FAQs

In May 2023 Mornington Peninsula Shire was awarded $500,000 through the Federal Government’s Community Batteries for Household Solar program to deliver the Flinders Community Battery project. Our work over the past three years has played an essential role in achieving this outcome. Flinders Zero Carbon Community (FZCC) have been working on this project for years, delivering community forums and facilitating a feasibility study in 2022. This battery project is part of a larger ambition to move Flinders towards net-zero carbon emissions from energy by 2030.

The broad aims of the battery project are:

• to help stabilise the grid

• give greater capacity for residents to have solar on their roofs

• reduce our carbon footprint, and

• to generate a small amount of income for the community.

Community batteries, sometimes referred to as “neighbourhood batteries”, are a type of energy storage that can increase the accessibility and availability of renewable energy for a surrounding neighbourhood.

These batteries are bigger than a home battery. A typical household battery (often used to store rooftop solar energy) might have a storage capacity of up to about 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh). This might be enough to power your average household for a day. On the other hand, community batteries range from 100 kWh to five megawatt-hours (MWh) in capacity.

Neighbourhood batteries are typically connected to a low-voltage distribution network, which, depending on the size of each network, may connect approximately 100-300 properties.

Community batteries can be connected ‘in front of the meter’ to the electricity network. That is, they are located outside of your home or property and connected to the local network as a standalone unit. A community battery would typically be located at the street level close to where electricity is being consumed and generated.

Community batteries can be owned by electricity distribution businesses or third parties such as councils, community energy groups, electricity retailers, and private investors.

In short:

• Reducing carbon output by better use of local solar generation.

• Improving stability of the grid by reducing load in times of high demand.

• Putting downward pressure on electricity prices (in the longer term).

• Some small financial reward for the town.

Community batteries can help more solar to be used locally, allow more solar into the local network, support wider renewable energy adoption, and prepare for increasing electricity use from electric vehicle charging. This technology can solve local issues, such as power quality issues, network constraints (or a lack of network capacity) and offers a flexible alternative to traditional poles and wires investment and can therefore reduce network costs and place downward pressure on energy prices.

In short:

• Potential to reduce carbon output by better use of local solar generation.

• Improving stability of the grid by reducing load in times of high demand.

• Putting downward pressure on electricity prices (in the longer term).

• Potential to direct any profits via ‘community benefits fund’ back into the local community.

Batteries are key to supporting the energy system as we continue to rely on more renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Community batteries in particular can provide benefits in the local area they are connected to, allowing more rooftop solar and more electric appliances, such as electric vehicle chargers, to be connected. Communities batteries can help to:

• Prepare the network for increasing electricity use, including from local electric vehicle charging which is expected to be an increasingly significant demand.

• Allow for more local storage and supply of locally produced renewable energy.

• Strengthen the grid which reduces the need to limit (curtail) solar exports and helps customers maximise their personal solar investment.

• Enable more solar within the local grid, including for use by households that don’t have their own solar.

• Create a positive impact on wholesale electricity prices and network tariffs that could eventually flow as savings through to retailers’ electricity prices.

• Regulate voltage on the network and improve network quality in the local area.

• Offer a flexible alternative to traditional poles and wires investment, helping to lower network costs by deferring the need for more network infrastructure.

Battery storage supports the transition to a renewable energy system by providing system services currently provided by fossil fuel generators. With the widespread adoption of rooftop solar, these batteries provide local storage in the distribution network, 'firming' the supply of variable renewable energy. In time, batteries will also reduce emissions by reducing the reliance on non-renewable energy sources.

The electricity system is changing rapidly with more distributed energy resources and the closure of large generators. We need a lot more storage to ensure the electricity system continues to be as safe, reliable and affordable as possible. In this wider context, this community battery project may be a small contribution to solving this larger goal, but it is important to ensure the electricity system serves and benefits you.

The battery may also reduce the likelihood of future solar export constraints on the low-voltage network on which it is connected. A battery may also defer the needs for future augmentation of the network, costs which are passed on to customers via network tariffs – helping in a small way to put downward pressure on electricity bills.

No. We all benefit from better grid stability and reduction in carbon use as well as from saving the planet! But those whose houses are located on the sub-net near the battery might be able to install more solar on their roofs without running into limits usually imposed by United Energy.

No, the community battery will not directly change your electricity bill.

No. The battery does not require any subscription or participants.

No. The battery is not designed for emergency back-up electricity supply.

The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council will be the legal owner of the battery.

The profits generated by the battery will be given back to the community through a community benefit fund.. The fund is intended to be administered by Repower Mornington Peninsula and used to support more solar in vulnerable communities or other renewable projects that assist tenants or those unable to install solar themselves. The design and governance of the fund will be determined in consultation with Repower and the Community Reference Group.

Decisions around the community battery will be determined by the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. Council's decisions will be supported by intelligence yielded from community engagement activities delivered by Yarra Energy Foundation, in collaboration with Flinders Zero Carbon Community (FZCC). Engagement processes will involve public information sessions, a community survey, and the establishment of a Community Reference Group (CRG).

The CRG will be composed of 6-8 community members who represent key stakeholders, nearby residents and/or relevant community organisations. The CRG will:

• Be able to collaborate with the project team and influence the final decision of the site and placement of the battery.

• Be consulted on site preparations and the extent of works required.

• Be involved in the artwork or visual treatment of the battery.

• Be involved in the decisions around vegetation, planting, and/or screens (if required).

• Be consulted on the distribution framework of a community benefits fund, which will be administered by Repower Mornington Peninsula.

*Please note the terms collaborate, consult, and involve have specific meanings which you can read about here.

The funding program for the community battery is the Federal Government's Community Batteries for Household Solar program, and the project team reports to the government on milestones and progress.