Western Australia’s Cook Labor Government has announced very generous subsidies for home batteries should it be returned to office.
The upcoming WA State Election will be held on Saturday 8 March 2025 and the two major parties formally kicked off their campaigns on the weekend. A significant voting force to woo are Western Australia’s solar owners, with more than half a million small-scale rooftop PV systems installed in the state to date.
Current Premier Roger Cook has announced WA Labor will implement a $387 million program to provide one-off home battery rebates of up to $5,000 for Synergy customers and up to $7,500 for Horizon Power customers – if Labor regains power.
Mr. Cook said this is expected to deliver more than 200 megawatt- hours of storage to WA’s electricity grid. Or to put it another way, around 20,000 batteries of 10 kWh storage capacity. Estimates vary, but as at mid-last year around 10,000 residential batteries had been installed in WA.
The finer details of this program are yet to be unveiled and no doubt there will be some devil in the detail, but what we know at this point is:
- The value of the rebate is to be determined by the size (capacity) of the battery.
- Batteries must meet Australian and local grid standards.
- Existing recognised brands as well as locally manufactured batteries (more on this in a bit) will be included.
- The scheme will kick off on 1 July 2025.
“Supercharging household batteries will revolutionise our electricity grid, allowing us to ramp up renewable energy, slash power bills and create quality manufacturing jobs for WA’s future,” said Mr. Cook.
But wait, there’s more.
Interest-Free Solar Battery Loans
In addition to the rebate, there will a no-interest loan element of up to $10,000, which can be repaid over up to 10 years. Availability of the loans will be subject to means-testing and help up to 20,000 low- and medium-income households.
Battery Manufacturing Support
A re-elected Cook Labor Government will also fund a $50 million Battery Manufacturing Program providing direct grants and low-interest loans. Whether “manufacturing” may include activities as simple as assembling batteries here isn’t clear as no further details of this aspect have been released that I’m aware of.
Meanwhile, A Valley Of Death?
It’s great that subsidies are on the cards for Western Australian solar owners. More household batteries installed will have wider benefits for WA’s electricity networks; benefiting all.
But it mightn’t be good news for residential solar and energy storage businesses in WA for the next few months if there’s no backdating of the incentive. With a subsidy so generous being dangled, it will likely result in a reduction in sales now – and until closer to July if WA Labor is returned to power. Then it will be a case of famine rapidly changing to a feast, and *good* installers will be hard to come by.
If Labor fails in its re-election bid and the WA Liberals *don’t* make any battery-related commitments, then it could be a very short stay in the “valley of death”. But indications are it’s an election WA Labor will win.
At a federal level, there have also been whispers of Labor and the Coalition pitching national program pledges in the leadup to the federal election, although those rumours (and that’s all they are at this point) have been mainly around no-interest loans.
If you’re considering home energy storage, get up to speed on understanding, buying and owning a solar battery so you’re ready to hit the ground running whatever the outcome. Or for everything you need to know in a single document, check out SQ’s home battery guide. It includes a very handy feature where you can compare specifications and pricing of various models from popular brands side-by-side.
And to stay up to date with what’s happening in WA (and across Australia), sign up for the SolarQuotes weekly newsletter.
About Michael Bloch
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Without details of the $5,000 rebate (is it $1,000 per kWh, or, $100 per kWh), the purported rebate offer has no credibility, especially, given that the state government punishes households with single phase grid connections , who obtain and use household rooftop PV systems; the shonky SWIS (Shonky Westralian Instability Stuffup) grid is the only electricity grid in Australia, where inverters with a capacity of more than 5kW, are not allowed, (other grids allow up to 10kW single phase inverter capacity)also, thence, outlawing charging BEV’s, using solar power, for households with single phase grid connections.
The state government needs to end its war against households with single phase grid connections, who want to use clean energy. We should have the same as three phase connection allowances, for PV inverters;
”
>5kVA systems or commercial electricity account holders:
will be export limited to 1.5kW, and
will not be subject to Emergency Solar Management
”
and
“Basic EG ConnectionUp to 1 kV
Inverter Energy <= 15 kVA 3phase
…
Systems DC Coupled with BESS
<= 15 kVA 3phase
"
It should be remembered that the SWIS single phase grid connection fuse IS 15kW – 63A, so, we should be allowed PV inverters up to 15kW capacity, the same as three phase grid connections.
What we have is punishment and coercive control, in the state government's war against clean energy.
And, the behind the meter battery rebate should match the Northern Territory CLP government household battery rebate of $400 per kWh, up to $12,000 per household.
And, it should be retrospective, to also provide for householders who have, already, fully funded behind the meter battery installations, and, as mentioned above, the householders who would get the behind the meter batteries installed and operational, between the date of the above announcement, and the date of implementation of the rebate, so as to provide continuity of trade for the suppliers and installers.
The ALP should be sincere.