Eguana Technologies approved for SA Home Battery Scheme

Australia’s biggest battery subsidy scheme that will help pay the installation of a home battery system in South Australia has welcomed the third energy storage provider that will manufacture battery systems locally.

Canadian battery manufacturer Eguana Technologies has announced it will invest in South Australia’s booming battery sector and manufacture its cutting-edge Evolve home energy storage system in Adelaide, creating up to 200 new jobs over the next three years.

A total of $12 million will be invested by Eguana in partnership with LG under the SA Home Battery Scheme, which will offer subsidies of up to $6,000 to 40,000 South Australian households scaled in line with the size of the battery system being install.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment David Ridgway said it’s another major coup for South Australia’s renewables sector. 

“I’m pleased to welcome Eguana as the latest international company to invest in South Australia,” Ridgway said, noting that the Home Battery Scheme is a core pillar of the Liberal Marshall Government’s strategy to improve affordability and reliability of power while attracting investment and jobs for South Australians.

“The Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment has been working with Eguana for some time now to attract them to our state and this investment is further proof that South Australia is indeed the heartland of renewables in our country.”

Chief Executive Officer at Eguana Technologies Justin Holland stated South Australia was a key market for the Company and the Home Battery Scheme will open up the largest demand market in the world.

“The Virtual Power Plant requirement for the Home Battery program is the first of its kind and the Evolve product was designed and developed to deliver a full suite of grid services supporting sophisticated programs like these that go well beyond basic backup power and self-consumption capabilities,” Holland said.

The Evolve product, which was tested and recently endorsed by Mercedes Benz Energy, has been designed with full grid services capabilities.

As Holland explained to pv magazine earlier, Evolve’s advantage is also the fact Eguana’s proprietary power controls can handle battery module scale-up without the need to purchase additional power control functionality.

For example, the Evolve system can go from 13 to 39 kWh without the need for the customer to make further investment on the power control front. Instead the customer pays only for the additional LG Chem battery modules.

Eguana has confirmed it has already begun working with South Australian government services to establish supply partners and manufacturing capabilities in South Australia.

“The Marshall Government’s $100 million home battery storage scheme, the CEFC’s $100 million MOU and today’s announcement confirm that South Australia is a world leader in the utilisation of solar technology,” says Holland.

Eguana is the third battery manufacturer to join the SA Home Battery Scheme. Germany’s sonnen announced in September that it would be establishing a manufacturing facility in Elizabeth.

sonnen aims to produce 10,000 batteries a year to meet demand from Australian households, as well as for export to the Asia Pacific region, and forecasts to create more than 430 jobs across its operations.

The second battery manufacturer to join the program was China-headquartered Alpha-ESS, which is looking to set up a manufacturing facility in Adelaide, where it will build more than 8,000 batteries a year and create up to 120 jobs.

Through their agreement with the State Government, these battery providers will have access to the scheme’s priority period given to locally made battery systems which lasts until the end of the year.