State Labor promises $5,000 home battery rebate to slash bills, soak up rooftop solar

Western Australian Labor has unveiled plans to slash the cost of home battery storage, with state government rebates of up to $5,000 per household, or $7,500 for households on the regional Horizon Power grid.

The $387 million Residential Battery Scheme, unveiled by premier Roger Cook at WA Labor’s official election campaign launch on Sunday, aims to underwrite more than 200 megawatt hours (MWh) of small-scale storage – the equivalent, Cook says, of the first stage of the state-owned Kwinana Big Battery.

The rebate – a first for Western Australia – would be made available from July, if Labor is re-elected in March and would be complemented by a no-interest loan program.

WA Labor says that while the rebate would be open to households of any income level, the loans would target low and medium-income households, with many expected to be able to access both.

Eligible households would have up to 10 years to repay the no-interest loans of $10,000 or less.

Cook has also promised to invest $50 million of public money to a Battery Manufacturing Program of direct grants and low-interest loans to support the development of a home battery supply chain in the state.

Western Australia hosts one of Australia’s most rooftop solar soaked grids, with electricity from mostly consumer-owned systems accounting for a record 80.5 per cent share of generation in that state’s main grid at one point in November last year, and consumers adding around 200 MW of new capacity a year.

This makes the addition of storage – of all types and sizes – a rather urgent matter. Already, the market operator and the state government have signed contracts to see half a dozen new big batteries built to soak up rooftop solar in the middle of the day and reinject it into the grid in the evening peak demand periods.

The second stage of the Kwinana battery – owned by the state owned utility Synergy – is sized at 200 MW and 800 MWh, and will add to the 100 MW, 200 MWh first stage that was completed in 2023 and was the first big battery to be built on the state’s main grid.

The addition of the second stage Kwinana battery will nearly double the large-scale storage capacity on the grid, following the recent commissioning of the 219 MW, 878 MWh first stage of Neoen’s Collie battery.

WA Labor said on Sunday it expects the home battery rebate and loan scheme to more than double the number of residential batteries currently installed in homes across the state.

“These WA-first schemes will help thousands of Western Australian households play their part in WA’s clean energy transition – while saving up to $1500 on their power bills year after year,” Cook said in a statement on Sunday.

“The residential batteries resulting from these programs are expected to deliver more than 200 megawatt hours of storage to WA’s electricity grid – the equivalent of the first stage of the Kwinana Big Battery.

“Our no-interest loan program will further support … people who may not be able to afford the upfront costs to also benefit from the ongoing power bill relief that a home battery provides,” Cook said.

“Only WA Labor will do what’s right for WA and deliver a major boost in affordable access to residential batteries.”

To be eligible for the Residential Battery Scheme, batteries purchased must meet Australian and local grid standards and can include existing recognised brands as well as locally manufactured batteries.

The loan program will be means-tested to help up to 20,000 low and medium-income households cover the upfront costs of purchasing a subsidised residential battery.

“It’s pleasing to see some meaningful action being taken to help homes upgrade energy systems to store their own energy,” said Rewiring Australia’s Saul Griffith on Monday.

“We know from our work that people want to be able to store energy on their properties, and the hard work of groups, such as Electrify WA, have helped get the message across to decision makers.”

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.