ACT Minister for the Environment and Climate Change Simon Corbell has announced a new round of grants to support the installation of residential solar battery storage projects across Canberra.
About 600 more Canberra homes and businesses will have access to cheaper battery storage technology with the new grants.
The $2million funding round is expected to deliver more than 2MW of battery storage and follows the success of the $600,000 pilot round which resulted in three companies being selected to deliver lower cost storage systems to 200 Canberra households.
“Following strong community and industry interest in the next generation renewables pilot program currently underway, I am pleased to be able to announce that the government intends to open another competitive funding round in early June worth $2million, with proposals due in early July,” Mr Corbell said.
“This project is part of the ACT Government’s strategy to roll-out around 36MW of storage in more than 5,000 homes and businesses in Canberra. This funding comes directly from of our large-scale renewable energy projects, and this highlights the importance of combining renewable energy generation with storage technology.”
The call for proposals will open on 8 June 2016 and run for four weeks, closing 6 July 2016.
“In particular, national and international providers should start teaming up with accredited local contractors and determining how they can best integrate into the CBR Renewables Precinct being developed in City West,” Mr Corbell said.
The grant entitlement is expected to provide five companies with up to $400,000 each, which will be used to support households and small businesses in the purchase and installation of solar-battery technology.
It will be a requirement of the auction that battery providers establish an office in Canberra for local sales and support. A minimum 10-year product warranty period will also be required for installed batteries.
“Battery storage, following low-cost rooftop solar, is the next phase in a distributed energy revolution that will transform the nation’s electricity system into a consumer focussed, zero carbon energy grid,” Mr Corbell said.
“Energy storage will provide solar energy in peak periods, especially winter evenings when Canberra families are home cooking dinner and heating up the house on cold nights.
“Canberrans should be proud of our renewable energy achievements to date, and with the announcement today, more Canberrans will have the opportunity to utilise their renewable energy when they need it most.”
