28 May 2021
One of the Victorian regions hardest hit by the catastrophic Black Summer of 2019/2020 has been fitted with its first grid-connected community battery storage system, as part of a state government-backed plan to improve energy services in bushfire prone regions.
AusNet Services said on Thursday that it had installed Gippsland’s first community battery in the fishing town of Mallacoota, a 1MWh BESS that had the potential to power 1,000 average homes for roughly two hours, and up to one day when combined with a generator.
AusNet said the lithium-ion battery and generator would keep the power running for the town while crews restored any problems that cropped up along the incoming powerline – a 240km line from Bairnsdale that often suffered from outages caused by storms, vegetation or wildlife.