Smart batteries for buildings
Smart battery initiatives for government-owned office buildings across the state.
Installing smart batteries
This renewable energy project is an initiative to install smart batteries with virtual power plant capabilities in 16 regional government office buildings across the state.
Our Environmental Management Group is managing this NSW Government-first initiative. The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is our partner for funding.
The batteries store excess energy the building’s rooftop solar panels produce, allowing us to use the stored power at other times of day when the sun is not shining. This relieves demand on the electricity network and benefits the wider community.
This investment in virtual power plant technology will support the state’s transition to net zero carbon emissions under the NSW Government Net Zero Plan Stage 1: 2020–2030.
We are installing smart batteries at the following NSW Government regional offices:
- Albury
- Armidale
- Bathurst (2 offices)
- Broken Hill
- Cootamundra
- Griffith
- Goulburn
- Gunnedah
- Grafton
- Inverell
- Lithgow
- Moree
- Orange
- Nowra
- Parkes
Property and Development NSW manages these office buildings, occupied by 30 different government agencies and departments.
The smart batteries have a combined energy storage capacity of 1,280 kilowatt hours (kWh). All sites will be commissioned with virtual power plant capability in 2024.
Virtual power plants
We have installed the batteries with virtual power plant capability. This means the batteries can be in different physical locations but act together as one larger battery, through remote management controls.
Similar to the way traditional power stations supply power to the electricity grid, the virtual power plant can supply power from the batteries into the grid. When demand for power is high, such as on a hot summer’s afternoon, the batteries supply power to the electricity grid instead of back into the building. This helps stabilise our electricity grid and keep the lights on and costs down for all consumers.
Funding partner
The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s Smart Batteries for Key Government Buildings initiative is funding the project. The initiative was created to support installing battery storage at schools, hospitals and other government buildings with rooftop solar systems.