Home electrification rebate flooded with interest as gas exodus gears up

A Victorian government-backed rebate designed to install bulk residential rooftop PV and electric hot water across the state has attracted bids for almost four times the funding on offer, in what is being described as a “strong demonstration” of the momentum towards electrification.

The $10 million program was launched in September of last year to entities capable of providing installations to more than 50 new or existing homes, including builders, property developers, energy retailers, product retailers and consortia.

Solar Victoria, which runs the Solar Homes rebate scheme for the Labor government, says it has received 40 expressions of interest from industry, with a total of $39 million in funding requested.

The Latrobe Valley-based organisation says applicants came from a range of sectors, spanning from technology providers to construction, manufacturing to sustainability groups, and energy network providers.

“This is a strong demonstration of the huge interest and momentum towards electrification projects that Victorian organisations are willing to invest in to meet household demand for solar PV and efficient hot water systems,” Solar Victoria said last week.

“In Solar Victoria’s recent customer surveys, 41% of respondents said that they are keen to transition to an all-electric home, 28% are thinking about it, and 13% have already fully transitioned thanks to our rebates and loans.”

As One Step Off The Grid has reported, the Residential Electrification Grants program aims to support companies or groups that take an innovative approach to increasing the uptake of solar PV and/or electric hot water systems in Victorian homes.

“Our objective … is to find and support proactive, unique and viable approaches to deploying solar products in Victorian households at scale, and we are keen to hear ideas on how that could be achieved,” an application guidelines document said, when the scheme was launched.

Successful applicants will leverage funding provided by Solar Victoria, along with their own co-funding, to embark on residential electrification projects. Selection criteria also encourages the use of local sourcing.

The initiative follows the ban placed on gas network connections for new-build homes in the state, which came into play in January as part of Victoria’s Gas Substitution Roadmap.

Earlier this month, the Allan government also banned gas companies from offering cash incentives or rebates to households that install major new gas appliances, or connect to the gas network, in the latest policy move to wean the state’s homes off the fossil fuel.

“This Residential Electrification Grants Program will make it easier than ever for Victorians to install solar and energy efficient hot water… while accelerating the household transition to all-electric homes on a scale not yet seen in Australia,” said Solar Victoria CEO Stan Krpan on Friday.

“The Residential Electrification Grants program builds on Solar Victoria’s successful Solar Homes Program, which has helped more than 300,000 Victorian households transition to clean, cheap, renewable energy since 2018.”

Solar Victoria says phasing out gas and going all-electric can save households around $1,000 per year off their energy bills or up to $2,200 for households that also have solar installed.

Krpan says submissions for the Residential Electrification Grants are currently being assessed and successful applicants are expected to be announced in the coming months.