The Cheaper Home Batteries scheme is on track to notch up half a million installations in August, according to the latest tally, as the hugely successful federal government rebate continues to defy all expectations, even after being wound back in May.
In an update on the rebate’s progress, federal energy minister Chris Bowen said 487,000 discounted home battery systems had been installed as of Tuesday, adding a total of 13 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage behind the meter, soaking up excess rooftop solar power.
Speaking at a gala dinner as part of the Australian Clean Energy Summit in Sydney on Tuesday, Bowen said it was facts and figures like these that were the best antidote to the fresh round of renewable energy and climate disinformation being whipped up by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.
“So we are … finally flattening the the duck curve, of solar, which brings down pressure on prices for everyone,” Bowen told the gathering. “Now people aren’t going to buy that straight away. That’s a constant, ever receding finish-line to achieve, to get the job done.
“But my point is… Australians … they’re on the journey. They’re making a better energy source more reliable, cheaper, and they are well and truly on the journey.Â
“And the best figures for Cheaper Home Batteries is in the outer suburbs and regions, and not in Climate Activism Central, because it makes common sense.”
Bowen also offered some insight into just how much the federal government underestimated the runaway success of the home battery rebate.
“I was very confident it would be very successful, but it’s been more successful than I thought. That’s the truth,” Bowen said.
“I think today we hit 487,000 cheaper home batteries. …We’re putting in 2,000 a day, so during August, we’ll hit half a million.
“The original target was a million by 2030 – that’s what we thought would be a good result – and we’ll have half a million in a bit over a year. So it’s July 01 to August, half a million home batteries.
“Let’s put that achievement in context,” Bowen added. “That’s 13 gigawatt-hours of Cheaper Home Batteries. Do you know what the entire capacity of the United States home battery fleet is? … It’s 9 GWh. So we have put in more capacity in Australia [in] 12 months than the United States has put in in history.”
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