Western Australia’s Premier Mark McGowan and Energy Minister Bill Johnston have launched the latest community solar battery in Port Kennedy, Rockingham. The 464kWh Tesla battery is the fifth community battery installed, this was based on the success of the trials undertaken in Meadow Springs, Falcon, Ellenbrook and Kalgoorlie. These batteries have been very successful in delivering community wide benefits such as improved power flow, improved power quality and reducing household power bills. Households who already have solar installed will potentially have access to the battery as a virtual storage system. This means households get all the benefits of using a solar battery without incurring the significant upfront cost of actually installing one. Premier Mark McGowan says, “Western Australia is a great place to harness the sun as a renewable energy source, and we are committed to leading the nation in network storage solutions to continue modernising our electricity mix”.
Network-connected batteries like this one have reduced in price significantly over the years and are a much smarter solution to network modification compared to other, more traditional methods. Energy Minister Bill Johnston states: “Port Kennedy’s new community battery will provide immediate benefits for the network by balancing demand, maintaining power quality to local homes and businesses, and allowing more homes in the area to install solar panels.
“Western Power continues to identify other high-solar penetration areas to install more community batteries and I look forward to announcing these locations later this year.” This is a very exciting time for solar. We hope to see Australia continue to push to be the leading nation for renewable energy, particularly solar.
If you’re interested in investing in your future, helping the planet and becoming involved in community initiatives like this, you can install solar panels on your home or business.
