More batteries could stabilise grid, lower power prices

A NQ solar business says over 200 people have joined their ‘virtual power plant’, installing batteries that not only store power for their homes, but feed the grid during peak demand. See how it works.

Jody and John Horan of Horan and Bird.

A NQ solar business says over 200 people have joined their ‘virtual power plant’, installing batteries that not only store solar power for their homes, but feed the grid during peak demand.

Townsville-based business Horan and Bird Solar have been at the forefront of household solar for 20 years, and they’ve seen a huge swing towards home batteries in 2025.

Owner John Horan said almost everyone with solar wants a battery.

“80 per cent of all our new installations are installing a battery with their solar systems now, compared to only 10 per cent this time last year,” Mr Horan said.

“There has been a huge shift to batteries since all the weather events we’ve had.”

John and Jody Horan, owners of Horan and Bird Solar. In 2024 the family bought the company back from Juice Energy, returning to their roots as a family-run business.

Normally, home batteries are only wired to feed power to the home, but Horan and Bird have launched a North Queensland ‘virtual power plant’ with partner Powow, rolling out meters that allow people’s batteries to sell electricity to the grid.

“This has never been done in North Queensland before,” Mr Horan said.

“The virtual power plant meter is a very fast meter that can dispatch a lot of power to the grid during a high-demand event like a storm or a grid outage... that might only happen once a month, and it doesn’t use up the entire battery.”

Ryan and Alicia Parsons went the next level adding batteries to their home to bring down ongoing costs and make the most of the solar setup.

The home batteries essentially work as grid infrastructure, charging up on free rooftop solar during the day and dispelling it when the energy grid needs power, making their owners money in the process.

“Virtual power plants are a critical solution to keeping the electricity grid stable,” Mr Horan said.

“They are the grid’s defence to keeping the lights on and keeping the high costs of electricity down.”

In 2014, the Ergon CEO said solar and batteries would be cheaper than grid power within 10 years. A younger Scott Bird and John Horan were interviewed for the story and posed with a battery pack. Do you think the Ergon CEO was right?

Mr Horan said virtual power plants were particularly useful in North Queensland, as the batteries not only power their owner’s homes during natural disasters and blackouts, but also help add capacity to the grid.

“There are substations right now in Townsville that are at capacity, and they can’t generate any more power,” Mr Horan said.

“The reason why Ergon keeps on putting the power price up, is because we have an ageing grid and it costs a lot to upgrade it.”

These houses in a Maroochydore over 50s lifestyle village are now on a virtual power plant run by developer GemLife, who plans to have 10,000 homes ussing VPPs and producing up to 90 per cent of their own energy.

There are several virtual power plants running across Australia, in Victoria, NSW, South Australia and parts of Brisbane.

Horan and Bird launched the North Queensland virtual power plant in September 2024, and say in seven months over 200 people have signed on, and they are on track to have 3MWh of batteries on the network by July.

To put that in perspective, 3MWh can power 2500 - 3000 homes for one hour.

“It has been the homeowners who are really jumping on this,” Mr Horan said.

“The more batteries that get installed in North Queensland, the cheaper energy will be for everybody.”

EARLY ADOPTER: In 2017, Adelaide resident Robert Fitzgerald took part in AGL's power plant, in which householders signed up for a federally subsidised home battery to help counter soaring prices in the existing network. Kelly Barnes/The Australian

The large majority of older batteries are not compatible with the virtual power plant meters, so Horan and Bird Solar are focusing on homeowners who already have solar panels and are interested in expanding into a battery.

Customers can purchase their new battery outright (Horan and Bird are currently offering batteries for $8000 to $14,000), finance it, or take advantage of a new $0 upfront option.

Interested residents can get a battery for $0 by signing onto a Power Purchase Agreement with Horan and Bird and their partner Powow.

“Our partners (Powow)are funding batteries through our Power Purchase Agreement where we will fund the entire system, look after all the maintenance, servicing, and you lock in cheap power,” Mr Horan said.

“There is an amazing opportunity for businesses, farmers, clubs, or schools that can house large batteries as there is great revenue to be made from them.”

The trade off with taking the $0 battery deal is that Powow owns the equipment and power, and sells it back to you at a flat rate - but the upside is your house will maintain power during blackouts.

After 10 years, the contract will run out and the homeowner will inherit the battery for free.

Originally published as More batteries could stabilise grid, lower power prices