Australia’s ARENA marks 100th community battery, backs three more

ARENA, the renewable energy funding agency of Australia, said it has installed the 100th community battery under its Community Batteries Funding Initiative. The program forms part of the Australian federal government’s AUD 200 million Community Batteries for Household Solar measure, of which AUD 171 million was allocated to ARENA.

Acting CEO Chris Faris said the milestone demonstrates growing confidence in the role community batteries can play in Australia’s energy transition, helping households make better use of rooftop solar by storing excess daytime generation for use during peak periods.

ARENA said the program is also generating data on battery performance, costs, business models, customer benefits and grid impacts intended to accelerate commercial deployment of community batteries across Australia.

Alongside the milestone, ARENA announced AUD 23.2 million in funding for three new projects under Round 2 of the initiative. The YES Group Regional Community Batteries Project will receive AUD 10.29 million to deploy 14 community batteries across regional South Australia and New South Wales. The Ausgrid Network-led Community Battery Scale-up will receive AUD 8 million to deploy 21 community batteries across Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter region.

The City of Newcastle Innovative Battery Solutions Project will receive AUD 5 million to deploy community batteries integrated with embedded solar networks, according to ARENA.

The announcement comes as Australia’s battery storage sector continues to expand at both the household and network level. Home battery installation volumes in the country have roughly tripled year on year since the federal Cheaper Home Batteries scheme began in mid-2025, while Clean Energy Finance Corp. has committed AUD 100 million to nationally accelerate distribution-connected battery storage projects. A recent research report found that while rooftop solar and home batteries can meet a growing share of household demand, large-scale storage and grid infrastructure remain key to managing the country’s shift toward distributed generation.