New battery charges up Margaret River

A new distributed energy battery built by Tesla was turned on yesterday, improving the quality and security of energy distribution across the local area.

The battery was installed behind the Margaret River Recreation Centre several months ago as part of a State-wide community battery trial being run by Western Power over five years.

It marks the first time Tesla’s Opticaster software has been applied in Australia, which was just recently configured for Australian conditions.

The technology will allow energy to be distributed across Shire sporting facilities, reducing costs and reliance for the high-demand services in peak times.

Sustainability Planning Officer Katie Biggs said shifting grid usage to off-peak times would significantly reduce the Shire’s annual energy bills and carbon footprint.

“The battery and intelligent software enables power to be stored during off-peak times and will discharge when there is heavier usage of the local network’s power,” she said.

“By increasing grid stabilisation, more residents will be able to utilise solar technology on the local network.

“This is a very exciting step in terms of sustainability and shifting to renewable energy sources.”

Ms Biggs said the battery also served educational purposes, allowing the community to see how the technology could be implemented locally with minimal risk, potentially paving the way for further installations.

“We have the opportunity to trial the technology and learn about it, with Western Power sharing the costs and carrying most of the risk,” Ms Biggs said.

“The ability to store energy could allow the Shire to install additional solar panels at the site and opens doors for us to investigate additional renewable energy technologies on a wider platform.”

Distributed energy batteries have been popping up throughout WA as part of the Distributed Energy Resources Roadmap (DER Roadmap).

The DER Roadmap, released in April, is an effort to clear a path toward more successful integration of resources like energy storage. 

Full details of the DER Roadmap are available here: https://www.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/DER_Roadmap.pdf

If you would like further information about how this project will benefit the Augusta Margaret River community please contact Sustainability Planning Officer Katie Biggs on (08) 9780 5255 or [email protected]

Picture: Councillor Pauline McLeod, Councillor Julia Meldrum and Sustainability Planning Officer Katie Biggs.

High resolution image available for download here.