Today’s joint announcement by the Federal and NSW Governments to double the incentive for NSW households to install a solar battery on their homes and connect to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), is a win for all NSW energy customers, by delivering lower energy bills – a policy the Clean Energy Council has long-advocated for and has today welcomed.
Under the State Government scheme, NSW households are being offered up to $1500 to install and connect their new solar home battery to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), which can also be accessed after purchasing a home battery under the Commonwealth’s Cheaper Home Battery program, which provides a discount of up to 30 per cent on the purchase.
Clean Energy Council General Manager – Distributed Energy, Con Hristodoulidis, said the new program, effective 1 July, will enable consumers to take control of their own energy bills, while simultaneously helping drive down costs for all other households and small businesses – even those without rooftop solar or a battery installed.
“The fact is that home batteries not only drive down energy bills, potentially doubling the savings of a standalone rooftop solar system but also generate immense value and savings for all other energy customers when participating en-masse in a VPP. Our analysis in February 2024 showed the system wide savings can be to the tune of $190 million between now and 2030,” Mr Hristodoulidis said.
“Analysis undertaken as part of our Time to Back Home Batteries campaign found that incentives of $1,000 to participate in a VPP will attract a higher uptake of home batteries connected to VPPs by households.
This announcement is especially significant and welcome news, given that the Australian Energy Market Operator has estimated that rooftop solar and home battery orchestration will be one of the largest generation sources in the National Electricity Market, as Australia moves towards net zero by 2050.Con Hristodoulidis Clean Energy Council General Manager - Distributed Energy
“The announcements from the NSW Government today, and last week by the WA Government, show how Commonwealth and state policies can work together to turbocharge the growth of clean energy in our grid at the lowest cost to all Australians.
“The NSW incentive scheme serves as an effective model for other States to follow suit in the near future. We’d love to see all Australians benefit from a scheme like this and increase their savings,” he said.
ENDS
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Liam Straughan
Clean Energy Council Media Officer
+61 409 470 683