The South Coast's first community battery has been installed in Shell Cove as part of an energy-company partnership.

Endeavour Energy has partnered with Origin Energy to install 10 community batteries in selected NSW regions including Bangarribee (Western Sydney, installed last year), Shell Cove (installed in April this year), Campbelltown, Kiama, Liverpool, Shoalhaven, Wingecarribee and Wollondilly.

The Shell Cove battery is part of a trial, which runs for 12 months and is open to residents within the catchment area.

Endeavour Energy community partnerships and brand manager Rebecca Hill says: “Both solar and non-solar customers are able to access green energy and enjoy reduced energy costs through the community battery trial.”

Rebecca says the trial is open to everyone within the catchment area*, residents are not required to be an Origin Energy customer, or have solar panels, or own their place of residence to participate in the trial.  (*Catchment maps are available on the Endeavour Energy website.)

Shell Cove's Judy Barker lives with her two teenage daughters, doesn’t have access to solar panels and solar panel providers have told her that her household doesn't use enough electricity to warrant installing them.

Judy says the community battery initiative is perfect for her as she wants to make the effort to live greener, so she was keen to participate in the trial. Joining the trial requires some paperwork and the payment of a $15/month participation fee for 12 months – but participants' savings on their electricity bills are expected to offset that payment.

In the City of Blacktown, Bungarribee resident Tan Hassan has been using the community battery there for about six months and says his experience so far has been “awesome”. He says that he has had solar for about 10 years and was receiving around 6c/kw for putting energy back into the grid, but was paying 33c/kw for energy. He wanted to buy a battery to store the excess energy generated by his solar panels but, at about $8000, a battery was too expensive.

The community battery saved Tan money, as he pays the $15 monthly participation fee but receives between $20 and $40 per month as a rebate.

"If I receive a yearly rebate of around $300, I will be happy, as it's money in my pocket today that I didn’t have yesterday.”

Shell Cove resident Doug Grimison was also keen to join the community battery trial. He has solar power in his home and believes the community battery is a wonderful idea to harness the excess energy produced by the panels. 

Doug says one of the benefits of the community battery is that he can draw power from the community battery at night when he charges his electric vehicle. Being able to share the excess energy from his solar panels with others is another plus, he says.

For more details on this initiative or to lodge your expression of interest, visit the Endeavour Energy website