Neighbourhood battery roll out seeks to soak up solar in the regions

A raft of regional towns will host dozens of big batteries as Victoria pushes to reach bold storage targets.

Among 20 towns set to welcome 25 neighbourhood batteries are Phillip Island, Queenscliff, Wodonga, Yackandandah, Tatura and Wangaratta.

The Victorian government has set aside $6 million for six battery projects, expected to deliver more than 4.2 megawatt hours of storage capacity.

Popular tourist town Phillip Island will have seven batteries installed, while four will established at Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula.

Another 10 batteries will be spread across the state’s east and northeast, totalling 850 kilowatt hours of storage.

“We’re making Victoria the home of batteries,” Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.

Before the last election, then-premier Daniel Andrews promised $42 million to install 100 neighbourhood batteries across the state within the next term if Labor was returned to government.

Last week, Victoria’s upper house passed a bill to legislate energy storage targets for at least 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3GW by 2035.

The legislation also set a target for the state to reach 95 per cent renewable energy generation by 2035.

Source: AAP