Facilitating Community Understanding of Electricity Battery Options for Noosa Shire
Zero Emissions Noosa Inc. is the community group working in partnership with The Noosa Shire Council (NSC) to achieve the common goal of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2026.
This report has been prepared for Zero Emissions Noosa Incorporated (ZEN Inc.), working with representatives from the Coalition for Community Energy (C4CE), as an initial investigation of the issues and potential for a Battery Energy Storage System(s) located locally on the Energex network (Local Battery).
With high solar PV uptake and a power grid that was built for one way energy flow, ZEN Inc. has become aware of limitations on some businesses and households in the region to export any or some of the energy they generate but do not use locally. Moves are also being made at a national level to restrict the amount of solar generated by households that they can export to the grid, as a result of ageing energy infrastructure built for a one-way energy flow.
To investigate whether the energy generated locally can be used locally, and if using a local/community battery could be a solution for the Noosa region, ZEN Inc. has worked with representatives from the Coalition for Community Energy (C4CE) to learn more about how communities have and are using local/community batteries as a solution to storing energy generated locally, being used in the local area.
This report strengthens ZEN Inc’s knowledge of the issues and solutions resulting from high levels of solar penetration in Noosa, strengthens ZEN Inc’s capacity to inform and engage with the community about the emerging issues, potential solutions and next steps to achieve the Net Zero Emissions target by 2026 and assists to inform and strengthen ZEN Inc’s strategic direction from 2021 – 2023.