Oct 15, 2024

Share The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced it will provide $5.4 million (USD 3.63 million) in funding to support the electrification of 500 homes on the northern beaches of Wollongong as part of a project that will accelerate the energy transition in homes to help understand the impact on consumers and the network. The Electrify 2515 community pilot program, initiated by a group of residents in the 2515 postcode area and driven by energy finance provider Brighte, Rewiring Australia , and distribution network service provider Endeavour Energy , will test the impacts of electrification within a community and within the constraints of Endeavour’s local electricity network. The program will see residents in the 2515 postcode area – covering Austinmer, Clifton, Coledale, Scarborough, Thirroul, and Wombarra –offered financial subsidies for a range of devices to support their household electrification. This will be done by installing efficient electric appliances and other consumer energy resources (CER) including rooftop solar, heat pump space and water heaters, and home batteries. Participating households will also receive a smart energy management device to optimise energy use. Brighte founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Katherine McConnell said the pilot aimed to create the electric future in a real community today. “This project will allow us to learn locally so we can scale nationally, generating critical insights for consumers, tradespeople, industry and policymakers on how to rapidly and effectively scale electrification across Australia,” she said. “We’re excited about the role we can play to demonstrate the power of homes brought to their full potential, lighting a pathway for every Australian community to electrify more easily and fast-forward to a smart, electric future.” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said insights gained from the project will be crucial in shaping policies and practices for a smart and efficient energy system nationwide. “Flexible demand at a residential level is expected to be critical as homes electrify,” he said. “By undertaking electrification in a managed way, we can reduce the need to upgrade our electricity network and reduce costs for all electricity consumers.” This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com . Popular content Δ By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment. Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so. You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled. Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy . Newsletter