Ausgrid Community Battery trial

Ausgrid Community Battery Trial

Over the last 6 months of 2024, Ausgrid has rolled out 19 Community Batteries across parts of Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast.

In 2025, the trial will get even bigger, offering lower-priced energy to more households through a partnership with retailers including EnergyAustralia. We’ll unpack community batteries, the opportunities to save through the Ausgrid trial, the locations covered so far and what’s next.

What is a Community Battery?

A community battery is energy storage located in a neighbourhood that can soak up excess daytime solar energy and return it to the community during evening peak times. The network benefits from balancing supply and demand and improves electricity reliability. It helps smooth prices for participating retailers who can reduce their exposure to volatile peak spot wholesale market pricing. While participating customers within a battery’s catchment area can enjoy lower bills.

The Federal Government has invested $200 million into the Community Batteries for Household Solar program. In partnership with energy networks, more than 420 community batteries will be installed across Australia, providing shared storage for up to 100,000 households.

Referred to as “Energy Storage as a Service” (ESaaS), shared batteries offer customers bill savings by enabling them access lower-cost energy stored locally without the cost of buying or installing a battery.

Who is it for?

Joining a community battery could make sense for the majority of households, including renters or owners, house or apartment dwellers, and those with or without solar panels because it provides the opportunity for cheaper power. In the case of the Ausgrid trial, the benefit is a heavily discounted peak usage rate.

Scaling up from hundreds to thousands.

The first wave of community batteries have relatively small storage capacities because they are either pole-mounted or have a modest footprint. They typically support a hundred or so dwellings and only serve a small local catchment area. From mid-2025, large-scale community batteries will begin to come online in the Ausgrid network. These boast 5 to 10 MWh (megawatt hours) of storage capacity – which can serve a thousand or more homes, expanding the number of households that can benefit.

We’ll cover the locations that are included in the trial and summarise the electricity plan available from EnergyAustralia, which is giving households access to community batteries in Ausgrid.

Community Battery locations

Community battery sites have been selected based on several factors, including;

  • the mix of residential and commercial customers plus solar penetration,
  • the space to construct storage,
  • and, importantly, the benefits of balancing the network across the day.

In February 2025, Community batteries in the Ausgrid trial are only available for eligible customers in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches, along with suburbs in Sydney’s West, Southwest and South, the Central Coast, Newcastle and Maitland.

Postcodes include 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2046, 2062, 2065, 2070, 2071, 2073, 2074, 2076, 2090, 2099, 2100, 2101, 2102, 2103, 2111, 2113, 2119, 2121, 2122, 2132, 2137, 2141, 2190, 2193, 2195, 2196, 2200, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2231, 2250, 2256, 2257, 2285, 2286, 2287, 2289, 2291, 2292, 2303, 2320.

Households interested in the community battery trial can access the opportunity through a participating retailer, such as EnergyAustralia’s Community Battery Ease plan. Check availability for your property here.

Ps. You won’t be able to view specific pricing details of the Community Battery offer unless the address is in the catchment area AND has a smart meter!

The trial is expanding to more places, so you can also register your interest using the link above.

From mid-2025, expect more locations – we’ll update this article as the program rolls out and new community batteries are announced.

Ausgrid Community Battery Offer

In Ausgrid, EnergyAustralia offers access through a simple plan called Community Battery Ease that works like any standard time-of-use electricity offer. Customers are free to come and go as they please. There’s nothing extra to do or think about. The secret sauce is that customers on the plan receive a heavily discounted peak rate thanks to the trial tariff. When writing (February 2025), the plan features a peak rate of 30 cents/kWh – the lowest in the network for the EA025 Time Of Use tariff. It’s a standout given that most retailers’ peak rates approach 50 cents/kWh or higher, and at the time of writing offers the leading reference price deal in the network.

It’s a good example of the opportunities for customers who are open to trying something new. There’s a price incentive offered by the network to get customers onto the community battery. In return, Ausgrid wants to understand how customers’ energy use might change when a community battery is in play. Ultimately, the networks see batteries as essential to the local energy grid to support the energy transition.

Eligibility criteria

Right now, you won’t be eligible to connect to the Community Battery Ease if you have a concession, an applicable government rebate or if anyone in your home is on life support. Also, if you already have a solar battery installed, you can’t join.
A smart meter is required. If you don’t already have one, please contact your retailer.

It’s all about scale.

Ausgrid estimates that if just half the storage capacity envisaged to go into homes over the next 25 years at the consumers’ expense were to be delivered by community batteries it would save NSW $25 billion.*
Small standalone batteries cost around $800-$1000 per kWh. Industrial-scale batteries are around half the cost. Plus, big-scale storage achieves better utilisation and is thus more cost-efficient. It all adds up to a better return, shared between the network, retailers and consumers.

Source: AFR

Don’t sleep on it.

This trial tariff in the Ausgrid network will likely extend until mid-2026. While community batteries are here to stay, the incentives to participate are strong right now, meaning it’s worth looking into if the stars and your postcode align. It’s a chance to access a battery without buying one while enjoying monthly savings on power bills.

Meanwhile, in the rest of NSW, Community Battery trials are happening in the Endeavour and Essential networks. In the years ahead, we’d expect many more opportunities for everyday households to get involved and access cheaper energy.