Community batteries can be connected ‘in front of the meter’ to the electricity network; that is, they are located outside of your home or property and connected to the local network as a standalone unit. A community battery would typically be located at the street level close to where electricity is being consumed and generated.

We think that any financial benefit from operating the Community Battery should be re-invested into the Noosa community to deliver community benefits focussed on decarbonisation.

You can find out more by:

• watching the video explainers

• exploring the website of our partner, Yarra Energy Foundation, who are an acknowledged leader in the field

• reading the Frequently Asked Questions we have complied

• coming to the marquee we’ll be setting up in your local area - see the brochure

• contacting us by email or phoning Vivien Griffin on 0407 116 105

Zero Emissions Noosa is a not-for-profit local community group which has been working with the community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yarra Energy Foundation, a not-for-profit group based in Victoria, has considerable experience in installing community batteries in partnership with its local communities.

We're also working with Noosa Council on this exciting opportunity.

From the grant guidelines….

The Community Batteries for Household Solar Program - Delivery of Election Commitments Stream 1 (the grant opportunity) will run over 4 years from 2022-23 to 2025-26. The grant opportunity will deliver community batteries to support lower electricity bills and emissions, support storage of excess solar energy, and reduce pressure on the grid.

This program complements another grant program that will be commenced by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in 2023. Together the grant opportunities will deliver on the Australian Government’s commitment to deliver 400 community batteries across Australia.

The objective of the grant opportunities is to install, connect and operate community batteries.

The process for the 6 areas has been

• Find the Energex distribution transformers (padmount or pole mount)

• Check if there was suitable land adjacent to the transformer

• Our ex-Energex consultant advised that padmount transformers would be preferred

This narrowed the areas for consideration to two areas that have underground power. Within these areas, we

• Identified houses that are served electricity by a padmount transformer

• Counted solar panels on every roof within the catchment area using Nearmap

From this we have identified 2 areas to further investigate, and

• Conduct community consultation – doorknock & letterbox(6 – 10 Feb), online survey(closes 20 Feb), marquee/drop-in session in the parks (11 Feb)

• Confirm with Council if parkland could be used – to be done

• Confirm with Energex if a connection agreement for a community battery could be pursued. ZEN is in discussion with Energex with informal indications being positive. ZEN will arrange for a lodgement of a Preliminary Connection Enquiry for our preferred site

• Check against other criteria including noise, access, visual amenity, flood maps, other Noosa Plan overlays, disturbance of existing vegetation, and suitable distances from houses, playground equipment, roads (minimise risk of collision), etc

The Federal Government has announced that up to $500 000 grant funding is available for a community battery to be located in the Noosaville area.

Zero Emissions Noosa is working with its partners and the local community to submit an application by 24 February for this funding.

This is a terrific opportunity for a group of Noosaville residents to lead the way on the energy transition that has to happen, and happen quickly! The benefit of a community battery is that the power generated by the area’s rooftop solar is stored and used locally by all the residents in the catchment area. That means less fossil fuels in the electricity we use, and more renewable energy going into the mix.

Importantly, you will not experience any changes to your current electricity bill arrangements If you have rooftop solar, your current feed-in tariff remains exactly the same, as will your electricity charges

By installing rooftop solar you have already demonstrated that renewable energy is important to you. As household batteries are still out of reach for many families, the community battery contributes to the renewable energy mix in the electricity you use in the evening.

A shared community battery should be more efficient and cost-effective than residents installing their own batteries

No, a community battery will not lead to any changes to your feed-in tariff or other electricity costs. The main benefit from a community battery is to increase the amount of renewable energy in the electricity you receive from your electricity retailer.

Congratulations on your journey to electricity independence! The community battery will not affect your current arrangements in any way. If you still need to draw down some power from the grid, the community battery will help increase the mix of renewable energy in the electricity you use.

There are many reasons why some households can’t install solar on their roof. However the community battery helps you to increase the amount of renewable energy that your family uses at night. Over the longer term, community batteries will also benefit everybody by deferring or avoiding costly grid upgrades.

We know that many renters would love to install rooftop solar but their landlord does not agree to this. Community batteries help renters participate in the energy transition through increasing the amount of renewable energy in the electricity they use, particularly in the evening.

No, all residents in the catchment area will automatically participate in the benefits of a community battery, at no additional cost to you. The power normally exported to the grid from local rooftops will charge the battery during the day when the sun is shining. Feed-in tariffs will remain exactly the same. However, instead of that power going into the general electricity supply, it will be stored in the community battery. Then at night when you are using electricity which is usually drawn from a coal-fired power station, the community battery will increase the amount of renewable energy in your electricity consumption.

Deciding the location of a community battery needs to take into account many factors, including the views of local residents, ensuring minimal visual impacts and compliance with national safety standards..

After considering many factors, ZEN has narrowed down the possible Noosaville location to two, both in local parks and near Energex transformers, with no environmental impacts. You can contact us to find out if your house is in one of those locations - email us or phone 0407 116 105.

In addition to checking the views of residents, both sites would need to comply with the requirements of Noosa Council and Energex.

There will also be ongoing opportunities for the local community to be consulted and involved if our application is approved.

ZEN really wants to hear the views and concerns of local residents living in these two areas AND take them into account! We strongly encourage you to complete the survey and to come along to our information sessions on Saturday 11 February.

We are also keen to establish a Community Reference Group to oversight the whole process, including how benefits following installation can be returned to the community. We would love you to put your hand up to be part of this group! Just email us or talk to us at the information sessions.

