SolarHub awarded $5.4 million grant from NSW government to deliver Smart Distributed Batteries project
The project is a first for NSW and will develop a 6 megawatt (MW) Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to strengthen the NSW electricity network and lower electricity costs for consumers.
SolarHub will offer a point of sale discount to approximately 650 residential and small business customers to encourage battery installation, with customers required to join the VPP to receive the discount. SolarHub will use Reposit’s ‘Marketplace’ technology and software to link each battery to form the 6MW VPP.
The VPP will operate in the National Electricity Market to provide ancillary network support and provide electricity arbitrage for participants to maximise the use of solar power and reduce electricity bills. Simply put, SolarHub will aggregate the energy from the group of distributed batteries to create a virtual network of connected batteries. The combined energy can then be strategically deployed to lower grid pressure during peak energy demand, such as when
the grid struggles in summer due to high air-conditioning use.
The project, deployed in the South Coast region of NSW, as well as in NSW Councils surrounding the Australian Capital Territory, will likely provide batteries to homes affected by the recent bushfires and can provide customers with the option to have back-up power (for an additional cost). This means that customers will be able to power parts of their home or business during another bushfire season, even if unavoidable blackouts occur. The project will also identify barriers and solutions to managing VPPs.
The Smart Distributed Batteries project will be deployed in the following Councils:
- Shoalhaven City Council
- Eurobodalla Shire Council
- Bega Valley Shire Council
- Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council
- Yass Valley Council (within 100km of Canberra CBD)
- Snowy Monaro Council (within 100km of Canberra CBD)
