{"id":84163,"date":"2024-06-03T05:51:07","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T20:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=84163"},"modified":"2025-07-13T15:05:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T05:35:57","slug":"vic-neighbourhood-batteries-mb2933","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/vic-neighbourhood-batteries-mb2933\/","title":{"rendered":"VIC Neighbourhood Batteries: Readying For A New Round"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-84164\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/victoria-neighbourhood-battery.jpg\" alt=\"Victoria's Neighbourhood Batteries Program\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/victoria-neighbourhood-battery.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/victoria-neighbourhood-battery-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/victoria-neighbourhood-battery-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/victoria-neighbourhood-battery-768x403.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Another round of the Victorian Government&#8217;s 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program will open for applications in August &#8211; and a new tool will help groups prepare to apply for funding.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A neighbourhood or community battery<sup class='endnote'><a href='https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/vic-neighbourhood-batteries-mb2933\/#en-84163-1' id='enref-84163-1' onclick='return hhEndnotes_show(84163)'>1<\/a><\/sup> is an energy storage system that is larger than a home solar battery, but smaller than utility scale. These batteries can soak up solar energy goodness from local solar power systems during the day, releasing it when needed &#8211; such as during evening peak demand. This can contribute to taking pressure off network infrastructure and avoid more costlier upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>In some models, solar power system owners can &#8220;rent&#8221; a certain amount of capacity and &#8220;bank&#8221; their solar output for use in the evenings instead of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/battery-storage\/comparison-table\/\">buying a home battery<\/a>. There have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wa-powerbank-trial-mb0813\/\"> trials in Western Australia<\/a> going back a few years based on this model.<\/p>\n<h2>More Application Help This Round<\/h2>\n<p>Victoria&#8217;s $42 million program launched in 2021 and while it considers various models, the focus is on improving local energy network reliability and removing constraints; allowing for more households to install rooftop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/\">solar panels<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Scoring cash under the program isn&#8217;t just a case of getting together with a few neighbours, then writing to Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D\u2019Ambrosio and asking nicely to plonk one in the reserve at the end of the street. Eligible parties are confined to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>public entities<\/li>\n<li>private sector businesses and agencies<\/li>\n<li>educational institutions<\/li>\n<li>local government authorities<\/li>\n<li>co-operatives<\/li>\n<li>non-profits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8230; and there&#8217;s a fair bit involved. But from this month, organisations are able to access a new tool to help put together a business case and submit an application for funding, plus other support will be available to applicants.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria&#8217;s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) will provide funding of up to $300,000 per battery for accepted projects, and applicants must be prepared to kick in a cash contribution.<\/p>\n<p>Victorian Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Action <a href=\"https:\/\/www.premier.vic.gov.au\/your-community-neighbourhood-battery-ready\"> Sheena Watt said<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;With the new project readiness tool and one-on-one support for potential applicants, we\u2019re supporting more community organisations to get involved in the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A project readiness tool <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.vic.gov.au\/grants\/neighbourhood-batteries\/tools-and-resources\">is available here<\/a>, but be aware that as at the time of writing that page was last updated on May 30 (mentioned at the bottom of the page), so it may not be the latest version. The announcement referred to the tool as the &#8220;Neighbourhood Battery Business Case Tool&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2>Are Neighbourhood Batteries Worthwhile?<\/h2>\n<p>The idea of community batteries has been pretty popular, thanks largely to Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen&#8217;s heavily-publicized community battery bonanza. But whether the concept is a good one depends where and how they operate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/community-batteries-are-popular-but-we-have-to-make-sure-they-actually-help-share-power-202626\">This article<\/a> published on The Conversation last year details some challenges, and says with regard to addressing constraints in the local electricity grid:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;.. we should only turn to them where they are clearly better than the alternatives, such as upgrading transformers.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Powercor Australia&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/neighbourhood-batteries-study-mb2547\/\">The Powerful Neighbours<\/a>&#8221; report from 2022, which was funded by the Victorian government, noted community energy storage projects are not easily scalable and the model used in one neighbourhood may not necessarily transfer well to another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another round of the Victorian Government&#8217;s 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program will open for applications in August &#8211; and a new tool will help groups prepare to apply for funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":84164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VIC Neighbourhood Batteries: Readying A New Round<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Victorian Government&#039;s 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program will reopen for applications in August. 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Not everyone can afford a residential energy storage system, even with the recently launched national home battery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Example of a neighbourhood battery installation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vic-neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vic-neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vic-neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vic-neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/vic-neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":95963,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/neighbourhood-battery-canberra-mb3312\/","url_meta":{"origin":84163,"position":2},"title":"Neighbourhood Battery Powers Up In Canberra","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"November 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The launch of a neighbourhood battery in the Canberra suburb of Casey sees another milestone achieved in the Big Canberra Battery Project rollout. And we take a quick look at how home battery uptake has been tracking in the ACT. How Big Is The Casey Neighbourhood Battery? In terms of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Casey Neighbourhood Battery, Canberra","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/casey-neighbourhood-battery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/casey-neighbourhood-battery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/casey-neighbourhood-battery.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/casey-neighbourhood-battery.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/casey-neighbourhood-battery.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48072,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/community-power-batteries-mb1891\/","url_meta":{"origin":84163,"position":3},"title":"Victorian Neighbourhood Battery Initiative, Community Power Hubs Open","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The application periods for the Victorian Government's $3 million Neighbourhood Battery Initiative (NBI) and $3.3 million expanded Community Power Hubs program are now open. First to the NBI - part of the Andrews Government's $1.6 billion clean energy package announced in the 2020-2021 Victorian Budget, it will fund pilots and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar and battery storage in Victoria","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/neighbourhood-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/neighbourhood-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/neighbourhood-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/neighbourhood-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/neighbourhood-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53247,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-battery-victoria-mb2125\/","url_meta":{"origin":84163,"position":4},"title":"Community Solar And Battery Storage Bonanza In Victoria","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"More solar power and battery storage capacity is to be rolled out in Victoria under several programs focusing on neighbourhoods and public buildings. First up, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced it is chipping in $4 million for Distributed Network Service Provider (DNSP) United Energy's pole-mounted batteries trial.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar power and battery systems - Victoria","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/solar-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/solar-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/solar-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/solar-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/solar-batteries-victoria.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63345,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/neighbourhood-batteries-study-mb2547\/","url_meta":{"origin":84163,"position":5},"title":"Neighbourhood Batteries: Sharing The Power (And Knowledge)","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"July 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A Victorian study has produced a guide to developing neighbourhood batteries as community assets. Not everyone can afford (or may even want) a home battery, but neighbourhood batteries can help everyone benefit from renewable energy - whether they have solar panels installed or not. Neighbourhood batteries generally charge up during\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Neighbourhood batteries study","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/neighbourhood-batteries.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84163"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93164,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84163\/revisions\/93164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}