Empowering neighborhoods: Analysing community battery initiative's funding recipients

Community Batteries for Household Solar program: Stream 1

In May 2023, the Federal Government made an exciting announcement regarding the successful applicants for Stream 1 of the Community Batteries for Household Solar program. With a budget of $200 million, this initiative aims to deploy approximately 400 community batteries across the country.

In this blog post, we'll dive into the details of the announcement and explore the key aspects surrounding the program's recipients, funding, battery capacity, and future opportunities.

White corrogated wall with solar panels on the roof against a blue sky.

The Community Batteries for Household Solar program is a $200 million program to deliver around 400 community batteries. This equates to about $500,000 capital per battery.

Stream 1 funding and sites

The initial round of the program focused on 56 sites, with an allocated budget of $29 million.

50 sites have now been funded. We don’t know how many of these were competitive; that is, where the one suburb (which was already identified in the guidelines) had two entities applying for the funds to install a battery.

There was no specific model in terms of who benefits from the installation of the battery included in the guidelines.

Diversity in recipient mix

The majority of recipients, primarily Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs), accounted for a total funding amount of $24.3 million. Notably, Victoria exhibited a more diverse recipient mix, owing to the Victorian Government's prior investments in neighborhood battery feasibility studies and the presence of an active community energy sector.

Graph 1: Diversity mix of Stream 1 recipients for Community Batteries for Household Solar program

The chart is a stacked bar chart depicting financial allocations of community battery projects across Australia by state. The Y-axis represents states: NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, and WA. The X-axis represents the financial values in millions: $2.5 million, $5 million, $7.5 million.
The bars show the distribution of funds for each state across recipeint types. In NSW, the funding is solely to DNSP (Distribution Network Service Provider) and amounts to $7,500,000. In QLD, there are two funding recipent types: $500,000 for council and $5,374,704 for DNSP. SA received $1,000,000 from for the State Government Department.
In TAS, $1,000,000 is for DNSP. In VIC, there are three funding recipient types: $2,000,000 to council, $3,000,000 for DNSP, and $997,450 for Not-for-Profit organisations. Lastly, WA receives $3,000,000 for DNSP.
Overall, the chart illustrates the breakdown of funding allocation across different regions, highlighting the varying recipient types and amounts of funding.

What type of batteries will be installed?

The successful projects intend to install community batteries with capacities ranging from 180 kWh to 500 kWh. These batteries will play a crucial role in enhancing energy storage capabilities and facilitating local energy resilience. It will be interesting to see where these batteries are located.

Future funding prospects

With $176 million still available for community batteries, it raises intriguing questions about the upcoming projects and the communities that will benefit from this substantial investment. The distribution of funds across regions and the potential for broader participation offer exciting possibilities for future applications.

Wrapping it up

The recent announcement of successful applicants for Stream 1 of the Community Batteries program marks a significant milestone in Australia's energy transition. The allocated funding, diverse recipients in certain regions, and the varying battery capacities demonstrate the program's potential to foster community-based energy solutions.

As the journey continues, we eagerly anticipate the positive impact these community batteries will have on energy reliability, sustainability, and the empowerment of local neighborhoods.

(Note: Wave had the opportunity to work on some of the applications, both successful and unsuccessful, adding valuable insights to our experience in this field.)