The Territory Government is continuing its investment to deliver affordable, clean, reliable and stable energy for Territorians with the continuation of the Home and Business Battery Scheme (HBBS).
The first round of grants has enabled more Territorians to make the switch to renewable technology while also delivering stable, reliable and affordable power for families and Territory businesses.
More than 780 Territorian households and businesses have applied for the scheme, with over 550 applications approved worth $3.3 million in grant funding.
To continue to make the scheme accessible to all Territorians, the HBBS $6,000 grant is being adapted to a new model that will ensure the investment in batteries further assists in our grid stability.
The changes include:
- from 1 July 2021, homes and businesses will be able to purchase a battery to fit their needs with a grant of $450 per kilowatt hour of battery system capacity, up to a maximum grant of $6,000
- from 2 August 2021, the grant will be available only for battery systems that are on an approved list of battery systems that have been assessed as virtual power plant capable. Virtual power plant capability is the ability for the operation of individual home and business battery system to be coordinated via a network.
The changes to the Home and Business Battery Scheme will improve:
- the equity of the scheme by better aligning the subsidy amount with the cost of the chosen battery system
- the efficiency of the scheme by providing customers with greater choice to install a battery that meets their specific requirements, and
- the effectiveness of the scheme to contribute to system security by enabling the batteries to provide more services in the future to support power system security and reliability.
Installing a battery means that rather than exporting electricity into the grid, the household or business is able to store the electricity for future use, a major cost saving measure.
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