ARENA allocates $5.4m to electrify 500 NSW households

Insights will also be made to know how Australia could benefit from electrification.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has set aside $5.4m for the “Electrify 2515 Community Pilot” to support the electrification of 500 homes in the north Illawarra 2515 area in New South Wales. 

According to the agency, this is the first community-led electrification trial that aims to expedite the transition to renewable energy within residential settings to look into the impact on consumers and the network. This will be done by installing consumer energy resources (CER) including heat pump space and water heaters, home batteries, and rooftop solar that will be optimised by a home energy management system.

Through close monitoring, authorities aim to generate insights into consumer behaviour and decision-making when purchasing and using CER to better understand how to scale and commercialise home electrification.

ARENA tapped Brighte, Rewiring Australia, and Endeavour Energy as its partners for the project.

“Flexible demand at a residential level is expected to be critical as homes electrify. By undertaking electrification in a managed way, we can reduce the need to upgrade our electricity network and reduce costs for all electricity consumers,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.