Putting the community back into ‘community batteries’

In 2022 the Australian Government committed to funding 400 ‘community batteries’ and the VIC Government committed to 100 ‘neighbourhood-scale’ batteries.

This year, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) approved a class waiver that will allow distribution businesses to own and operate batteries funded by the ‘Community Batteries for Household Solar’ program. Distribution businesses are the only ones with the network data needed to make a business case for a network-connected community battery. This means that the overwhelming majority of government-funded ‘community batteries’ are likely to be owned and operated by distribution networks unless the Governments design their programs to encourage other forms of community batteries.

So what’s wrong with distribution networks owning batteries?

There is nothing inherently wrong with a distribution network owning a battery. It can be cheaper than building new poles and wires, which saves money for all consumers. However, if it’s funded through a ‘community battery’ program people might ask, “Where is the community benefit in this battery?” And while there may be financial benefits to customers, they will be intangible and hard to demonstrate.

Governments might struggle to explain how the community benefits from the new batteries.

To ensure tangible community benefits from community battery programs governments could set aside part of their funding for:

1. Low income communities on embedded networks

Many low income communities are supplied by ‘embedded networks’. For example, residents of retirement villages and long-term residents of caravan parks. A community battery, coupled with solar panels, could spread the benefits of low cost solar electricity to people who would otherwise be excluded.

2. Community electric vehicle charging stations

We can spread the benefits of abundant solar energy by making it cheap and convenient to chargeelectric vehicles (EVs) during daylight hours. A community battery, coupled with an EV charging station, could encourage people to charge their EV in daylight hours when there could otherwise be an excess of electricity being pumped into the grid.

3. Community resilience

Batteries in important community facilities, like fire stations and hospitals, can provide back up in emergencies. This is especially important in rural and remote areas, or those areas more prone to bushfires and other natural disasters.

SwitchDin recently made a submission to the Australian Energy Regulator on this topic. Read our submission here