Solar Citizens welcomes Independent MP Kylea Tink’s call in Federal Parliament (Tuesday 19th November 2024) for a federally funded, national battery rebate scheme to support households and small businesses to invest in battery storage technology.
Making the call as she referenced a landmark petition of over 8,000 signatures driven by Solar Citizens - Ms Tink, the Independent Member for North Sydney, said battery technology will play a critical role in enabling Australia’s energy transition and federal policy was needed to make battery technology more accessible.
“A national battery rebate scheme would absolutely help households and small businesses not only slash their energy bills, but could provide them with much needed cost of living relief in a way that will confer benefits to the household for years to come,” said Ms Tink.
“Ultimately, battery technology will play a critical role stabilising the grid and improving energy security. A well planned federal rebate scheme, supported by a target of one million batteries nationally by 2030, would also create new, well-paid green jobs in our suburbs and towns,” said Ms Tink.
“With over 8,000 people calling for a federal battery program, it’s clear voters want the government to support the roll out of small-scale battery storage solutions and it makes absolutely no sense that Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has to date ignored the petition from Solar Citizens,” said Tink.
Commenting on Ms Tink’s calls, Solar Citizens National Campaign Director Joel Pringle said the organisation welcomes Ms Tink’s acknowledgment of the high public demand for more government support for household batteries.
Over 8,000 people signed a Solar Citizens petition calling for a federal subsidy to drive the rapid rollout of small-scale battery storage,” said Mr Pringle.
Modelling* by the Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO, shows that the equivalent to one million household batteries are needed nationally by 2030 to harness our world-leading rooftop solar uptake and stabilise the energy grid. But household batteries remain the only technology in AEMO’s roadmap without a federal government policy to drive delivery.
“To keep energy bills low, we need a substantial subsidy for household batteries included as an extension to the successful Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). Solar Citizens calls on the major parties to adopt a target of one million batteries by 2030, with incentives on offer for both free-standing homes and apartments, whether they have rooftop solar or not,” said Mr Pringle.
“Solar batteries typically cost upwards of $10,000 with payback periods ranging between 5 and 10 years depending on the tariff and other variables. With the current cost of living crisis, batteries are often not an affordable option and that’s why government financial support for batteries is needed,” said Mr Pringle.
Australians are ready and willing to install home batteries - over 250,000 household batteries have been installed across the country so far, with 57,000 installed last year. But at this rate we will fall far short of a million batteries by 2030.
Some state governments are leading the way with the NSW government releasing new financial incentives for home batteries under their Peak Demand Reduction Scheme from 1 November. The Queensland government offered a generous subsidy for home batteries but this closed after only 3,500 submissions.
“Australia’s home solar uptake is world-leading, and we need to marry this solar uptake with batteries so we can use the cheap, clean energy day and night and replace our aging coal-fired power stations,” said Mr Pringle.
“Rooftop solar combined with behind-the-meter battery storage ensures households have access to clean energy day and night, and can save money on their electricity bills straight away and every day for years to come,” concluded Mr Pringle.
*The Australian Energy Market Operator’s modelling in the Integrated Systems Plan to achieve the lowest cost energy transition requires 8GW of household batteries by 2030. This is equivalent to one million behind-the-meter batteries.
Media Contact:
- Carolin Wenzel, Media Advisor - 0417 668 957
- Chris Williams, Media Advisor for Kylea Tink MP - 0480 386 879
About Solar Citizens
Solar Citizens is an independent, community-based organisation working to protect and grow renewable energy and clean transport in Australia. Our website is https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/