The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced the milestone of 100 community batteries being installed. It has also delivered funding for home conversion from gas to electric. The Cheaper Home Battery scheme has been extended to 100 kWh installations. Here’s our spring update. As Australia moves rapidly from spring to summer, the Australian government is increasing its push for more renewables on the grid and on the home. Hopefully all will be in place before the next election when Labour has the possibility of being rolled by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party — Trump lite with red hair! The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) recently reported on its community battery program. We have also reported on this rollout before — here and here. So far, over 100 community batteries have been delivered, and ARENA is now ready to fund the next step. ARENA-funded pole-mounted community batteries. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth. The second round of funding releases another AU$23 million for three new projects. YES Group will receive AU$10.29 million for 14 community batteries in the regional areas of South Australia and New South Wales. These are not the metropolitan areas. ARENA’s project notes indicate that some of these batteries are linked to solar and some are not. “Community batteries are seen as a promising solution to enable the storage of distributed renewable energy for later use, reduce distribution network constraints, and put downward pressure on electricity prices.” And, of course, lowering emissions. “The aggregate energy capacity of the deployed community batteries will be 16,880 kW/46,876 kWh. The 10 small batteries (200kW each) will be installed at existing small-scale solar farms previously constructed by the YES Energy under land lease agreements. The four large batteries (up to 4,980kW each) will be located at agricultural properties and commercial and industrial sites with and without solar.” In the New South Wales heavily populated areas of Sydney, Central Coast, and Hunter regions, AU$8 million will be used to install 21 community batteries under the Ausgrid Network and AU$5 million for 12 community batteries in the City of Newcastle Innovative Battery Solutions Project. Ground mounted community battery. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth. “Reaching 100 community batteries demonstrates growing confidence in the role these assets can play in Australia’s energy transition.” ARENA Acting CEO Chris Faris said. “Community batteries help local communities make better use of rooftop solar by storing excess energy during the day and making it available when it is needed most. They can help lower costs, support greater renewable energy uptake and improve the efficiency of the electricity network. “Importantly, the program is also generating valuable real-world data and insights on battery performance, costs, business models, customer benefits and grid impacts. These learnings will help accelerate the commercial deployment of community batteries across Australia.” Cynical me thinks that the vested interests that sell us our electricity will be the main beneficiary of the program. Those who wish to read further insights and lessons learnt may like to check this out. As well as funding community batteries, ARENA has announced a package to support households converting their appliances from gas to electric in the nation’s capital, Canberra. Canberra is the home of many well-paid public servants, and the local territory government (Australian Capital Territory) already provides subsidies for electrification. It has the highest per capita takeup of battery electric vehicles. Forty-four percent of new car sales are BEV, and the fleet penetration has already reached 5%. Double the rest of Australia. The ACT government offers low-interest loans of up to AU$20,000 to purchase new or used BEVs and charging infrastructure, repayable over 10 years, as well as emission-based registration discounts. A lower rate of stamp duty is charged on BEVs. To help things along, ARENA has announced an AU$8.2 million grant to “test a simpler way for households to switch from gas to electricity.” Electric Future, a clean energy service provider, “will work with up to 1,000 households across Canberra’s southern suburbs to trial a single digital platform that acts as a one-stop shop for home electrification. The project will also help households take advantage of technologies including electric vehicles, home batteries and rooftop solar.” This is expected to reduce the stress involved with the changeover. Householders won’t need to be ‘energy experts.’ “For many households, the barrier to electrification is not just the technology. It can be knowing where to start, comparing products and quotes, finding trusted installers, navigating rebates and finance, managing upfront costs, and understanding which choices will deliver the best outcome for their home,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said. Electric Future said Canberrans have already shown what’s possible when a whole city gets behind renewable energy. “Canberrans are behind renewable energy, now we get to show what’s possible at the household level,” Electric Future Managing Director Nathan Brown said. “This project will help prove that electrification doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive or out of reach. Canberra is the right place to prove it thanks to the efforts of Rewiring Australia and Electrify Canberra, whose volunteers have spent four years talking to the community and advocating to decision makers to see this pilot get off the ground.” The aim is to provide an end-to-end service that includes customer advice, fixed-price quoting, installer matching, scheduling, quality checks, rebate processing, and ongoing support. Renters and low-income households will also be included. Heating is likely to be a focus in Canberra, where winter temperatures can drop to -7°C and not rise above 12°C during the day. Summer cooling will also need to be addressed — when it’s an average of 28 degrees but can peak over 35. The Australian government’s Cheaper Home Battery scheme has been wildly successful, with more than 500,000 systems with a capacity of 14 GWh installed across the nation’s homes. Now, the upper limit for the batteries has been increased, offering a 20% discount on systems from 100 kWh to 1 MW. This offer is expected to be taken up by farms, factories, community organisations, and commercial businesses. It is projected to provide another 80 GWh of capacity, and in time lead to reduced demand on the grid and lower power bills. I am sure all the prosed data centres will soak up any extra electricity available. Australian electricity generation. Screenshot 2026-10-03 at 10.00.18 am. NEM Widget. https://www.nem-watch.info/widgets/reneweconomy/ Here I sit at my computer, with my home battery and my Tesla EV fully charged, the sun shining and the pool cleaner (Rebel) in full throat. We are in that sweet spot between not using electricity to power air conditioners for cooling or heating. The battery is full by breakfast and we are getting a credit on our power bills. Although we need some rain for the garden, the future is bright and electric.
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