This consultation is closed. Thanks to everyone who provided their feedback on Fast-tracking Neighbourhood batteries.

In July and August 2023, we undertook the second stage of community engagement within areas of high potential for installation of a neighbourhood battery. We wanted to better understand attitudes, interests, concerns and explore the potential for benefit-sharing opportunities.

We've finished reviewing your feedback and summarised our findings in the Engagement report.

To find out more information about this project and what we asked the community, head to the Stage 2 project background section at the bottom of this page.

What we heard

We heard from a variety of people across the Cities of Yarra, Melbourne and Port Phillip in a number of different ways, including:

  • 280 conversations across 14 pop-up events
  • 193 responses received through the online survey
  • 25 community champions participated in deep-dive discussions, helped promote the project, and hosted seven conversations in which 48 people participated.

Key findings

  • Most people we heard from were supportive of having a neighbourhood battery in their area (91% support in Yarra).

  • Most people (60% in Yarra) support fast-tracking many batteries quickly over closely involving community in models that take time to develop.

  • Most people (60% in Yarra) preferred the solar sponge model, which prioritises solar uptake and emissions reduction.

  • Top benefits that people supported were EV charging points, and renewable energy plans that people could sign up to (whether or not they have solar).

  • In all the Yarra areas, most people preferred a visual design with artwork on the battery.

  • We also heard people’s preferences for specific locations for a battery, their concerns, and other benefits they would like to see.

Next steps

The views, preferences, and ideas we heard from the Yarra community, together with the technical analysis and feasibility study, will be factored into the planning and development of any future neighbourhood batteries.

This project received Victorian Government funding for community engagement, technical assessments, and battery project design work. Further funding will be required for installation of future neighbourhood batteries.

Stage 2 consultation

The three Councils (City of Melbourne, City of Port Phillip and City of Yarra) have been working with the Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF) to identify potential locations from a technical perspective for future neighbourhood batteries.

Across the three councils, we have identified a number of areas for further assessment. We selected these locations because of their potential to generate high levels of solar energy and use the energy the battery would store.

Potential areas identified in Yarra

Take a look at the areas which have been identified as having the potential to house a neighbourhood battery within Yarra.

Potential areas identified across the 3 municipalities

You can explore these areas (which we've shaded in green) by zooming in on the map below.

What did we want to find out?

During the second round of engagement we asked residents, businesses, workers, and visitors to these areas what they think about possibly having a neighbourhood battery in their community, the kinds of benefits they want to see and ideas for specific locations.

Participants were able to provide feedback either by completing our online survey before 9am on Monday 7 August 2023 and also by speaking to us in person at one of our pop-up events.

To view the pop up locations being held within the other 2 city councils, head to City of Port Phillip and City of Melbourne's Your Say pages.

Different neighbourhood battery models and their benefits

Neighbourhood batteries can be designed to operate in a range of different ways. Different approaches have different benefits, opportunities and challenges. There are four overarching types of operating models, each with overlapping benefits and opportunities.
  • Solar sponge

    Prioritises solar uptake and emissions reduction by absorbing excess solar produced during the day and releasing the stored energy into the network at scheduled times. This helps support the uptake and sharing of local renewable energy.

  • Financially focused

    Operated to release energy to the grid when it is most profitable, with the financial value returned to the community via retail energy plans, dividends, community funds, or similar. This can help reduce energy costs for the community and deliver benefits to the wider energy system.

  • Network services-based

    Prioritises providing resilience to the network, residents and businesses.

    They help avoid the need for costly network upgrades, reducing network charges for all energy users.

  • Community services-based

    May include a diversity of services, depending on the objective, such as enhanced energy security, electric vehicle charging, and community resilience.