SIMON Corbell says subsidised smart battery storage will be available to Canberra homes and businesses with the ACT Government awarding $2million in grant funding for eight companies to the roll-out the technology.

Simon announced the winning companies following a rigorous auction process- ActewAGL Retail, Energy Matters, EPC Solar, Evergen, ITP Renewables, Origin Energy, Power Saving Centre and Solarhub.

“The grants package will support more than 2MW of solar-integrated storage across more than 600 Canberra homes and businesses,” Simon said.

“For the consumer, solar energy can be stored during the day and used later in the evening when we see increased usage on the network.

“The ability of smart batteries to provide extra services to the grid also promises additional income streams for households and businesses.

“The grants are part of the ACT Government plan to support the roll-out of 36MW of distributed battery storage in more than 5,000 homes and businesses by 2020.

“Research by the Australian Energy Market Commission and AECOM indicates network savings of up to $220 million could result from a 36MW reduction in peak demand on the ACT network.

“The government has spread its funding across a number of providers to encourage competition, innovation and support a range of technologies.

“Our program will generate an unprecedented data set which will inform research in this important area.”

“Typically, residential batteries installed under the program range from 2 kW to 5 kW, thereby saving several thousand dollars per system. The amount of support per kW is expected to reduce over time through future grant rounds as competition increases, technology improves and production costs reduce.

“Battery storage is an important complementary technology for the Government’s target of 100% renewable energy by 2020,” Mr Corbell said.