Australia has reached a major milestone in its renewable energy transition with the installation of its 100th neighborhood-scale battery under the Australian Government’s Community Batteries Funding Initiative. The milestone battery was installed in Esperance, Western Australia, as part of Horizon Power’s regional deployment program.
To further expand community energy storage, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $23.2 million in funding for three new projects under the second round of the Community Batteries Funding Initiative. The funding will support the installation of 35 additional neighborhood-scale batteries across several regions.
The Community Batteries Funding Initiative is part of the Australian Government’s broader $200 million policy package aimed at increasing the benefits of household solar energy. ARENA is responsible for managing $171 million of this funding. The program is designed to strengthen local electricity networks and provide more households with access to the benefits of renewable energy.
Neighborhood batteries store surplus electricity generated by rooftop solar systems during periods of high solar production, particularly during the middle of the day. The stored electricity can then be supplied to the local grid during evening periods when electricity demand is generally higher. This can help improve grid stability, reduce pressure on electricity networks and support the wider use of renewable energy.
The batteries can also extend the benefits of rooftop solar to households that cannot install their own solar systems. This includes renters and residents of apartments or properties where rooftop solar installation may not be practical.
ARENA Acting Chief Executive Chris Faris said the installation of 100 operational community batteries demonstrates growing confidence in community-scale energy storage. He also highlighted the importance of collecting information from the projects on battery performance, costs, business models and customer outcomes.
According to ARENA, this operational experience can help inform future commercial projects and support the faster deployment of community batteries across Australia.
Under the latest funding round, YES Group has received $10.29 million to deploy 14 regional community batteries across South Australia and New South Wales. Ausgrid has been awarded $8 million to develop 21 neighborhood batteries across Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter region.
The City of Newcastle has secured $5 million to install battery storage systems integrated with embedded solar networks in regional Queensland.
Together, the three projects will add 35 new community batteries to Australia’s distributed energy infrastructure. The expansion reflects the growing role of battery storage in managing rooftop solar generation, supporting local electricity networks and enabling greater integration of renewable energy into the power system.
With 100 community batteries now operational and further projects receiving funding, Australia is continuing to build a more flexible and distributed electricity system capable of supporting increasing renewable energy generation.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
