Home » Multimedia » Podcasts » SwitchedOn Podcast: The problem with community batteries

SwitchedOn Podcast: The problem with community batteries

As we embrace the renewable energy transition there’s a growing interest in ‘community’ batteries – they’re seen as a way for local communities to share energy resources, especially with people who can’t afford their own batteries or solar.

But Tristan Edis, the Director of Analysis and Advisory at the consultancy firm Green Energy Markets, says most of the medium sized batteries that have so far been installed in Australia and called ‘community’ batteries have failed to deliver value for energy consumers, or reduce energy bills.

He’s crunched the numbers and found the government has been funding big monopoly power companies to install ‘community’ batteries which produce power that is substantially more expensive than what a household battery can.

For more information about electrification and energy efficiency checkout SwitchedOn.

Reclaim Energy is a proud sponsor of the SwitchedOn Australia Podcast

Anne Delaney is the host of the SwitchedOn podcast and our Electrification Editor. She has had a successful career in journalism (the ABC and SBS), as a documentary film maker, and as an artist and sculptor.

Related Topics

Latest posts

S-curve modelling says renewables can kick coal out of Australia by 2032. But is this soon enough?

S-curve modelling says renewables can kick coal out of Australia by 2032. But is this soon enough?

In the race to renewables, the big question is whether “faster than we thought” is the same as “fast enough.” S-curves say we can do the first. Nothing in the modelling tells us we’re on track for the second.
“It’s a commercial system. And it has a customer:” Sodium-ion battery sale hailed as a first for Australia

“It’s a commercial system. And it has a customer:” Sodium-ion battery sale hailed as a first for Australia

The sale of a 100 kilowatt and 200 kilowatt-hour sodium-ion battery system is being claimed as an Australian first – and may herald next generation of storage tech.
Energy Insiders Podcast: Will the green bank save the Tomago deal?

Energy Insiders Podcast: Will the green bank save the Tomago deal?

CEFC boss Ian Learmonth explains why big wind projects may finally get delivered this year. Plus: Tomago aims for 100 pct renewables, and the big utility profits.
Balcony solar or building integrated PV? The emerging options for apartment dwellers and owners

Balcony solar or building integrated PV? The emerging options for apartment dwellers and owners

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry on apartment energy issues has recently reported and identified several issues that require urgent attention to address the failures of energy policy. One interesting issue that relates to both high rise apartments, and plug-in ‘balcony solar’, is where solar fits into apartment occupant energy costs.  High rise apartment buildings have very […]