GemLife chosen for first round of ARENA community battery grant
Australian land lease communities’ developer, GemLife, was one of 370 community battery projects to receive conditional approval by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) first round of $143 million-dollar grants.
GemLife Director and CEO Adrian Puljich said receiving a conditional ARENA Community Battery Grant would play an important role in the roll out of GemLife’s community batteries, part of virtual power plants, contributing to lower energy costs for homeowners in its residential communities, in addition to having a tangible impact on local network constraints and decreasing emissions.
“With cost-of-living pressures continuing to be of major concern for Australians, the community batteries will shield residents from rising electricity prices, offering bill consistency for our over-50s homeowners, many of whom are on fixed incomes,” he said.
“The community batteries will improve community energy-independence and assist in grid-firming, providing a sustainable and affordable solution that contributes to Australia’s long-term sustainability and decarbonisation goals.”
According to ARENA, all states and the Northern Territory are expected to benefit from the program which will unlock a forecast $359 investment in renewable energy infrastructure. In addition to GemLife’s residential communities, ARENA’s Community Battery Grants will benefit households, hospitals, schools and tertiary education institutions, council facilities, households, council facilities, social and community housing, sports facilities, libraries, aquatic centres, shopping centres, and regional and remote communities.
“ARENA is pleased to support the roll out of these batteries through our transformative program which will have a significant impact upon Australia’s energy and grid security while delivering cleaner and more cost-effective energy for our communities. We are encouraged to see this important asset class being demonstrated at such a scale. and expect that this funding round will kick start the neighbourhood-scale storage sector,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.
GemLife’s virtual power plant renewable energy solution recently won the Property Council of Australia’s Best Sustainability in Retirement Living Award.