First phase of virtual power plant complete; solar panels and Tesla batteries installed on 100 homes
SOLAR panels and Tesla batteries have been installed on 100 Housing SA homes to deliver the first phase of a State Government-backed virtual power plant — Here’s what comes next.
SOLAR panels and Tesla batteries have been installed on 100 Housing SA homes to deliver the first phase of a State Government-backed virtual power plant.
The same equipment will be installed on a further 1000 public housing properties over the next 12 months to deliver the second phase of the plan, funded through a $30 million State Government loan.
The 250MW virtual power plant was first promised by the former Labor Government ahead of the March state election and adopted by the Liberals after winning government.
Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the trial of solar panels and Tesla Powerwall batteries for public housing was “already delivering participating South Australians significantly reduced electricity bills”.
He said the first phase had shown that the technology could help boost supply of energy during peak demand periods.
“The Virtual Power Plant will not only increase the reliability of the state’s energy network, it is expected to deliver energy bill savings of up to 30 per cent for thousands of low income households across South Australia when fully installed,” he said.
Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink said the project gave South Australians “huge help in paying excessive power bills as they struggle with daily cost of living expenses”.
Ahead of the state election, the Liberals also promised a $100 million scheme to subsidise 40,000 batteries on private homes.
Mr van Holst Pellekaan said he would announce further details of that scheme “in the coming months”.
Before the election, the Liberals said the fund would be means tested and the average grant available to the 40,000 homes targeted would be $2500.
“The Marshall Government has always highlighted the critical need for more storage to increase security and lower expensive peak costs,” Mr van Holst Pellekaan said.