Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Kylea Tink has called on the Australian government to federally fund a national battery rebate scheme to stimulate investment in battery storage to enable Australia’s energy transition.
The call on 19 November 2024, came on the back of an 8,000-signatures petition driven by independent, community-based organisation Solar Citizens, that seeks a federal subsidy to drive the rapid rollout of small-scale battery storage.
“Solar panel use across our country has soared, currently accounting for around 11% of Australia’s electricity supply, yet frustratingly, as feed-in tariffs—that is, the amount households are paid for excess solar into the grid—have dropped, excess energy generated during the middle of the day is not being leveraged,” Tink said.
“The integrated systems plan modelled by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has shown 8 GW capacity of consumer energy storage by 2030 is needed to achieve renewable energy targets.”
Tink said 8 GW could be achieved if roughly an additional one million homes had not just their solar panels, but batteries installed as well.
Solar Citizens National Campaign Director Joel Pringle said Australia’s home solar uptake is world-leading and with batteries can generate and use cheap, clean energy day and night to replace aging coal-fired power stations.
“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.
“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.”
A New South Wales battery subsidy launched on 1 November 2024, ties in the state’s peak demand reduction scheme (PDRS) and installers must provide discounts based on conditional tradeable PDRS certificates.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) offers interest free loans for sustainable household upgrades, which cover battery installations, while Victoria is offering interest-free solar battery loans of up to $8,800 in the FY 2024-25.
The Northern Territory offers a home and business battery scheme offering grans of $400 per kWh, up to $5,000.
Over 250,000 household batteries have been installed nationwide, with 57,000 installed in 2030.
Queensland’s battery booster program offering $4,000 subsidies closed on May 2024.
“Over 250,000 households already installing batteries across Australia to date, including a record 57,000 doing it just this past year. Yet the kicker in that participation is that this opportunity seems to be very much determined by a household’s own financial capacity, and this is where I see we need the federal government to step in to ensure equity for all,” Tink said.
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