Australian states’ solar-plus-storage plans set ‘example for uncertain times’

Australian state governments of Western Australia and the Northern Territory have budgeted for measures to support renewables in the past few days, with schemes set to roll out solar feed-in tariffs, grants and batteries at large-scale, residential and community level.

The Northern Territory government is to offer a grant of AU$6,000 (US$3,713) to PV systems with inverters and battery equipment selected from an approved list of vendors, with batteries required to boast 7kWh of capacity or more to be eligible.

Meanwhile, a government-owned energy supply startup, Jacana Energy, will offer a standard feed-in tariff (FIT) of AU$0.083 / kWh to “all new businesses and households with behind-the-meter solar installations of up to 30kW in size”.

For its part, Western Australia's government will offer utility customers access to so-called ‘community Powerbanks’, neighbourhood batteries that store solar energy as well as helping networks to balance the grid – and reduce their costs.

“This is just the sort of initiative needed to boost consumer confidence and keep people employed during these uncertain times,” said Kane Thornton, chief executive of Australian clean energy body CEC. He congratulated state authorites for the solar and battery stimulus packages, calling on “all other state and territory governments to follow their lead”.