Victoria starts home battery aggregation pilot

The government of the Australian state of Victoria on Friday announced a programme to pilot the aggregation of residential solar batteries.

The programme will set up local networks of homes with solar arrays and batteries, the government said. The surplus power stored in the solar batteries will be combined and sold back into the grid at times of high demand, providing additional revenues to the households and improving the reliability of the grid.

"This pilot aims to bring the benefits of solar to all Victorians – reducing pressure on the grid and boosting reliability when demand is highest," said Lily D’Ambrosio, Victoria's Minister for Solar Homes.

The government is looking for energy companies with aggregation expertise to participate in the programme. Interested battery aggregators can apply by early June.

The pilot is expected to prepare the ground for future virtual power plants (VPPs) and microgrids. It follows the allocation of AUD 47.4 million (USD 36.7m/EUR 30.3m) of funding in the Victorian Budget 2020/21 to increase the number of battery rebates available from 10,000 over 10 years to 18,500 over four years.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.774/EUR 0.640)

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