What has happened so far

Thank you to everyone who participated in both stages of our engagement by completing a survey or attending one of our in-person events. Across the three council areas, we heard from over 1000 people.

Throughout these engagement, the community shared with us their strong support for renewable energy and support for neighbourhood batteries being part of the solution.

While we heard from many participants with solar power, we also heard from those who cannot have solar for various reasons. Both groups agreed on the importance of increasing access to renewable energy for those that cannot readily access or afford it.

Most participants were supportive of having a neighbourhood battery in their local area. For those with concerns such as maintenance, safety and long-term viability, there was a genuine interest and willingness to learn more.

The team has drawn on the stage one engagement findings to progress their work around identifying potential areas for future neighbourhood battery projects.

You can read the full stage one engagement report here.

How do Neighbourhood Batteries work?

A neighbourhood battery is an energy storage system. It allows excess electricity from local households and businesses, or the electricity supply network, to be stored for later use.

Excess solar electricity generated from rooftops during the day can be stored in the battery for use during the evening, when its most needed. This makes the electricity network of ‘grid’ more efficient and increases the amount of renewable energy available to supply local homes and businesses.

Neighbourhood batteries can play a critical role in powering local neighbourhoods with renewable energy and meeting commitments to climate action. Many potential benefits include:

  • increasing access to renewable energy for people who cannot easily install solar panels, such as renters, apartment dwellers and small businesses
  • enabling more people in the local area to install solar panels
  • reducing pressure on the electricity ‘grid’ by using it more efficiently and avoiding power outages and network upgrades

Map of locations across the Cities of Melbourne, Yarra and Port Phillip.

Proposed areas marked in green.

Involving the community

Thank you for providing your feedback on locations for neighbourhood batteries.

The three Councils will work with the Yarra Energy Foundation to evaluate potential locations from a technical perspective for future neighbourhood batteries.

You can view the proposed areas here.

Events will be published on this page when they are finalised.