400,000 home batteries in 10 months

More than 400,000 home battery storage units have been installed around Australia under the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program, equating to 11.2GWh of cumulative storage capacity in less than a year since the scheme launched.

Climate Change and Energy minister Chris Bowen announced the milestone at the Smart Energy Conference on 16 May, noting that installations are proceeding at approximately 2,000 batteries per day.

“400,000 Australian households are reducing their bills very dramatically but also helping the grid and helping all Australians reduce their bills,” Bowen stated.

The 11.2GWh of residential battery capacity now equals the volume of utility-scale battery storage added to the National Electricity Market (NEM) over the past 12 months.

According to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), 4,445MW and 11,219MWh of new large-scale batteries were commissioned in the 12 months to 31 March, more than doubling total installed battery storage in the NEM.

The rapid deployment of home batteries has coincided with changes to the program’s subsidy structure. Rebate adjustments that came into effect on 1 May favour smaller battery systems over larger installations, with average battery size declining from approximately 28kWh to 25kWh following the policy change.

The new, tiered subsidy structure introduced in May aims to address equity concerns by reducing support for larger systems, which have been found to be typically installed by higher-income households.