ESSENTIAL Energy, in partnership with Origin Energy, is embarking on a two-year trial of compact energy storage, rolling out batteries on power poles in five regional communities.
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Bathurst and Dubbo have been selected for the trial, in addition to Armidale, Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga.
The trial will see the installation of 35 batteries on power poles across the five cities, seven of which have already been installed in Bathurst.
Essential Energy and Origin seek to understand how to best use batteries for communities to get the most out of their rooftop solar while supporting them through the energy transition.
The batteries can store the excess rooftop solar generated during the day and release it when energy demand is high and solar systems are no longer generating, such as when the sun goes down.
The trial provides the opportunity for residents to locally generate, store and use renewable energy in their neighbourhood without having to invest in a home battery.
Essential Energy's chief operating officer, Luke Jenner, said the batteries are connected to the electricity grid to service nearby homes.
"The benefits of localised energy storage for the community is that the energy can be stored where it's generated, adjacent to customer homes, and then it can be used by those homes in the evening without having to be transported long distances," he said.
"So, effectively, we can store that energy where it's generated and where it's used."
The five communities were chosen for the trial due to their size and the skillset of employees.
Essential Energy and Origin also wanted to test the technology in different climates, being coastal, arid, cold, and hot, to understand how the batteries perform in various conditions.
Of Bathurst, Mr Jenner said: "Bathurst was chosen for the trial because it's a great location to put the batteries. There is an excess of solar energy throughout the day, and we can use the batteries to store that energy and then reuse it later on."
Essential Energy says the benefits of the batteries for the community include opportunities for customers to maximise the value of their energy assets, and providing energy storage solutions to keep downward pressure on network prices.
The 35 pole-mounted batteries across the five communities have a total capacity of approximately 2.5MWh, serving around 630 customers.
How to take part in the trial
Essential Energy and Origin are inviting people to register their interest for the trial via their websites.
The trial is open to both home owners and renters.
Participants do not need to be Origin customers or have rooftop solar.
Customers participating in the trial can rent a portion of the battery, up to 4kWh per day, to virtually store and access neighbourhood solar energy, helping to reduce their household energy costs when they take part.
Origin says participants could save up to $268 a year with the community battery trial.
For more information or to register for the trial, visit Essential Energy's website.
