Power to the people: Community battery will help 650 Murray Bridge households save
A state government-owned battery will zap electricity bills for hundreds of low-income families.
A government-owned battery will soon offer cheaper electricity to up to 650 households in the Murray Bridge district.
The local council and the state government jointly announced on Monday that they planned to install a “community battery” at Homburg Park, in the city’s south.
The 700-kilowatt battery will charge up during the day, when a lot of renewable energy is pumped into the grid.
It will then distribute its energy in the evenings, when households use the most power for cooking, heating/cooling and appliances.
That energy will go exclusively to low-income households in the Murray Bridge district – those that cannot typically afford to invest in rooftop solar themselves.
Tenants of the city’s 570 Housing Trust properties will get first dibs.
There is no need to register for the program, as eligible households will be contacted directly.
Those who participate will be offered a power price 25 per cent below the market rate, saving them about $575 per year.
The battery is one of 18 being built around South Australia as part of the Empowering SA program, a joint initiative by the state and federal governments and energy retailer AGL.
The council will not put any money into the battery, which is expected to be installed just off Homburg Drive, near the Murraylands Cycle Speedway.
The battery is not expected to cause any issues for Homburg Park users or nearby residents, either.
It will be safely fenced off; built to withstand Australian conditions; and the only sound it will make, according to the council, will come from a small ventilation fan.
“Noise … is expected to be well below environmental noise requirements, and likely inaudible, at nearby homes,” the council said in a statement.
The Murray Bridge battery will be way smaller than the grid-scale facilities completed at Tailem Bend and Mannum this year, or the one being built at Summerfield.
The Summerfield battery, touted as the biggest in South Australia, will have a capacity almost 350 times bigger.
- Have your say: Fill in the survey at letstalk.murraybridge.sa.gov.au/proposed-community-battery-for-murray-bridge before January 16.
- More information: www.empowering.sa.gov.au.
