❓ The Minister for Energy provides an update on the Mandurah bulk-battery storage trial, noting strong community uptake and potential benefits for renewable energy integration and grid upgrades.
AnsweredQoN 903Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BULK-BATTERY STORAGE
TRIAL — MANDURAH
903. Mr C.J. TALLENTIRE to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the government's
bulk-battery storage trial, which for the first time will integrate this
technology into the existing grid. Can the minister update the house on how the
community has responded to this trial and the McGowan Labor government's
commitment to making renewable energy technology more accessible for Western Australians?
TRIAL — MANDURAH
903. Mr C.J. TALLENTIRE to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the government's
bulk-battery storage trial, which for the first time will integrate this
technology into the existing grid. Can the minister update the house on how the
community has responded to this trial and the McGowan Labor government's
commitment to making renewable energy technology more accessible for Western Australians?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Thornlie for
that question. It seems only minutes ago that the member for Swan Hills asked
me a question around PowerBank and the fact that with its collaboration with
Synergy, Western Power and the good people of the City of Mandurah, we have put
a community battery in Meadow Springs. At the time, we thought it might take us
until early next year to get the required interest from the people of Mandurah
to be part of this community battery trial. It does require those participating
to pay about $1 a day to effectively avoid the cost of inserting their own
battery on their own house. They get the benefit, therefore, of effectively
storing the energy that their solar panels are producing during the day when
they are at work and then using that energy during peak times when they come
home. I am delighted to say that we are now full, Mr Speaker. Three months
early, we are now full. The people of Mandurah were clearly excited by this
opportunity and have taken up this trial with great gusto. That means we will
be starting the trial now as opposed to early next year. That means that over
the next two years, those Western Australians in the City of Mandurah will be
able to really work out how they can better use their own renewable energy with
a community storage facility to lower their own power bills. I think that over
time, even with paying about $1 a day, they will find they reduce their power
bills. As people have talked about in this place and certainly around Australia
for a long time, solving the conundrum of marrying up the supply of renewables
with demand is the great challenge that we face. This will go a long way to
doing that and, importantly, if this works, as I suspect it will, community-style
batteries—those larger-scale batteries that can be retrofitted onto
grids—will provide the government and Western Australians with an
opportunity going forward to ensure that we do not need to have very large, expensive
upgrades of our grids that we would otherwise require as more and more
renewables come into the system.
I want to thank all those people in
the City of Mandurah who have taken up the trial and, of course, Synergy and Western Power, which have developed this together
as a way to ensure that Western Australians do not have to make a significant
capital investment to take better advantage of the renewable energy source they
take off their roof.
that question. It seems only minutes ago that the member for Swan Hills asked
me a question around PowerBank and the fact that with its collaboration with
Synergy, Western Power and the good people of the City of Mandurah, we have put
a community battery in Meadow Springs. At the time, we thought it might take us
until early next year to get the required interest from the people of Mandurah
to be part of this community battery trial. It does require those participating
to pay about $1 a day to effectively avoid the cost of inserting their own
battery on their own house. They get the benefit, therefore, of effectively
storing the energy that their solar panels are producing during the day when
they are at work and then using that energy during peak times when they come
home. I am delighted to say that we are now full, Mr Speaker. Three months
early, we are now full. The people of Mandurah were clearly excited by this
opportunity and have taken up this trial with great gusto. That means we will
be starting the trial now as opposed to early next year. That means that over
the next two years, those Western Australians in the City of Mandurah will be
able to really work out how they can better use their own renewable energy with
a community storage facility to lower their own power bills. I think that over
time, even with paying about $1 a day, they will find they reduce their power
bills. As people have talked about in this place and certainly around Australia
for a long time, solving the conundrum of marrying up the supply of renewables
with demand is the great challenge that we face. This will go a long way to
doing that and, importantly, if this works, as I suspect it will, community-style
batteries—those larger-scale batteries that can be retrofitted onto
grids—will provide the government and Western Australians with an
opportunity going forward to ensure that we do not need to have very large, expensive
upgrades of our grids that we would otherwise require as more and more
renewables come into the system.
I want to thank all those people in
the City of Mandurah who have taken up the trial and, of course, Synergy and Western Power, which have developed this together
as a way to ensure that Western Australians do not have to make a significant
capital investment to take better advantage of the renewable energy source they
take off their roof.
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