In an effort to offer New South Wales customers more affordable electricity, EnergyAustralia has launched its inaugural community battery energy plan.
The new Community Battery Ease initiative enables local households, including renters and apartment dwellers, within 13 community battery locations the potential to save around $200 on their average bill. This initiative, in partnership with New South Wales electricity distributor Ausgrid, supports the growth of neighbourhood-level mid-sized batteries.
EnergyAustralia Head of Customer Assets, Renae Gasmier, said, “Community batteries, when done with consumers at heart, are a win-win for communities and help accelerate our progress towards a decarbonised power system. Generating, sharing and using energy closest to its source can be a more affordable way to produce energy, and this is the first time we are bringing this to life through our EnergyAustralia Community Battery Ease product.
“We’re pleased to be working with Ausgrid, as its through our use of their Australian-first community battery network trial tariff that we are able to leverage this to create our innovative product. Small-scale rooftop solar systems now provide more than 17GW of capacity across the National Electricity Market. We’re constantly looking at ways for consumers to reduce their energy costs and widen access for all so no one gets left behind.”
Community batteries store energy when prices are low, often during the day when solar production is at its peak. The battery stores this energy and makes it available for use later, such as evenings, when people are using more electricity for cooking, heating or running appliances – this stored energy is fed back into the grid. By distributing locally stored energy during these high demand periods, community batteries help alleviate pressure on the grid and promote the use of renewable energy.
Ausgrid Group Executive Distributed Services, Rod Amphlett Lewis, said, “We’re pleased to collaborate with EnergyAustralia on this Energy Storage as a Service (ESaaS) initiative, and in particular their use of our innovative network tariff enabling direct energy savings to local households.
“Our community battery program lowers the cost for households by delivering network benefits, facilitating greater integration of renewable energy and supporting home electrification. It’s fantastic to see EnergyAustalia’s Community Battery Ease innovation, and the cost benefits of more affordable energy for customers in those local areas.”
Energy Australia said that this new affordable electricity tariff for consumers is approximately 29 per cent less than the Default Market Offer, with customers receiving 24 cents p/kWh off-peak, and 30 cents p/kWh peak. Participating homes with rooftop solar can trial a virtual home battery experience and earn a 6c/kWh feed-in tariff on their excess solar energy. There is no lock-in contract, and customers can opt out at any time.
Community Battery Ease will be available for eligible customers in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches, along with suburbs in Sydney’s West, Southwest and South, the Central Coast, Newcastle and Maitland.
Featured image: Ausgrid.
