The household battery revolution that could change energy bills … and the world | Renewable energy

The timing was rich with symbolism. As intense heatwaves hit Europe and Asia and oil markets around the world jumped, two massive chimneys of one of Australia’s largest power stations were collapsing. Meanwhile, Australia’s Energy Minister was holding a media conference to hail falls in benchmark electricity prices of up to 10% in some parts of the country.

Quietly and with surprisingly little fanfare from the rest of the world, Australia is leading a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what’s possible with the right policies. The country was already one of the global leaders in domestic solar energy, with panels found in one in every three homes. However, it also continues to be a significant contributor to the climate crisis through its massive fossil fuel exports.. But it’s batteries that are giving Australia a new burst of speed.

Nearly 60% of home-scale battery capacity installed in nearly 200 countries this fiscal year will be in the southern continent, according to a recent analysis. Since July, nearly 415,000 have been connected; This equates to approximately one unit for every 25 Australian homes.

Industrial-scale batteries are being produced almost as quickly; Australia (population: 27 million) follows China (1.4 billion) and the US (350 million) in terms of new capacity after connections more than doubled last year. The big and small increase in battery use is starting to reduce the cost of electricity from the country’s rickety power grid, which stretches more than 900,000 km (560,000 miles) from Queensland’s tropical far north to the southern island state of Tasmania.

“This is amazing,” says Tristan Edis, author of the analysis and director of consultancy Green Energy Markets. “This shows, once again, that if you take a big leap forward in a technology and launch it in a big way from the beginning, you can really make a significant difference. If you’re a residential-focused battery manufacturer right now, you should really focus on Australia.”

Batteries counter arguments long used against renewables that they are unpredictable and intermittent and therefore place extra strain on the national grid, which must have an expensive backup power source such as gas. Instead, batteries mean solar energy can be stored and used when needed.

From the early days of the renewable revolution, batteries were considered a critical piece of the puzzle. Homes will be able to place panels on their roofs to capture and convert solar energy, and install batteries in their homes to store the energy and use it when they need it. But while solar panel prices plummeted a few years ago, batteries have only become similarly available and affordable in recent years. The US-Iran war and the subsequent rise in energy prices highlighted the advantages of renewable technologies like this, and the number of installations around the world has gone from a small handful a few years ago (the Arsenal football ground was an unlikely pioneer) to a growing tide. China is far ahead, spending more than all other countries combined. But among the rest, Australia took the lead.

Previously, energy prices rose sharply in the evenings when gas-fired power, the most expensive form of power generation on the Australian grid, was switched on to meet peak demand. With sun and wind now providing almost half of electricity and coal-fired power plants slowly shutting down, gas has been used to fill the gaps after the sun goes down.

But batteries are increasingly taking over this role. Total gas-fired production was 24% lower For three months this summer compared to the previous year. Tennant Reed, director of climate change and energy at the Australian Industry Group, which represents more than 60,000 businesses, says this has “completely changed the way electricity prices are made”.

“The role of gas used to be to peak in the evening, and that came at a cost, because gas is not a cheap fuel. But at 6pm every day, batteries are flooding the market more and more,” he says. “Gas will still play a backup role, but on average batteries are not as expensive as gas chargers and they put a strain on batteries.” [gas plants] “Even if electricity demand increases, we are outside.”

To be fair, the rise in battery use is partly due to Australia being the world leader in household solar power per capita, but no government foresaw it coming this way. More than a third of homes have panels, due to a happy accident of uncoordinated policies. simple and fast permitting and widespread public support. Australia is of course blessed with plenty of sunshine, and solar energy may not be as efficient in more temperate countries.

But it’s a global story, according to Dave Jones of energy analyst firm Ember. “Household batteries are in the midst of a revolution, while large utility-scale batteries are crashed in the last two years there has been a decrease in price and their quality has increased significantly; much less critical minerals, a much longer lifespan, and the fire hazard is almost completely eliminated. This is now fueling the home battery market, and today’s home battery is far superior to the home battery of a few years ago.

“There was more solar generation in California in the early evening than at noon due to batteries through 2025,” Jones said. “Batteries are good enough now 24×365 electricity1GW has the largest facility of 24×365 under construction.”

