2022 in review

It seems that 2022 was the year of Community (Neighbourhood) batteries. The awareness and demand for renewable energy is very topical and the call for these batteries has never been louder.

Through a huge effort from the VP team, we made substantial progress towards our vision Providing affordable zero-carbon energy to the community.

Feasibility study

Completion of the Feasibility study funded by the Neighbourhood Battery Initiative (NBI) Phase 1 was a major outcome. Commencement of the study began last year, however 2022 saw the completion of important elements that will inform our way forward. The final report was accepted by DELWP as the funder for the $131,000 expenditure.

Banyule site studies

In addition to the NBI funding, VP received a $15,000 grant from Banyule City Council to complete a Preliminary Site investigation for two locations in Banyule. The investigation reviewed the two proposed sites and highlighted their relative value for in-front-of-the- meter batteries. The report also provided Banyule with a methodology that could be applied to other sites in future.

Next Step Procurement

VP was very pleased to welcome members of the Banyule Clean Energy Group (BCEG) to join and assist in preparing our NBI Phase 2 funding application for $750,000. The grant application was considerable work to prepare. The application set out a plan to procure and implement a 500 kWh battery and accompanying energy optimisation system that makes the battery smart.

Unfortunately, the grant application was not successful. Feedback from DELWP indicated the application was very strong but there were concerns on issues that have since been largely resolved.

We consider the knock-back on this grant application as just a delay in progress. 2023 will be year of implementation. We have already secured commitments for a battery funded by the Federal Government and with BCEG joining in with Village Power that brings a second commitment for a battery in the Banyule area.

The missing piece is the funding to implement and test the VP model that puts the ‘community’ into community batteries. Ideally we can test this with one battery in advance of others. The good news is that there will be another round of Victorian NBI funding opened in the near future that could accommodate this work.

We are looking forward to an exciting new year.   

Graeme Martin
President
Village Power