SA Election 2018: State Liberals propose $100m home battery plan as part of energy policy

THOUSANDS of homes with solar panels could access cash from a $100 million State Government fund to link them to a battery, in a major plank of the Liberal Party energy policy to be released on Tuesday.

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THOUSANDS of homes with solar panels could access cash from a $100 million State Government fund to link them to a battery, in a major plank of the Liberal Party energy policy to be released on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall will make one of the biggest announcements of the state election campaign, unveiling a long-awaited plan to lower power prices that will include battery grants averaging around $2500.

It comes just days after SA Best Leader Nick Xenophon threw the election into chaos by announcing a return to state politics, and six months after Labor released its energy plan.

State Liberal Leader Steven Marshall. Picture: Calum Robertson

Premier Jay Weatherill.

The Advertiser can reveal Mr Marshall’s “Liberal Energy Solution” will feature a $100 million household battery fund that seeks to take advantage of SA’s nation-leading levels of solar panels. The fund will be means tested, and aim to get batteries into 40,000 homes.

In a broadside at Premier Jay Weatherill’s high-profile deal with Tesla boss Elon Musk for a big battery, Mr Marshall said his plan would “focus on South Australians, not celebrity billionaires”.

“We are going to back South Australians who want to take charge of their energy generation and consumption,” Mr Marshall said on Monday night.

“South Australians have been treated like guinea pigs by Jay Weatherill and the Labor Party for too long.

“A Marshall Liberal Government will end Labor’s dangerous experiment and deliver cheaper electricity.”

Energy experts say household batteries, including models produced by Adelaide-based companies, are on the verge of moving from luxury items to mainstream technology.

Mr Marshall said his battery plan had been independently modelled and would deliver direct benefits to households as well as taking pressure off the shared electricity grid.

Latest figures show that 32 per cent of SA homes — almost one in three — have solar panels.

The average grant available to the 40,000 homes targeted by the Liberals would be $2500.

Adelaide City Council’s sustainability incentives scheme already offers its residents up to $5000 for installing a household battery, and the same for putting up solar panels.

A collapse in the cost of renewable technologies and the skyrocketing price of energy from the grid have led to industry predictions it will soon be cheaper to go it alone at home.

Currently selling for around $10,000 each, home batteries allow both backup during times of blackouts or load-shedding as well as the ability to store energy and sell it back to the grid.

That means households can theoretically buy power when it is cheap, sell it when it is expensive and take pressure off the shared network at peak demand times around sunset.

The release of the SA Liberals’ energy plan comes ahead of their federal colleagues finalising a response to a national review by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel earlier this year.

It also comes as the Australian Energy Market Operator continues to warn of possible blackouts and load shedding over the coming summer, with the first test just a month away.

According to current projections, SA and Victoria both face blackout risks following the closure of large coal-fired power stations in both states.

AEMO’s forecasts show SA will be running low on power reserves from November 20. SA is expected to remain with little excess in the system for most of the summer, and faces risk all the way to election day.

The Liberals’ move is also a sign the party believes it must promote a broader vision for the state, and give voters disgruntled with Labor a reason to avoid Senator Xenophon.

Mr Marshall has said he will not enter a coalition with SA Best, and claims only the Liberals can deliver reforms needed in the state while managing the realities of government.

Since the statewide blackout in September last year, Labor claims to have delivered significant reforms which will put downward pressure on prices and prevent blackouts.

It is spending $110 million on emergency diesel generators for the next two summers, at the Elizabeth Holden factory site and Adelaide Desalination Plant.

Mr Weatherill says they will probably be purchased outright and switched to gas after that, and moved to a different site, to become a promised “state-owned power station”.

The Government has also claimed credit for plans for a solar-thermal plant at Port Augusta, which has won a contract for the supply of public sector electricity. It still requires the release of a $110 million concessional loan from the Federal Government.

Plans for an energy security target, in which the State Government would force retailers to buy some power from reliable generators like gas, have been shelved until 2020.

Parliament has granted Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis new authority to order power plants to switch on and manage power flows to Victoria.

Mr Koutsantonis yesterday revealed that companies from around the world had submitted almost 60 proposals under the Government’s $150 million Renewable Technology Fund. Storage and bioenergy projects were eligible for the grants and loans.

“What this result shows is that companies around the world recognise the potential that exists

in the energy and storage sector in SA,” Mr Koutsantonis said.