This is a part of one of six projects announced by Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, who plans to deliver more than 4.2 megawatt hours of storage capacity through 25 batteries across 20 towns.
Tatura’s Moyola Aged Care will be the first to receive a battery, a change that is expected to save it close to $7000 a year on electricity costs. This is money that will then be invested back into the community.
The batteries work by absorbing and storing large amounts of cheap and clean renewable energy when it is plentiful and dispatching it when it is needed most, such as at night or during power outages.
This will lessen the amount of energy that needs to be pulled from the grid during peak times, which will improve grid stability and increase the number of people who can benefit from the production and consumption of solar energy.
The batteries have been designed with Zero Carbon Tatura’s focus on decreasing the town’s carbon footprint in mind, as well as the goal of helping residents to save as much money on energy as possible.
As the battery stores energy away from the grid, the number of Tatura residents able to contribute energy to the grid and receive financial returns from feed-in tariffs will also increase.
Neighbourhood batteries are easy to operate, with no buttons needing to be pressed or switches flipped.
Zero Waste Tatura convener Terry Court described the change as “a seamless operation with no changes for the consumer”.
Future Energy hopes to install the battery within the next few months.
The next round of applications for the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries grants will open in August.
For more information, visit energy.vic.gov.au
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