Taking charge to deliver neighbourhood energy sharing

Local community energy group Village Power has been selected by the State Government of Victoria to deliver its innovative community battery subscription service under the Neighbourhood Battery Initiative (NBI).

Graeme Martin, Founder and President of community energy group Village Power said he was very excited that they had been selected for funding under the NBI. The State Government will provide up to $750,000 to Village Power to deploy a battery and system that enables neighbourhood energy sharing in its community. Village Power was the only organisation to receive Stage 2: Deployment funding in this round.

‘We are in the early stages of an energy transition in which batteries will play a key role. More and more we are hearing about big batteries and small batteries in people’s homes, but there are opportunities emerging for another type of medium scale battery that sits between these two extremes and offers a unique range of benefits. We call these community or neighbourhood batteries.’

Founded over five years ago by a group of passionate professionals in the Alphington and Ivanhoe areas, Village Power was formed with the vision of providing affordable zero-carbon energy to the community. Martin says, ‘When we started we weren’t focused on neighbourhood scale batteries, but it quickly became apparent to us that there was a real opportunity for this technology to provide a range of benefits to both consumers and those who operate the grid.’

The funding provided by the Victorian State Government will enable Village Power to purchase and implement a neighbourhood-scale battery. ‘This grant has come at the perfect time for Village Power. We have already completed engineering studies and a business case. We are now ready to deliver on our vision by procuring a battery and developing a system to allow households to become subscribers to the battery as-a-service. We expect to make the battery operational by December 2024. There is substantial work to be undertaken over this period including engagement with the community and energy industry, Martin says.

This will be the first of its kind in Australia; a battery explicitly installed and operated for the community, with direct links to local households, and run by a local community group. It is the first, but it won’t be the last as we go through this exciting energy transition.

The group will work with the Darebin City Council who will provide land to house this community battery. Martin says ‘We are really grateful to the Darebin City Council for the confidence they have shown in us and the support they have provided for this project from the early days. The Council supported a feasibility study completed in 2022 also funded under the NBI. Council also funded an initial study back in 2019. We look forward to this next stage, which will result in this first-of-a-kind community battery being installed in the municipality’.

‘I would also like to recognise and thank the Village Power team of volunteers that have contributed substantial time and their passion to make a difference on Climate action to help us to this point today’, said Martin.

Martin also says, ‘On behalf of the team, I would also like to thank the many local people that have supported us along the way and invite our community to celebrate with us at a forthcoming launch event. People are asked to register their interest via the Village Power website.’

What is a Neighbourhood Battery?

Neighbourhood scale batteries (also called community scale batteries) are a type of energy storage model that can provide multiple benefits to consumers, communities and the electricity system. Neighbourhood scale batteries are bigger than household solar batteries, ranging in power capacity from approximately 100 kilowatts (kW) to five megawatts (MW). Neighbourhood scale batteries are connected ‘in front of the meter’ to the electricity distribution network, rather than ‘behind the meter’ in a household or business premises. They would typically be located at street level in proximity to where electricity is being both consumed by homes and generated from rooftop solar.

For all media enquiries call David Craven 0405 170 961 or Graeme Martin 0409 185 409