Community batteries can deliver on the quadruple bottom line of social, environmental, economic and ethical benefits. The community as a whole will benefit from a community battery, particularly as the numbers of batteries grow.

ZEN believes that they represent an important part of the technology mix in the energy transition to reach net zero emissions, and can also contribute to the jobs which will be delivered by the green economy. One of their most fundamental contributions is to increase the renewable energy amount in your electricity mix in the evening, when the sun isn’t shining and demand for electricity is high.

A community battery is an energy storage system that involves and benefits the surrounding community by absorbing excess solar energy produced from your rooftop solar systems during the day and providing it for the community’s use during the evening peak demand period. In essence, it reduces the amount of fossil fuels in the electricity you use, and at the same time increases the amount of renewable energy in the mix.

Each battery consists of storage units and a control unit. Typically each of these units is similar in size to a large refrigerator (700mm W x 800mm D x 2100mm H) and the number of units depends on the chosen storage capacity.

When you come along to one of our community engagement sessions, or at a drop-in event, you’ll be able to see a full size replica of one of the panels.

Here is an image of the community battery installed in North Fitzroy in June 2022. The community also suggested that the final presentation should include a graphic art component We will consult with the local community on their preferred finish

Community batteries will be an important contributor to our Noosa net zero goal. Here’s what they do:

Allow more solar installations. They can enable the network to support more rooftop solar by storing electricity generated by nearby solar systems during the day and discharging it during the evenings when local demand is highest. This can enable people to generate and consume more renewable energy locally and support our emission reduction target of net zero by 2026.

Provide network support: They can be used to avoid costly network upgrades by improving services that help to manage electricity congestion in the network. Lower costs of maintaining and upgrading the network put downward pressure on electricity costs.

Provide market services: They can participate in spot price arbitrage in the wholesale electricity market (buying electricity when prices are low and selling when they are high), which can help put downward pressure on electricity prices for everyone. They can also provide services that help maintain the security and reliability of the electricity system and reducing the risk of blackouts.

Community or neighbourhood scale batteries range in storage capacity from approximately 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to five megawatt-hours (MWh), and may service as few as 20 homes up to a small town, depending on the size. YEF’s Fitzroy North community battery has a storage capacity of 309kWh and supplies power to approximately 200 homes during evening peak demand.

Excess solar energy that is exported to the local network by local properties is absorbed by the battery as it charges from the same local network. This energy is then discharged during times of peak demand – usually in the evening.

When little or no locally generated solar is available (for example, on cloudy days), the battery charges from the grid. Typically, this electricity has fewer associated carbon emissions since more renewable energy is generated across the grid during the day (for example, by remote wind or solar farms). The battery itself uses lithium-ion technology, the industry standard form of electricity storage for batteries. This is the same technology used for smartphone batteries and electric vehicles

The battery unit does make noise when it is charging and discharging. This occurs during the day when the sun shines and in the evening, especially during peak demand, and not at night. Battery systems will typically include an air conditioning unit which will also contribute to the noise levels of the battery.

For example, the noise from the battery in Fitzroy North is extremely low. With the installation design co-created by Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF), the local community, and supplier (Pixii), YEF ensured that noise is not an issue for local residents, even those living closest to the battery.

Generally speaking, a community battery (depending on the model and size) could range from about 50-70 decibels at 1 metre from the unit. 50 dB can be equated to the sound of a conversation at home, and 70 dB can be equated to a vacuum cleaner. Note that 50 dB is only 25% as loud as 70 dB because dBA is on a logarithmic scale.

• Sound treatment within the battery cabinet itself

• Which direction the battery is facing (where is sound projecting and how might it reflect off surfaces)

• The natural acoustic properties of the in situ environment (e.g., is it concrete, grass, vegetation, brick walls, or open space)

• Any environmental sound treatment or insulation as part of the installation

• The distance from the battery to nearby properties (and how sound will degrade over that distance)

• Any competing ambient sounds (like traffic in the distance) that would drown out the sound of the battery

Noise can be managed by installing acoustic panels within or outside of the battery unit. For the Fitzroy North community battery, steps to protect the neighbourhood from noise pollution was a priority for project management and planning, and was managed in consultation with a Community Reference Group made up of local residents.

Yes, the batteries that YEF has installed are safe. When selecting the community battery for the Noosaville site, ZEN will ensure that selection of suppliers and testing of their technology will follow a rigorous process to ensure that they operate safely and do not pose a fire threat and operate within Australian standards for Electro-Magnetic Fields (EMF).

ZEN endorses the approach taken for the Fitzroy North community battery, where YEF worked with a team of engineers from CitiPower (the network distributor), Pixii (the battery supplier), and Ventia (the installer), to ensure safe installation of the battery.

There will be a strong focus on life-cycle sustainability in the selection of the Noosaville community battery. As an example, the battery selected for the Fitzroy North community battery, the Pixii PowerShaper, is by far the most sustainable battery model from a lifecycle analysis point of view out of more than a dozen options evaluated through an exhaustive assessment and evaluation process. The battery module manufacturers (Polarium) are the first in the world to announce manufacturing of battery modules made with 100% renewable energy and up to 95% of the physical materials used in the PowerShaper are recyclable.

An important element in choice of battery technology will be whether battery components can be recycled at end of life. A key factor in the battery manufacturer chosen by YEF was that up to 95% of all materials in battery cells can be recycled into producing new cells.

Grant applications close on 24 February 2023, and commencement of projects is identified as June 2023, with any project to be completed by 31 March 2025. You can be confident that we will be seeking to move speedily to finalise construction, but at the same time making sure that the local community is involved at all stages.