I saw the other day that close to 70% of Australians support the need to build more renewable energy projects. That’s huge.
No surprise that rooftop solar is the most popular at 80% of course—4M homes already have that—but hydropower at 73%, solar farms at 69%, onshore wind at 60% and offshore wind at 59% suggest that there is deep community interest in clean energy.
The survey by the Clean Energy Council didn’t seem to ask about energy storage and in particular community batteries. That surprised me given what a big trend it is now.
Only recently the Federal Government agreed to invest another $46.3M for a 2nd round of its Community Batteries Program aimed at putting them into more communities. That brings total funding up to $171M in 2 years to back some 342 community batteries across the country.
Just to recap community batteries store excess energy for later use that’s generated by each home. That can mean higher numbers of rooftop solar, putting downward pressure on household costs, and easing pressure on local electricity grids.
This seems to me just as big a turn around as home solar panels and with as much potential. Not only does it mean better consumer buy in—the object of all clean energy projects after all—but cheaper prices, a stronger grid and lower climate emissions.
That’s already clear in NSW where the 3 communities of Maloneys Beach, Leeton & Goulburn recently switched on their own community batteries—or Essential Energy Batteries as they’re also known. The reports so far have been very positive.
It’s also very democratic—both homes with or without solar panels on the roof are eligible for savings. While estimates of what that could mean a year vary, a trial by Origin Energy found homes with solar could save up to $260 and homes without could see credits of $180.
They also keep on giving. Suburbs with them can avoid or defer costly upgrades to the electricity network’s poles and wires, benefitting all consumers through reduced network tariffs.
It’s all very feel good of course, but as we’ve seen recently governments and corporations can change the message very quickly. My hope is that putting the community into clean energy saves a lot more than money.
Cheers, John Fennell
Read more about it: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/renewable/community-batteries
