According to the Climate Council’s latest report, “Battery Boom: Supercharging Australia’s Renewable Rollout,” installing two million more batteries in homes and businesses by 2030 would save Australians more than $4 billion on power bills annually.
The report reveals that over 300,000 households have added batteries since they entered the market in 2015, while more than 20 gigawatts of large-scale battery storage projects are in development, almost double what was planned just a year ago.
Climate Councillor and energy expert, Greg Bourne, said batteries are playing an increasingly important role.
“Around 40 per cent of our main energy grid is powered by sun and wind,” Mr Bourne said.
“Batteries are our bridge to a 21st century energy grid; keeping the lights on in our homes, schools, and workplaces as our ageing coal fleet eventually retires by 2040,”
The upfront cost of large-scale batteries in Australia has fallen by 20 per cent in the last year alone, making them increasingly accessible to more Australians.
Mr Bourne said battery storage had efficiency benefits.
“We already generate an excess of clean, reliable, renewable energy from Australia’s abundant sun and wind,” he said.
“Rather than simply letting it go to waste and missing out on the savings, batteries will help soak it all up and put it to good use during periods of high demand.”
Different states are making significant progress in battery implementation, with South Australia leading overall.
Western Australia has the most large-scale battery projects with eight connected to the grid, while Victoria is installing the highest number of community batteries at 140.
The Northern Territory has the highest percentage of household battery adoption, with 15.9% of solar-equipped homes also having battery storage systems.
Climate Council Fellow and energy expert, Andrew Stock, said he’d like to see battery adoption accelerate.
“Household, community, and grid-scale battery storage plays a vital role in Australia’s renewable energy transition,” Mr Stock said.
States are already making headway in these areas, but we must go further and faster to ensure more Australians can reap the benefits.”
