Bass Coast Council installing ‘big battery’ in move towards carbon neutrality

Plans for a community energy storage system on the Bass Coast have been approved in a move that hopes to offer greater supply reliability and address the cost of living.

The race is on for Victorian councils to reach ambitious sustainability targets, with one council’s plans for a revolutionary community energy storage system recently approved.

The Department of Environment Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) recently approved Bass Coast Shire Council’s plans for a community energy storage system.

According to the council, the Phillip Island Community Energy Storage System (PICESS) will offer greater supply reliability and “could potentially slash power bills, with residents able to use the grid to store their power”.

The PICESS, which will be installed near Wimbledon Heights, is a 5MW/10MWh battery.

Dubbed the “big battery”, it aligns with council’s vision to be carbon neutral and 100 per cent renewable by 2030.

Totally Renewable Phillip Island (TRPI)’s coordinator Zoe Geyer said the project started as a concept five years ago but was fast becoming a reality.

“This is a new energy future that benefits everyone on the Island and gives people ownership and a sense of pride,” Ms Geyer said.

TRPI is also working with stakeholders on two other battery projects which will complement the installation of the PICESS.

The race is on for Victorian councils to reach ambitious sustainability targets, with one council getting plans approved for a revolutionary community energy storage system. Â

The first of these battery projects will help determine if a network of street level batteries would be feasible on the Island.

This network would “boost the ability of the electricity network to host larger volumes of renewable power on the grid”, according to the council.

“The arrival of the big battery on the Island, alongside these two great explorations into community access to locally-generated renewable energy and storage, pave the way for a just transition to a sustainable future that leaves no-one behind,” Ms Geyer said.

The second project, which would commence after the PICESS battery is installed, would fund a year-long trial of 100 participants.

“It will explore cutting-edge tariff arrangements to support ‘virtual storage’ for people on the Island,” the council said.

“Household generated renewable energy, for example power generated from household solar systems, would be shared through innovative tariff trial structures with other Island residents who cannot currently access renewable energy, creating a local renewable energy production and shared resource.”

The trial will assess whether the battery system will result in cheaper electricity bills by storing renewable energy in a community battery rather than property owners having to purchase their own household batteries.

Bass Coast Council has agreed to host the community battery on Council land.

Mayor Michael Whelan said the council had declared a climate emergency in 2020, and this project was one of a number of important initiatives aimed at ultimately reversing climate change.

“This project proves how important climate change is to our community, and everyone who lives on Phillip Island will benefit. With cost of living front of mind, the ability for communities to harness natural resources to produce and store power will hopefully make a real difference to household bills,” Cr Whelan said.

Victoria currently has strong renewable energy targets which will see half of the state’s electricity come from renewables by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

The target of 25 per cent by 2020 has already been exceeded, with renewable energy generating more than 30 per cent of the state’s electricity in 2021.

Hepburn Shire council has also recently been making huge steps towards being more sustainable with their ‘Hepburn Z-net’ project being ahead on multiple targets.

The plan, released in 2019, is a road map to how the community can become the first zero-net emission community in Victoria.