A high voltage 2.5 MW / 3 MWh community battery installed through South Australia (SA) Power Networks, ARENA-funded program will be energised in March 2026 and remain on standby to help manage a regional community’s peak demand.
Delivered as part of a state-wide trial and in part, funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the $3.8 million (USD 2.6 million) Robe High Voltage (HV) network support battery is one of eight being rolled out across SA to test new ways of supporting local networks.
The HV battery is a 2.5 MW / 3 MWh system will be operational in March and demonstrate how electricity demand and voltage on the local network can be efficiently managed, while deferring costly infrastructure upgrades to the high voltage network.
Located 336 kilometres south of Adelaide, Robe is the only location in the ARENA program to receive two batteries, with a second battery to support fast electric vehicle (EV) charging, and also scheduled to be operational in 2026.
An SA Power Networks statement says the battery will support the local electricity network only on rare occasions, with its remaining capacity used to participate in energy markets.
Image: SA Power Networks
International consortium-owned state electricity distributor SA Power Networks Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bills said ARENA’s support allows the trial different use-cases and learn how community batteries can be integrated into the network at scale.
“Those learnings will help us roll out similar solutions more quickly and cost-effectively across South Australia in the future,” Bills said.
SA Power Networks announced its community batteries project in March 2025, and includes two high voltage network support batteries, at Robe and Lameroo, four EV charger support batteries and two community resilience batteries.
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