PYALONG will soon become home to one of 65 new battery locations as part of round two of the Victorian Government’s $42 million Neighbourhood Battery Program.
Situated at the Pyalong Recreation Reserve, the battery will enable the community hall to serve as an emergency relief centre during events like storms, fires, floods, or power outages.
Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes welcomed the exciting news, stating that the resource would allow small towns and businesses to continue operating in periods of power outages.
“These batteries will help keep costs down and power flowing to essential services during extreme weather events so that Victorians can continue to access the help and assistance they need,” she said.
Neighbourhood batteries can soak up cheap, renewable energy from rooftop solar during the day and feed it back into the homes or organisations they are connected to at night, when power usage is high.
They can also be paired with solar to provide back-up power to buildings to act as community hubs for people to access power during prolonged outages.
There are now 90 neighbourhood battery projects across metropolitan and regional Victoria, helping Victoria reach its target of at least 2.6GW of energy storage by 2030 and 6.3GW by 2035—enough energy to power around half of Victoria’s homes.
For a full list of neighbourhood battery locations, visit www.energy.vic.gov.au/grants/neighbourhood-batteries.
