Months after being announced, NSW’s battery ‘rebate’ (which isn’t technically a rebate) is due to launch on November 1st.
If you’re a homeowner looking to claim it, here’s what you need to know.
The ‘Rebate’ That Isn’t A Rebate
The coming battery rebate is part of New South Wales’ Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) and isn’t a rebate – you are not directly getting money back from the government when you buy a battery.
Instead, your installer claims the incentive on your behalf – and passes it on to you as an up-front discount on your quote.
But it’s too bad for the NSW government because I, and everyone else, will call it a ‘rebate’. Sorry bureaucrats! Clarity is more important than semantics in this case.
What Is The Rebate Worth?
The rebate is for battery storage between 2 and 28 kWh. You can use it for multiple batteries, but be careful. If your total battery capacity is over 28 kWh, you’ll get zero rebate.
Its exact value will fluctuate based on the value of ‘Peak-demand Reduction Certificates’ (PRCs), but it’s worth about $160 per kWh at the time of writing.
For example, the 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall 3 attracts $2,150 in rebates with a $2 PRC price.
Connecting your battery to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) will earn you an extra $25 per kWh.
If you sign up for a VPP later, you can claim the VPP portion of the rebate then, but you need at least 6 years remaining on the battery’s warranty.
I’ve made a simple NSW government battery rebate calculator to do all the heavy lifting for you:
What Batteries Are Eligible?
The NSW government has a set of quite technical criteria a battery must meet to be eligible for the scheme.
We’ve digested it into a row on our battery comparison table to advise whether a given battery is eligible.
What Do You Need To Know When Getting Quotes?
If you want to claim the NSW battery rebate, you need to use a certified installer.
They do all the paperwork on your behalf—all you’ll need to do is sign a ‘nomination form,’ which gives your installer the right to claim your rebate.
But how can you be sure an installer is certified?
If you get quotes for batteries in NSW through our service, we will only refer you to installers who can provide the rebate. Simple as that.
If you’re looking for granular details on how this scheme works – we’ve got it all on our “How To Get NSW’s ‘Solar Battery Rebate'” page.
Thanks Finn, is there any reason the Sungrow SBR192 is missing off the list?
our bad – we’ll add it now
Hey guys, the form isnt working for me
Hi Anne,
What’s it doing exactly?
I gather us early adopters with a Tesla 2 battery already, receive no benefit.
Hi Team,
Any idea if/when WA will get an upcoming battery rebate something like NSW
I deleted and unsubscribed from an unsolicited email yesterday from an “experienced Installer/engineer” offering to beat the deadline on a WA Battery Rebate of $7,000.
As I already have the maximum PVA and a comfortably sized BYD HVM 13.8kWh battery I did not investigate… but there is at least one person who seems to think there is…
BTW: with my current setup we rarely draw any grid peak power and I did not notice a recent 30 minute grid outage (except that my old office UPS beeped in protest – it was slower switching over than the house unit so is to be retired.
Cheers & thanks Finn & Co for help along the way.
Bob.
Is there any chance us Victorian’s will get a battery rebate scheme in the near future?
Finn, does your battery payback calculator account for demand tariffs? I pay more in demand charges than I do in peak period usage costs and a battery would be typically extremely effective at reducing those charges and probably significantly reducing the payback period.
Very good point Andrew,
I’ll run it past the team and see what they have built into it.
Cheers
Hi Finn, Anthony,
Any idea about the WA battery rebates? Are they coming in or are they already here?
Regards Scott