Western Power Community Battery Trial, Multi Site WA
1.5W, 6MWH, WA
West Australian Alternative Energy was recently contracted to install a 105kW (420kWh) Tesla battery in Meadow Springs as part of an exciting new trial by Western Power and Synergy which is aimed at making battery storage more accessible and manageable for the WA public.
The Powerbank trial is the first of its kind in Australia and is designed to integrate a utility-scale battery into an already-established major metropolitan network, to allow a shared storage service to meet the individual customer’s needs. The Tesla battery will be owned and operated by Western Power and Synergy and connected to the grid in Meadow Springs, allowing surrounding households with solar panels to maximise their existing grid connection.
The 52 customers participating in the 24-month trial will be able to virtually store excess power they generate during the day from their solar PV systems in the battery, and then draw down on that power during the peak evening period after 3pm. These customers will be able to use 8kWh of the PowerBank battery storage at the cost of $1 per day without having to outlay upfront costs for a behind the meter battery storage system.
PowerBank trial participants will be given greater access to their usage patterns and daily storage data online via the Synergy website, while maintaining reliability of supply from their Western Power grid connection during overcast days.
Meadow Springs was chosen as the location for the trial as Mandurah is WA’s – and one of Australia’s – top solar postcodes, thanks to a huge uptake of solar among the city’s households and small businesses. West Australian Alternative Energy was proud to be selected as the installer for this project and for the opportunity to be part of such a ground breaking renewable energy trial.
Following the successful installation at Meadow Springs, WAAE was engaged to install further 116kW Tesla Powerpacks at another 12 sites across WA.