On 26 February 2025, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced Round 2 of the community batteries program, allocating a further $46.3 million towards community batteries.
After a successful Round 1, which saw $124.7 million in funding to deploy 318 batteries across all states and the Northern Territory. ARENA aims to fund a further 24 battery projects in this round, with the purpose of lowering energy bills, reducing emissions, and easing the pressure on the electricity grid.
Expressions of interest (EOI) open on 17 March 2025, and are due by 11:59PM (AEST) on Wednesday 30 April 2025. Submission of an EOI is required if a proponent wishes to make a full proposal for grant funding.
Please note that projects which received funding under the Community Batteries for Household Solar Program – Delivery of Election Commitments grant opportunity, or ARENA’s Community Batteries Funding Round 1, are not eligible for funding under Round 2.
Scope of activity
Round 2 is open to proposals which align with the objective of the funding announcement, and ARENA expects that proposals:
- will involve the deployment of chemical batteries of at least TRL 9, in the range of 50kW to 5000kW nameplate capacity and connected to the distribution networks;1 and
- will deploy at least ten community batteries.
Proposals may be co-located with other generators or loads, but the grant funding may only be used for the community battery component.
Grant funding requests are expected to be between $5 million and $20 million, with the grant funding not exceeding 50% of the battery capex cost.2
EOI submissions will be assessed against the merit criteria outlined in section 5 of the Funding Announcement as contained in Part 3 of the ARP Guidelines.
Further information on the criteria and contents of your submission can be found here. If you or your company would like further information or assistance regarding your EOI submission, please contact Matt Baumgurtel, David O’Carroll, or your regular Hamilton Locke New Energy Team contact.
The Hamilton Locke team advises across the energy project life cycle – from project development, grid connection, financing, and construction, including the buying and selling of development and operating projects. For more information, please contact Matt Baumgurtel.
1Batteries which are co-located or share a connection point will be considered a single community battery with a total size equal to the aggregate nameplate capacities.
2Proposals will be assessed for overall value for money as set out in Part 3.1 of the ARP Guidelines.
