Cash For QLD Community Groups To Install Solar And Batteries

Another round of grants is available for eligible community groups in Queensland to slash their emissions and energy bills with solar power and battery systems.

Last Monday, Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon announced $3 million would be on offer for community-based organisations to install batteries, solar panels and other energy-efficient systems. At that point further detail wasn’t available, but on Friday more information and guidelines were released.

Bigger Grants, And (Potentially) More Of Them

The funding will be provided under Round 7 of the Community Sustainability Action grants program.

In Round 6, the maximum amount of funding available per applicant was $50,000. In Round 7, that has been doubled to a maximum $100,000; excluding GST. The total pot has also been significantly boosted in this round – to $3 million compared to $1.2 million in Round 6.

Eligible Community Sustainability Action Projects

• Purchase and installation of renewable energy systems at community facilities; such as solar panels, small-scale wind generators and battery systems. The maximum generation capacity to be supported is 30kW. There wasn’t any mention of a cap on battery storage.
• Purchase and installation of community batteries and associated connection infrastructure to support existing renewable energy systems.
• Upgrades for existing renewables systems in community facilities; such as switchboard/ wiring upgrades or smart energy management solutions.
• Purchase and installation of solar hot water systems on community facilities.
• Replacement of refrigerators and whitegoods with the highest energy-efficiency rated available.
• Upgrading lighting to more energy efficient options such as LED.
• Installation of blinds, skylights and double-glazed windows or doors to improve energy efficiency.
• Installation of shading infrastructure, including installation of green facades.

Applicants wanting to install solar panels or other renewable energy systems with Community Sustainability Action cash will need to supply two energy bills; with one covering the summer season. In the case of newly-built or otherwise acquired facilities without a billing history, a record showing likely energy consumption using best available information on hand can be provided.

Applications will also require two quotes from Clean Energy Council Approved Solar Retailers (not all retailers are part of that club) and of course, systems must be installed by a CEC accredited installer. The quotes will need to contain projected energy savings, switchboard or wiring upgrades costs (where applicable), network connection costs, delivery and installation costs.

The beefed-up Community Sustainability Action grants are part of the Queensland Government’s recently announced ambitious Energy and Jobs Plan.

“Queensland’s $62 billion energy and jobs plan will see emissions from energy cut by 90 per cent by 2035, more than 700,000 households and small businesses have installed rooftop solar, and now the cornerstones of our communities can take part in the action,” said Minister Scanlon.

In addition to the requirements above, there are a number of other criteria to be met in order to apply. Further information on Round 7 of the Community Sustainability Action grants program can be found here.

Applications for grants close 4pm Wednesday 7 December 2022,  and funding for successful applications is expected to be available from March 2023.