Locations released for 18 community batteries in Perth, Bunbury

A climate advocate has called for a legislated target for renewable energy uptake as construction begins on 18 community batteries in Perth and Western Australia's South-West.

The batteries will enable thousands of additional homes to pump renewable energy into the power grid by mid-2027 as part of an ongoing plan to electrify WA, where grid storage did not exist just three years ago.

To be installed by Western Power, the batteries will help harness power generated by rooftop solar, and feed it into the grid during peak times.

The rollout is also aimed at addressing wild price volatility in the wholesale energy market, as the grid contends with the fluctuating availability of clean energy.

Prices could drop during the middle of a sunny day as rooftop solar flooded the grid, but jump up on a cloudier day.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, WA Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the batteries would help stabilise electricity prices and improve grid stability.

She said Perth's rainy weekend was a key example of why more batteries were needed.

"It's a day like today where rooftop solar isn't going to be firing on all cylinders, and that's why we need this storage capacity in our system to ensure system reliability and security," said Ms Sanderson.

"Community batteries like this sit on our network and act as a shared storage in neighbourhoods.

"It soaks up all of that excess solar energy that's produced during the day when demand is low … and dispatches it out at peak times when the sun is setting."

Cutting network costs

The 18 new community batteries will include 13 locations across Perth that connect to about 1,700 households in total, and five larger batteries in Bunbury that connect to about 3,600 homes.

Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Josh Wilson said the new community batteries will bolster the grid capacity already supported by more than 45,000 batteries installed in homes across the state, five community batteries already installed across Perth, and several other big battery projects, including in Kwinana and Collie.

The federal government has provided about $9.3 million of the project's $25 million total cost, and the batteries will be installed by Western Power.

"These 18 community batteries will contribute to cutting network costs while enabling more renewable [energy] generation," Mr Wilson said.

The falling price of energy storage has, at least in part, prompted a surge in battery installations across the globe.

Australia is the third largest energy storage market in the world, behind only China and the United States, according to data from energy research company Rystad.

In WA, there is enough installed battery capacity to meet about 50 per cent of the state's average power demand, or enough to power all of Perth's residential homes through an evening, according to data from Open Electricity.

Call for legislated target

Solutions for Climate WA director Jess Panegyres said any investment in cleaner energy and batteries was welcome, but said what the state needed was a legislated target for renewable energy uptake.

"We think it's time to lock this momentum into a long-term commitment for the state," she said.

Internal government documents, seen by the ABC, revealed the WA government was preparing to introduce renewable energy targets (RETs), but abandon plans for any interim greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

The ABC understands the state government will set RETs for 2035, and for every five years after.

Ms Panegyres said there should be one implemented much earlier.

"WA is one of the only states that doesn't have a renewable energy target or equivalent," she said.

"You need strong renewable energy targets to give investors, businesses, the community and workers the certainty they need about the future of the energy system."

The batteries being rolled out in Bunbury will be up and running by the beginning of summer, while those in the Perth metropolitan area will be operational by May 2027.

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