Seven of the eight EAGA member councils participated in a project during 2023-24 to create detailed business cases and project plans for neighbourhood batteries in council-selected locations.
As the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances were project partners, the project was named the Greenhouse Alliance Neighbourhood Battery Investigation (Metropolitan) or GANBIM. The Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF) secured funding through round three of the Victorian Government’s Neighbourhood Battery Initiative (NBI) to carry out the project. This funding meant there was no financial cost for the councils involved.
YEF delivered the final report, including 22 individualised business cases in July 2024, bringing these potential neighbourhood battery projects one step closer to implementation. Furthermore, the second and third rounds of the Victorian Government’s 100 Neighbourhood Batteries program provided an additional avenue for councils to seek implementation funding, offering up to $400,000 with a minimum 10% co-contribution.
As a result of 100NB funding, Monash City Council will install a neighbourhood battery at the Monash Operations Centre (MOC) in Notting Hill that will fund community electrification and support energy resilience and local emergency response services.
With community engagement one focus of the business cases, the GANBIM initiative has helped unlock the potential of local government to support the roll-out of energy storage solutions in collaboration with their communities.