Communities kick the gas habit with major round of electrification funding

Fifty-eight local governments across Australia will benefit from a cumulative $50 million in grants from the federal government to electrify their energy consumption and reduce their power bills.

The awarded contracts range from batteries at a childcare centre to an all-electric community pool, and the grants range from $25,000 to $2.5 million, with local government providing at least 50 per cent of the upfront costs.

Many of the grantees are community sports centres, including 31 aquatic centres.

In Melbourne, the Collingwood Leisure Centre is set to go renewable, with its air, pool, and hot water system to use 100% renewable energy backed by storage.

According to Yarra City Council, which manages the leisure centre, the grant will support the facility’s transition from gas to electricity, and help improve cooling and dehumidification of the pool and spa hall, in theory reducing emissions in the order of 400 tonnes per year.

In Western Sydney, council-run early learning centres will benefit from batteries to soak up excess solar, and Broken Hill Council will install solar panels over their car park and replace gas heating with electric heat pumps.

In Darwin, the Casuarina Library will get an energy upgrade, and in Tasmania, one local council will install smart electric vehicle chargers and dynamic load management to support electrification and decarbonisation of its vehicle fleet.

This is the first round of grants awarded by the totalling $100 million Community Energy Upgrade Fund (CEUF), which closed for applications in April last year, with round two expected to open this year.

Among the largest awarded grants were $2.5 million for the Broken Hill solar project, $2.5 million for Wagga Wagga’s Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre, which will get an “energy upgrade” that should save the council around $250,000 in energy bills per year.

They also included a $2.4 million grant to the Brisbane City Council for its Community Energy Upgrade Project, and $2.5 million for Victoria’s Yarra City Council for its project: Powering Waves of Innovation: Demonstrating Aquatic Centre Electrification.

“Local councils run many of the sport and public facilities that keep our communities and clubs thriving,” said Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.

“We want facilities that Australians know and love, like cricket grounds and local pools, to be able to save on their energy bills and spend more on the things they do best.”

Victoria emerged as the winner for most funding awarded, with a cumulative $23.9 million granted to councils in the state. New South Wales came in second with $15.3 million granted. The Northern Territory came in lowest with a total of $580,528 awarded to Australia’s least populous state.