The battery revolution did not come for free. This was triggered by a generous taxpayer-funded subsidy from Anthony Albanese’s Labor government. Starting last July, it has committed A$2.3bn (£1.4bn) over four years to cut households’ upfront costs by 30%.

The reduction was expected to support 1 million battery installations by 2030, but it quickly became clear that this was unrealistic. This number has far exceeded estimates, with more than 1,000 batteries being installed every day.

Facing calls from political opponents to cut the program to cut costs, the government announced in December it would reduce the rebate for larger batteries but increase total funding to A$7.2 billion to ensure it continues until the end of the decade. The overall target was doubled to 2 million batteries.

Some critics saw the renovation as a missed opportunity. Thomas Longden, a senior research fellow at Western Sydney University who has studied where batteries are installed, says the government should use this to ensure batteries are targeted at all parts of the country, rather than favoring the rich.

“Do we care where these batteries go? I think we should,” says Longden. “We need to make sure batteries are across the country, not just in pockets in major cities. If that means the scheme is slower but better targeted as part of a rapid and fair transition, then that’s something we need to consider.”

Climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen admits the scheme does not reach everyone directly, with renters in particular essentially excluded. But he says the program has been embraced by western Sydney voters, who are not a wealthy part of the city, and argues it is an investment for the whole country. “When these people [with batteries] “They’re not searching for fuel at night or using less gas, which definitely lowers prices for everyone.”

The government has also sought to harness excess solar power and quell anger over the rising cost of living by announcing a “solar power sharing” scheme under which electricity retailers would have to offer three hours of free electricity a day to all customers, including tenants. This has been generally welcomed, but there are concerns that electricity bill savings could be reduced if electricity companies respond by increasing other charges.

Emma Hewitt is also among those benefiting from the battery scheme. A single parent living south of Perth with her seven-year-old daughter, she was increasingly electrifying her home (using solar panels, replacing a gas stove, renting an electric car through her employer) when the subsidy was announced. This led Hewitt, a local government employee, to take out an interest-free loan to cover the remainder of the cost of a 16kWh storage unit; This allowed him to reduce his dependence on the grid and save hundreds of dollars on his quarterly electric bill.

“I don’t have a huge amount of savings, but I can pay things from my salary,” he says. “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, largely because I worry about the planet my daughter will inherit and the incredible damage that burning fossil fuels will do to this planet.”

The battery revolution has also brought support to solar panels, as has the removal of some government subsidies. Contrary to all expectations, a record was broken for Australian solar installations in March as people replaced their aging panels with new, larger panels to get the most out of their storage systems. This record was broken again in April.

Australia’s rise as a household powerhouse has done nothing to change its ongoing support for the expansion of fossil fuels. Owned by the government of Albania, it remains the world’s leading exporter of coal and gas. Approved 36 polluting developments since election four years ago.

It also faces difficulties in implementing large-scale wind and solar power plants. The Clean Energy Council, an industry lobby group, warned this week that while several records will be broken in 2025, commitments on new developments are at a decade-low due to an uncertain investment market and transmission link delays and cost blowouts.

This means the national government’s target of 82% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 is in doubt.

But the battery structure shows little sign of slowing down. This transformation is clearly visible at the site of the now-demolished Liddell coal piles, which fell spectacularly this week.

Energy company AGL, for years Australia’s most polluting fossil fuel company, has deployed a 500-megawatt, two-hour battery system to help change that. It is scheduled to enter full commercial operation next month.

Alison Reeve, director of the energy and climate change program at the Grattan Institute think tank, says this clearly shows how the energy system is being rewritten almost overnight. In the new model, households are not only consumers but also producers and players in the market. Older generation forms are increasingly being excluded. The advent of longer-lasting batteries means that past criticisms of solar energy (that the sun does not shine at night) have been “blown out of the water”.

“This is a profound change in the way you manage the energy market. The message is that if you can do rooftop solar, you can make a whole range of other changes really easily. And storing energy provides much more flexibility in the system,” he says. “We found a new way to do this.”