Western Australia is to remove a regulatory barrier against battery storage within a month, WA Energy Minister Mike Nahan has said.
Dr Nahan told the ABC this week that an effective ban on battery storage – imposed by state-owned utilities Synergy and Western Power – will be lifted, clearing the way for the uptake of battery storage technology in the state. The regulation currently prohibits homes with battery storage from feeding electricity back into the grid.
“The limit has been the regulator, the ERA,” said Dr Nahan.
“I’ve discussed with ERA, Western Power and Synergy [the need to] to eliminate any barrier to having ... electrons from batteries coming onto the grid, and I expect that to change within the month.”
Synergy to enter storage market
Dr Nahan also said that Synergy is preparing to enter the battery market. He said batteries are not yet economical for the vast majority of households, but that Synergy will be “ready to go” with household systems when prices come down.
The ABC said Synergy will likely be ready to start selling batteries by the middle of next year, following the launch of a range of solar PV products and energy management solutions in early 2016.
