The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has marked the installation of 100 community batteries and announced a further $23.2 million in funding for three new energy storage systems to be built under a second round of its national grants scheme.
It’s a big jump from the 22 communities batteries that ARENA said were installed by the end of last year, and 23 by the end of March, according to a study released by the agency in July.
That study did anticipate a big jump in installations by the end of the year, however.
ARENA launched the Community Batteries Funding Round 1 back in April 2023, which started with an initial $120 million to support the roll out of up to 370 community batteries across Australia.
In 2024, ARENA awarded $125 million to 318 community battery projects around the country, but as Renew Economy reported only 22 were built by the end of last year.
