Bowen commits extra $5 billion to home battery subsidy

The Australian government has announced a major expansion of its Cheaper Home Batteries program, raising the funding allocation from the original $2.3 billion to approximately $7.2 billion over the next four years.

December 15, 2025 David Carroll

Image: Australian Government

Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has committed an additional $5 billion (USD 3.32 billion) to the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program after revealing most of its initial $2.3 billion budget would be spent within the next year.

The program was launched in July, allowing households and businesses to claim a 30% discount on the cost of installing battery energy storage systems. It was projected the budget would last until 2030 and deliver more than 1 million installed batteries but there has been a massive uptake with more than 160,000 batteries with a combined capacity of over 3.6 GWh installed across Australia in the past five months.

Bowen said the “outstanding success” of the program means the initially allocated funding is now expected to be exhausted within the next year.

“163,016, that’s how many Australian households have put in a battery since 1 July,” he said. “This is showing that Australians are taking up this program with enormous, enormous enthusiasm.”

Bowen said the forward orders from installers are also very significant and while not all of the initial $2.3 billion has been spent, it clearly would be spent in the coming year.

“Hence the need to make sure the program is sustainable,” he said. “Many people in the sector assumed that when the $2.3 billion was spent it would end. That was never our intention. [These] adjustments going forward make sure the program continues to be fair and sustainable.”

The expansion is expected to see more than 2 million Australian households and businesses install a battery by 2030, delivering about 40 GWh of additional energy storage capacity, doubling the government’s original estimate of 1 million batteries and increasing the expected capacity by almost four times.

Alongside increased funding for the program, the government has also proposed several changes to the scale of rebates on offer for different battery sizes.

The changes include a readjustment of the Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) incentive, where one STC corresponds to 1 MWh of eligible capacity and a scaling of the incentive across small, medium and large systems, with the number of STCs decreasing as battery capacity increases.

“Under this system, support will be staggered in line with the size of the battery,” Bowen said. “Zero to 14 kWh, no change. 14 to 28 kWh, a step down in the certificate price, and then another step down, 28 to 50 kWh. This ensures that the discount of 30% will apply on a typical average battery across the board.”

Robbie Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of Australian clean-energy provider Plico, said the changes announced on Saturday would help ensure the sustainability of the program and maximise its impact.

“Adjusting how rebates are phased and tiered by battery size means the program is better calibrated to deliver the right battery, for the right home, at the right cost, while ensuring long-term program viability,” he said.

“That’s a sensible evolution, not a retreat. By lowering the upfront cost of batteries, the program accelerates the rollout of storage that reduces peak demand, eases pressure on the grid and defers expensive network upgrades.”

The changes will apply from 1 May 2026, meaning batteries installed up to the last day in April will be complying with the current rules.

“This enables the sector a good five months of planning, of adjustment to take these changes into account,” Bowen said.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.