Community batteries

What is a community battery?

Community batteries support renewable energy and play a key role in allowing our network to transition to a clean energy future. Batteries store energy such as excess solar and can share the energy back to customers when energy demand is high and solar systems are no longer generating. They can also help strengthen the electricity grid if they are placed in areas where the network needs upgrading or support to maintain power reliability and quality.



How does a community battery work?

The high uptake of rooftop solar has seen households generate large amounts of energy during the day sometimes generating a surplus which is exported to the electricity grid. In cases where there is a large amount of surplus energy exported, the reliability and quality of the grid is impacted. This may result in a reduction of customer exports and damage to TasNetworks infrastructure.

A community battery puts this excess energy to good use. It works a bit like an energy bank where it can store excess solar generated by rooftop panels. Later the community battery can share the energy back with the community.

This reduces pressure on the electricity grid and makes sure that Tasmanians can use all the renewable energy available.


This Project received funding for six community batteries from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of the Community Battery Round 1 under ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.

This Project has also received funding for two community batteries from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as part of the Community Batteries for Household Solar Delivery of Election Commitments Stream 1 grant opportunity.

The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.

What is a community battery?

Community batteries support renewable energy and play a key role in allowing our network to transition to a clean energy future. Batteries store energy such as excess solar and can share the energy back to customers when energy demand is high and solar systems are no longer generating. They can also help strengthen the electricity grid if they are placed in areas where the network needs upgrading or support to maintain power reliability and quality.



How does a community battery work?

The high uptake of rooftop solar has seen households generate large amounts of energy during the day sometimes generating a surplus which is exported to the electricity grid. In cases where there is a large amount of surplus energy exported, the reliability and quality of the grid is impacted. This may result in a reduction of customer exports and damage to TasNetworks infrastructure.

A community battery puts this excess energy to good use. It works a bit like an energy bank where it can store excess solar generated by rooftop panels. Later the community battery can share the energy back with the community.

This reduces pressure on the electricity grid and makes sure that Tasmanians can use all the renewable energy available.


This Project received funding for six community batteries from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of the Community Battery Round 1 under ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.

This Project has also received funding for two community batteries from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as part of the Community Batteries for Household Solar Delivery of Election Commitments Stream 1 grant opportunity.

The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.

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  • Wait, so if you export to it at your normal feed in tariff, and then presumably buy the power back at your usual tariff… what part of this is a “community” battery. This is just a TasNetworks battery for commercial purposes, no?

    Jamie asked 8 months ago

    Thanks for your question Jamie.

    It’s important to note that due to ringfencing guidelines, TasNetworks cannot legally operate a community battery for commercial purposes. Any community battery that is commissioned (either for a trial or commercial purposes) must be operated by a retail provider, who is appointed via a competitive procurement process. The retailer is then also responsible for deciding how customers will be rewarded for contributing to a battery.

    Hope this helps!

    - Liz M (Engagement team member)

    #community battery,#customer benefits
    #community battery #customer benefits

  • How do you apply for a community battery?

    Steve Barrett asked 6 months ago

    Hi Steve

    Thanks for your question.

    We're still in the process of trialling batteries around the state to understand their potential benefits to communities, and at the moment these are closed trials (not open to the public). We'll definitely update this page with any changes to our approach, please subscribe to stay across any updates.

    - Liz M (Engagement team member)

    #communitybatterytrials,#applyingforcommunitybattery
    #communitybatterytrials #applyingforcommunitybattery

  • Do consumers who produce excess power still get paid the market rate whether they’re feeding it back into a community battery or the grid?

    Glen asked 8 months ago

    Nothing will change. Your existing feed-in tariff will be applied as per normal.

  • I currently have a 5KW export limit. Would this limit be removed if I signed up to a community battery project or will the 5KW export limit still be enforced?

    Greg S asked 20 days ago

    Hi Greg

    We’re still in the very early stages of exploring the workings and benefits of community batteries here in Tassie. So while we’re conducting multiple pilot trials around the state to identify the pros and cons of the batteries when placed in different regions with differing demands and environmental factors, these are closed/controlled trials (not open to our customers). For this reason, we’ve not started working through factors like export limits yet, but this is definitely on our radar and we’ll be sure to update this page with that kind of information when it becomes available.

    If you’d like to stay across the learnings from the trials, we invite you to subscribe to this page for updates. Let us know if you have any other questions!  

    - Liz M (Engagement team member)

    #communitybatteries,#exportlimits
    #communitybatteries #exportlimits

  • I live in Glebe Hill Howrah. I have seen that the community battery has been installed. When will my household actually get to use it?

    SB asked 14 days ago

    Thanks for your query, it’s great you’re interested in accessing a community battery.

    The battery you’ve spotted in Glebe Hill is one of two we currently have around the state as part of a trial to understand how community batteries operate in different locations and with different demands and environmental factors.

    Because this is a trial (and because we’re still in the very early stages of understanding how they interact with our network), these trial batteries aren’t accessible to our customers.

    However, we’ll definitely be sharing the outcomes of the trial here, so please subscribe to this page for future updates.

    - Liz M (Engagement team member)

    #accessing community batteries
    #accessing community batteries
Page last updated: 02 May 2025, 09:37 AM