NEW BATTERY TO CHARGE LOWER POWER BILLS
Labor is helping to lower power bills and keep the lights on in the Macedon electorate with a new neighbourhood battery.
Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas announced Lancefield Neighbourhood House as the site of one of the new locations that will receive a battery as part of the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program. The Neighbourhood House will join the Trentham Mechanics as a site for the program, with the Mechanics community battery delivered last year.
The Lancefield Neighbourhood House Solar and Battery project will install 10.5kW of solar PV and a 20kW/55kWh battery to provide backup power. The proposed battery and PV system will provide approximately 37 hours of backup power during outages. In addition to providing resilience benefits, the system is modelled to save the Neighbourhood House approximately $5,000 per annum which would be reinvested back into community programs such as foodbank services and no-interest loans.
This is one of 10 new neighbourhood batteries deliver in this final round of the program – adding a total of 1,246 kilowatt hours (kWh) of new battery storage capacity for Victoria.
Neighbourhood batteries cut power bills by soaking up cheap renewable energy when it is plentiful and dispatching it when it is needed most. They also provide a resilient source of power in the event of extreme weather outages.
Today’s announcement brings the total to 139 neighbourhood batteries across the state, with more than 23,000 kWh of energy storage for Victoria.
There will now be neighbourhood batteries funded in over 100 different neighbourhoods in 60 Local Government Areas, cutting power bills and boosting energy resilience for community groups and local residents.
The Program is helping achieve Victoria’s target of at least 2.6 Gigawatts (GW) of energy storage capacity by 2030 and 6.3GW by 2035, enough energy to power around half of Victoria’s homes at peak energy use.
It is part of Labor’s record investment in renewables which has helped Victoria consistently achieve the lowest wholesale power prices and lowest average households power bills in the country.
For a list of funded battery projects, visit energy.vic.gov.au/grants/neighbourhood-batteries
Quotes attributable to Minister for Energy and Resources, Lily D’Ambrosio:
“We know the cost of living is tough for many Victorians, that’s why we’re building neighbourhood batteries that help lower power bills for households and communities.”
“Only Labor will do what’s needed to make energy more affordable and reliable.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas:
“This is fantastic news for Lancefield, locals can now feel better prepared for power outages and extreme weather events.”
