Applications are now open for the Federal Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Community Batteries Funding Round 1 program.
The Community Batteries Funding Round 1 seeks to support the deployment of community batteries across Australia to lower energy bills, cut emissions, reduce pressure on the electricity grid and enable further distributed solar installations.
The October 2022 Federal Budget provided $200 million for the Community Batteries for Household Solar budget measure to deploy 400 community batteries across Australia. Of this, $171 million was allocated to ARENA to deliver at least 342 batteries. ARENA has allocated $120 million for Round 1 and intends to allocate remaining funding to a second Round to accommodate projects that have longer development times.
As part of the EOI and subsequent application process, applicants may need to contact Western Power to validate network benefits depending on the size and location of your proposed battery. If this is the case, there are several key items you will need prior to engaging Western Power. Please note this is to provide in principle support for any network benefits that may arise from your project. This is separate to the ARENA EOI and application process.
Before you submit a request for Western Power to review potential network benefits, applicants must be able to meet the following requirements:
- meet ARENA’s guidelines (round 1 objectives and outcomes)
- comply with Western Power connection process and standards
- have in-principle support to access a site for installation
If these requirements can be demonstrated, Western Power are happy to review your proposal and answer any high-level questions you may have. To do so we will need the following items:
- the specific location of the proposed battery including the feeder proposed to connect to
- the proposed network benefits the connected battery is expected to provide
- technical specifications of the battery including size and simple connection diagram, and
- the proposed operating parameters in line with ARENA application requirements
Western Power will review your enquiry and will respond within 10 business days. Last enquiries to be received by 5pm on 15 June 2023.
To assist with your enquiry, here are a list of potential network areas that may benefit from installation of batteries:
You can use the our network capacity mapping tool to cross check the distribution feeder locations listed above.
To request a review of network benefits or for any other questions, please contact us.
