WA Residential Battery Scheme - Information for Applicants

Applicant Eligibility Criteria

Who can apply?

• WA residents aged 18 or older.
• Must be an Australian permanent resident and a Synergy or Horizon Power customer.
• Identity verification required, plus a signed agreement for battery installation at your property.

Eligible Property

To qualify, your property must:

• Be located in Western Australia.
• Be a standalone home or unit titled property (with all necessary approvals).
• Be owned or rented by you, with landlord consent if renting.
• Not be owned by government, banks, telecoms, or mining companies.
• Be used mainly for residential purposes (home businesses are okay if the property is primarily residential).
• Have a reliable internet connection for system testing.

What's Covered?

• New, replacement, or additional batteries with usable capacity between 5 kWh and 10 kWh.
• Batteries must be on the Clean Energy Council-approved list and meet Synergy or Horizon Power technical and compliance standards.
• Installation must comply with Western Power or Horizon Power requirements for safety and grid compatibility.

No-interest loan

No interest loans are available for up to $10,000 per households. Loans can be used for batteries and new or upgraded equipment such as inverters and solar panels, as long as they are installed with a battery. The no-interest loan component of the WA Residential Battery Scheme will be managed by Plenti, who hold an Australian Credit Licence.

• Borrow $2,001–$10,000 with zero interest, flexible repayment terms (3–10 years), and no early repayment fees.
• Household gross income must be under $210,000.
• Combined rebate and loan cannot exceed the total purchase and installation cost.
• Only a capped late fee applies if payments are missed.
• Applicants will be subject to a credit check and prudential credit requirements.

For a detailed summary of the Schemes eligibility requirements, please refer to: Scheme requirements subpage. LINK TO NEW PAGE

Virtual Power Plant (VPP) information for customers

Households will be required to participate in a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to be eligible for the scheme.

A VPP links together thousands of household batteries, creating one large, flexible power source.

During high demand, network managers can draw small amounts of stored energy from participating homes to support the grid during peak demand events.

Batteries installed through the Scheme will help play a vital role in securing WA’s energy future, with households to be financially rewarded when they share their stored renewable power as part of a VPP.

• All customers will be able to subscribe to the VPP product offered by their electricity retailer (Synergy or Horizon Power).
  • Both retailer products are designed to share value with the customer
  • These products have been designed to ensure they are fair and reasonable and share the value of orchestration with customers.
  • As VPPs evolve and mature, VPP products will also evolve and mature.
• Synergy customers will be able to choose an alternative VPP product, as long as it meets the following criteria:
  • the alternative product is offered by the supplier of the customer’s battery and is compatible with the customer’s equipment;
  • the alternative product is designed to share the value of orchestration with the customer; and
  • the alternative product is backed by genuine value streams in the form of market or service contracts (such as contracts to provide Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services (NCESS) or Network Support Services (NSS)) through Synergy as the parent aggregator for residential customers.
• Further information on eligible VPP products available from providers, please see the links listed below.
  • Horizon Power Community Wave
  • Synergy Battery Rewards
  • Plico Virtual Power Plant

What are the benefits of the WA Residential battery Scheme and joining a VPP?

 Upfront savings

The $1,300 (Synergy) or $3,800 (Horizon Power) WA Battery Rebate reduces the cost of installing a battery, helping you capture your solar energy and lower your electricity bills. When combined with Federal support, the total battery rebate can be close to $5,000-$7,500.

 Extra savings with VPP Credits

Your stored energy is valuable to the energy system, and you should be rewarded for sharing. For example, during a Synergy Battery Rewards activation event, you could earn 70 cents for every unit of electricity you export. 

 Improve grid reliability

By joining the VPP, your battery helps stabilise the WA Electricity Grid, reducing the risk of blackouts, and reducing infrastructure maintenance & upgrade costs. Long-term, this helps to minimise electricity price inflation, helping those in the community who aren’t able to invest in a Solar & Battery system.

 Flexibility after two years

The VPP agreement is only two years, after which you can opt out at any time. This provides flexibility while still unlocking rebates and credits.

 Interest-free loans

Eligible participants can access loans of up to $10,000, with no interest and flexible repayment terms of 3–10 years.

 VPP myths

• “You lose control of your battery” – Not true. For instance, Synergy’s VPP only accesses your battery up to 30 times per year, for a maximum of 6 hours per event — less than 2% of the year.
• “It shortens battery life” - Grid support discharges energy from your battery in the same way as powering your home, with little to no impact on lifespan.
• “The credits don’t stack up” – Even after buying back energy at standard energy rates, VPP participants still achieve greater overall savings than if they had kept the battery for household use only.