Despite the hiccups and protests associated with Western Australia’s Residential Battery Scheme, there has been plenty of interest in the rebate.
How Many WA Solar Battery Rebate Applications So Far?
According to WA Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation Amber-Jade Sanderson, there had been 8,800 applications from households across Western Australia as at August 21 2025; with over 5,500 of those “already on their way to installation”.
How The Scheme Saga Unfolded
A few weeks prior to Western Australia’s state election in March, Premier Roger Cook signalled WA Labor’s intention to offer home battery rebates of up to $5,000 for Synergy customers and up to $7,500 for Horizon Power customers under a state scheme. This would be accompanied by an optional means-tested no-interest loan of up to $10,000 for additional or replacement solar panels as part of a battery installation.
Solar batteries installed under the scheme would need to be Virtual Power Plant capable; but VPP connection wasn’t mandatory.
The pledge hinged on WA Labor regaining power after the state election, which it did. The program was to initially start on or before 1 July 2025, and would benefit 19,000 Synergy and up to 1,000 Horizon Power customers — so, 20,000 all told.
But Federal Labor subsequently pledged a national battery rebate if it won the federal election; and the party was victorious. The question then was whether the WA rebate could be claimed alongside the national battery subsidy, and if so, how things would work.
In early June, just weeks before both programs were due to formally launch, the Cook Government did some recalibrating of its scheme.
- Reduced to up to $1,300 for Synergy customers ($130 per kWh of battery capacity up to 10 kWh).
- Reduced to up to $3,800 for Horizon Power customers1 ($380 per kWh of capacity up to 10 kWh).
- The number of rebates expanded to provide support for up to 100,000 households.
- Connection to a VPP compulsory.
- WA subsidy “stackable” with the national rebate.
- Households with combined annual incomes of under $210,000 eligible for a zero-interest loan from $2,001 to $10,000.
Rebate Rejiggering Vindicated?
We saw a significant amount of pushback from commenters here on SolarQuotes about the changes, but as Minister Sanderson pointed out in her recent comments to State Parliament regarding the original scheme design:
“That means that our entire allocation would have been exhausted by the end of the year and it would have been first in, best dressed—sorry for those who missed out.”
And concerning VPP connection being mandatory:
“It will enable us to synchronise that demand and those batteries at times of peak demand, which means we will be able to have more flexibility around the grid and enable the stabilisation of the grid rather than all the solar panels pushing energy into our grid during the day when no-one is using it and everyone coming home and drawing down on the grid at peak.”
But unlike in some other states, WA rebate beneficiaries have little/no choice in VPP programs, with one available for Horizon customers (Horizon Community Wave) and two for Synergy customers — Synergy Battery Rewards and Plico Energy’s VPP.
Hardware Choices Growing (Oh So Slowly)
Another thorny issue with the Scheme is how long it’s taking to get hardware on Synergy’s and Horizon Power’s Supported Solutions lists; which is necessary for state rebate eligibility.
Not long before the program went live, twenty-six technology provider applications had been received, but the scheme kicked off with just a handful approved.
By August 21, only eleven were on Synergy’s list and seven on Horizon Power’s. Sigenergy’s SigenStor was finally listed by Synergy on August 22. Given the popularity of Sigenergy gear, it will be interesting to see if its inclusion provides any significant lift to application submission rates. But as at early this morning, another very popular brand, Tesla, is still nowhere to be seen.
For the latest on the program, see the SolarQuotes WA Residential Battery Scheme Explainer, which is updated as new information becomes available.
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Update 5 September: According to an ABC report published early today, several WA installers have said they are collectively owed millions of dollars in unpaid loans and rebates, and some are refusing to install batteries through the WA scheme.
Footnotes
- Learn more about installing solar and batteries in regional WA (Horizon Power’s service area). ↩
About Michael Bloch
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I presume WA customers can just take the Fed rebate, which doesn’t require VPP signup and has a wider range of systems eligible.
If so, I would just go with the Fed offering and eschew the state one, just as I have done in NSW. Limited to 10kWh (NSW cuts out at 28kWh) and not even an Amber (or similar) option with VPPs? Tell ’em they’re dreamin’.
So, we cant really know how successful the state plan is unless we know how many federal rebates were applied for in WA in the same period.
If the numbers are not to far apart, then the state system is a success and is working, if it is much lower than the number of federal rebates applied for, then we know it isn’t working very well.
It’s very easy to find that info..just based on what another source of energy would cost, over just a few years. A gas plant would cost many millions to build, as would a coal plant. A nuke plant would be in the billions. A gas peaker plant was erected just north of us in 2010 at a cost of $86 million. This plant is used about two weeks a year. All power plants get subsidies..but after the install, a solar plant pays back because no further expense is necessary.
Find it interesting that there is a lot of interest to install batteries in WA as the government provides our electricity sweetened with up to three subsidies, one federal and two state, especially before the elections. In our case of a pensioner couple with a 6.6kW/5kW inverter system, we have not payed for any electricity for several years despite a low FIT of 2c/kWh and 10c/kWh after three PM.
Given the demonstrated untrustworthiness of the Crook state government regarding this scam, so far, the numbers provided by the state government, for applications for the WA government scam, lack credibility.
And, I believe that ministers of governments in Australia, have been shown to have misled the parliaments, before this occasion.
It’s becoming more likely that Tesla won’t sign on to the WA Battery Scheme. CSIP-AUS is where heads are butting.
Lack of Dynamic Export Control is essential for VPP control to be worthwhile.
I mean no DCU will cripple VPP usage for systems that require it as they won’t be able to export.
I’d be very interested to know how many are signing up for the federal rebate only and skipping the state rebate altogether.
We have gone for the federal rebate only for our battery and new panel installation, we decided to not bother with the WA state rebate after they backflipped after being elected so dont trust them at all especially with the mandatory VPP sign up.
We have a number of friends who have also not bothered with the state rebate for the same reasons, our installer also said a lot of his customers have also not bothered, it would be interesting to know the numbers for both.
For $1300 we wont be handing over control of our battery to a third party, it all seems too one sided, we will wait to see if other VPP players enter the WA market with better terms such as Amber who operate in the Eastern states and decide then.
Good morning, I think your playing down the reason for people not wanting to join the WA subsidy, as I like a lot of others voted for Labour and one of the considerations was the subsidy saying they would give you $5K if your installed a 10kW battery after the 1/7/25.
I believe what they have done will not achieve the 100,000 installs they said would be able to take advantage of the scheme. Unfortunately this seems to be typical of the current government promise a lot and not deliver!!
there had been 8,800 applications from households across Western Australia as at August 21 2025; with over 5,500 of those “already on their way to installation”.
How many of these did not apply for the WA grant/VPP and how many did though?