Energy infrastructure company, Jemena, is making locally generated renewable energy available to more homes and businesses through new community batteries now installed in Bellfield and Coburg, Victoria.
The community batteries located at Cyril Cummins Reserve in Bellfield, and Hudson Street in Coburg, are Jemena's first two community batteries installed within its electricity network in Melbourne's north-west. They are supported by the Australian Government's Community Batteries for Household Solar program.
Jemena's Executive General Manager of Networks Shaun Reardon said community batteries help stabilise the electricity grid while enabling more homes in Melbourne's north-west to install rooftop solar.
"Over the next ten years the number of our electricity customers with rooftop solar is set to double from 15 percent to around 32 percent. Installing community batteries in areas with a high uptake of rooftop solar is one of the ways we are preparing our network for the future," Mr Reardon said.
"Community batteries charge during the day when there is often a peak in solar generation and surplus solar energy available. They then discharge later in the evening when solar generation has reduced but there is higher demand for electricity as more people are at home."
Homes and businesses on the same low-voltage network as the community batteries automatically access the energy they store through their existing electricity supply.
"There are around 130 homes and businesses accessing the locally generated renewable energy stored in the Bellfield community battery and around 245 homes and businesses accessing the energy stored in the Coburg battery," Mr Reardon said.
Each battery has around 400kWh of storage which is the same amount of energy used by around 165 homes for two hours at night.
The locations in Bellfield and Coburg were selected in consultation with local councils. A number of factors were considered when choosing the locations including electricity network constraints in the area, safety, environmental factors, and projected growth of solar installations.
Local residents and community groups were engaged as part of the project and had their say on the look and position of the batteries.
"A Community Reference Group was established made up of residents and representatives from community groups and sports clubs located near each battery site. Members helped select the local artists to create the artwork ensuring the battery reflects the unique landscape of the area," Mr Reardon said.
"We also engaged local households and businesses through letterbox drops, surveys, and online information sessions."
The community batteries are one of a number of projects underway that will allow more export of solar energy back into the grid across Jemena's electricity network.
"The amount of solar energy that can be exported back into the grid within our electricity network has grown by more than 70 percent from levels seen in 2020," Mr Reardon said. "This was achieved through an optimisation program aimed at ensuring the network is equipped to host additional solar energy with no impact to the power supply customers rely on each day.
"We will continue to invest in new technologies, such as community batteries, to maintain grid stability as solar uptake increases.
"This is part of our work to build the energy system of the future; one which supports our customers to lower their emissions, and delivers energy reliably and safely."
About us:
Jemena is a $12.9 billion company that owns and manages some of Australia's most significant gas and electricity assets. These include:
· Jemena's Victorian electricity network which delivers electricity to over 370,000 homes and businesses in northern and western Melbourne
· the Jemena Gas Network servicing 1.5 million customers around NSW
· the Eastern Gas Pipeline which delivers gas from Victoria's Gippsland basin to the ACT, Sydney and regional NSW
· the Queensland Gas Pipeline which supplies Gladstone and Rockhampton
· the Darling Downs Pipeline System which transports gas to the Wallumbilla gas trading hub, the 630MW Darling Downs Power Station, and to the feeder pipeline to the APLNG LNG liquefaction plant at Gladstone
· the Northern Gas Pipeline from Tennant Creek in Northern Territory to Mount Isa in Queensland.
Jemena also part-owns the ActewAGL electricity and gas distribution networks in the ACT and United Energy, which supplies electricity to more than 600,000 customers across south-eastern Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula.
