100 Neighbourhood Batteries driving down power bills
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
We support thriving, productive and sustainable communities, environments and industries.
Neighbourhood-scale batteries are helping Victorian community organisations to capture and store cheap, renewable energy – improving their energy resilience and driving down power bills.
Today, the Victorian Government announced Round 3 of the highly successful 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program, with up to $400,000 in grant funding available per battery.
Applications open on Tuesday 15 July, with participating organisations able to apply for multiple batteries as part of a project.
The program is already delivering 90 neighbourhood batteries as part of 26 community projects across the state, helping more Victorian families and community organisations to lower their bills.
Round 3 of the program is expected to bring the total number of neighbourhood batteries funded to over 100.
A total of $18.44 million in grant funding has helped to unlock $6.89 million in private investment and injected $25.3 million into the Victorian economy.
Through the program, communities can obtain funding to install the right sized battery to meet their needs and deliver a broad range of community benefits.
Past recipients have included a wide range of community organisations, not-for-profits, places of worship and public entities. The program has also funded back-up systems at publicly accessible buildings to support communities through power outages.
A further $6.63 million is available in Round 3 of the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program, with not-for-profit organisations, local government authorities, co-operatives, educational institutions, public entities, private sector businesses and agencies across Victoria invited to apply.
The grants program is open to applications from across Victoria, but will prioritise applications for projects that sit within the nine Local Government Areas committed to by the Victorian Government that did not receive funding for a neighbourhood battery under previous rounds of the program. These are:
Today, Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D'Ambrosio visited the team at Housing Choices Australia to open Round 3 of the program.
As part of previous rounds, Housing Choices Australia received six neighbourhood batteries across six different housing sites, helping them lower energy bills and lower rents for their tenants.
The batteries are expected to slash tenants’ electricity bills by $200 a year and reduce the amount of electricity needed during peak demand, easing pressure on the local electricity grid.
The batteries can also provide up to five hours of back-up power for essential services such as elevators, lights and emergency systems in each building.
What is a neighbourhood-scale battery?
A neighbourhood battery is an electricity storage system. It is also known as a community battery or mid-scale battery.
Neighbourhood batteries enable you to generate, store and consume your own renewable energy. They are larger than household solar batteries, but smaller than a utility-scale battery.
To learn more about how a neighbourhood battery could benefit your local community, visit Neighbourhood Batteries.
How to apply for the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program
Applications for Round 3 of the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program are open from Tuesday 15 July, and close at 11am on Monday 15 September 2025.
For more information and to apply visit 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program Grants.
Principal Engineer | EV Charging & Battery Systems Specialist | Innovating Community-Scale Electrification
1moWhat a fantastic initiative. Fingers crossed the program supports Australian engineering, local Australian-made manufacturing, and drives battery innovation that's engineered for Australian conditions.