WA Residential Battery Scheme - Questions & Answers

No, the rebate cannot be applied retrospectively.

Households must hold either a Synergy or Horizon Power electricity account to access the WA Rebate. Households with an off-grid electricity system can access the Federal Battery Scheme.

Long-term rental properties are eligible for the WA Scheme, subject to agreement by the landlord and tenant on the battery installation.

More information can be found on the Information for Applicants page.

Approved WA rebate and loan funds from an approved application will be paid directly to the accredited vendor.

The battery retailer will also manage applications to the Federal battery scheme and this money will also reduce the cost of a battery system, similar to the process for purchasing solar panels.

Yes. If an application from a customer participating through a third-party provider meets the approved scheme design and technical requirements, then it will be considered eligible for the Battery Scheme.

No. A solar system installed before 1 July is not a requirement of the WA Residential Battery Scheme. The WA rebate will be applied to just the battery, but up to $10,000.00 of the cost of solar and battery package can be covered by a no-interest loan.

It depends. Electricity supply arrangement in apartments and stratas can be complex.

Those that have individual accounts with Synergy or Horizon Power will be eligible for the WA Rebate.

For those with other electricity supply arrangements (such as through the Strata Company or an embedded network operator) the WA Rebate does not apply and eligibility for the Federal Rebate would be considered on a case by case basis.

It will also be particularly important for these households to consider the location of the battery or solar panels in their planning

Yes, however, the WA Residential Battery Scheme requires an electricity account with Synergy or Horizon Power for the property where the battery is being installed.

It depends. If you have an existing solar system and are looking to install a new battery system under the WA Residential Battery Scheme, please be aware that your existing system will need to be made compatible with remote management requirements (needed for Virtual Power Plants) and current electrical standards. This is known as 'whole of site compliance'.

This might mean that elements of your existing system, and/or the associated wiring, may require upgrading or replacement.

As a general guide, the older your existing system, the more likely it is that elements may need replacement or upgrading. Approved vendors under the WA Scheme will be best placed to advise if any changes are needed to your system.

Over the coming months, Synergy’s Supported Solutions List will be expanded to include more inverters and technical solutions as industry expand their offerings. If you have a relatively new inverter that is not currently on the Supported Solutions List, you may want to wait for a few weeks or months before committing to a battery installation under the WA Scheme, as it may save you an inverter replacement. This will depend on the make and model of your inverter - there will not be a technical solution for every kind of existing inverter.

Now that the WA Scheme has now been extended to 100,000 customers, consumers can take the time to explore which system is best suited to their needs.

Some applicants will need a full replacement of their existing system to be eligible for the WA Scheme. However, if you get a quote that includes expensive replacement or upgrades, or that says you aren't eligible for the WA Scheme because of your existing system, it's worth shopping around to make sure you're getting the right advice and aren't being upsold unnecessary equipment. 

If you have paid a deposit and the quoted battery and/or inverter are not on the approved equipment list, we recommend that you speak with your battery retailer. Reputable suppliers will work with you to requote an eligible system or provide a refund.

Horizon Power and Synergy will each publish a list of supported equipment solutions, based on the Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved product list and the relevant technical requirements in their service areas. These lists will be expanded to include more inverters and technical solutions as industry expand their offerings.

• Clean Energy Council
• Synergy's Supported Solutions Lists
• Horizon Power

Residential battery systems may be made up of an all-in-one ‘battery system’ where a manufacturer sells a combined battery and battery inverter. 

Installations can also be made up of a battery inverter and separate battery modules that may come from different manufacturers. 

In all cases, to be eligible for the WA Battery Scheme the inverter must be on Synergy or Horizon Power’s Supported Solutions List (according to your location). The separate battery modules do not need to be on the Supported Solutions List but must be on the CEC approved battery list. 

Approved vendors under the WA Battery Scheme are responsible for making sure that the battery and inverter are compatible and appropriate for your house.

No. Solar-only installations are not eligible for rebates. The rebates are to be applied to the purchase price of a battery.

New, additional and replacement solar panels will be eligible for loan funding assistance where they are installed as part of a package involving installation of a battery system.

No. While some electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers have vehicle to grid technology, connecting EVs to the grid is still under development. While the adoption of a new form of distributed energy resources is important and industry groups made a case for their inclusion, the decision was made that due to technical limitations they they would not be eligible for the scheme.

Yes. The WA rebate will be applied to just the battery but the cost of the inverter can be covered by a no-interest loan.

With the introduction of the Federal Battery Program the number of rebates available under the WA Battery Scheme has been increased by 80%, from 20,000 to 100,000.

Synergy and Horizon Power do not service the same area. Horizon Power services the remote regions of WA that are not a part of the Southwest Interconnected System. The additional rebate for Horizon Power customers is acknowledging that energy costs and the cost of installation are higher in remote regions.

From Electricity Industry - Energy Policy WA

The Western Australian Government owns three corporations with active roles in the electricity supply chain.

• Western Power responsible for building, maintaining and operating the electricity network within the South West Interconnected System
  • Map of the South West Interconnected System
• Synergy – responsible for the sale of electricity and power generation within the South West Interconnected System
• Horizon Power – responsible for generation, distribution and sale of electricity in areas outside the South West Interconnected System
  • Map of Horizon Power Service Area

Only one rebate/loan per property can be claimed. To get technical, that means only one rebate/loan per National Metering Identifier can be claimed. Ask your electricity provider for more information.

The WA Rebate and no-interest loans work as a pair to help more Western Australia’s with the upfront costs of a battery.

The battery rebate is paid on usable capacity.

Most of the time, you will be able to use your battery exactly as you want to, and this will usually also help to support the electricity system. However, sometimes there is more value in doing something a bit differently than what you would usually do.

When you are part of a VPP, your aggregator could occasionally ask your battery to do things, such as:

• Charge from the grid to soak up extra renewable energy.
• Hold charge to be able to discharge at a specific time.
• Discharge energy at a particular time, or discharge energy more quickly than usual, for instance when demand for energy is high.
• Discharge more slowly than usual, over a longer period to smooth ups and downs in demand.

When your aggregator asks your battery to do something differently to meet a system need, this is called an “activation event”.  Activation events mean your battery is helping to support the electricity system and grid. Over time, VPPs will support a higher proportion of renewable energy on the grid and also will avoid or defer some costs of building more infrastructure (poles, wires and generation) to meet peak demand times.

Even in an activation event, any energy being discharged from your battery will always be used to meet your household’s energy needs first, and you will only export some to the grid if more energy is being discharged from your battery than your home is using at that point in time.

Through VPPs, households will be able to sell energy stored in their battery back to the market – this will help to decarbonise WA and bolster energy security, while offering financial benefits to participating households.

For home batteries to reliably deliver benefits to the system they need to work together and be orchestrated. This can only be achieved through VPPs, and this is why households receiving the rebate will need to be signed up for a VPP product.

Rebate recipients will be able to subscribe to the VPP product offered by their electricity retailer (Synergy or Horizon Power). These products are designed to share value with the customer – the design of these products has been approved by the WA Government to ensure they are fair and reasonable and share the value of orchestration with customers.

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.

The WA State Government won't access your battery. The VPP that you sign up with will. This means that the number of activation events for your battery will be determined by your contract with your VPP provider.

Yes. Battery retailers and installers will need to demonstrate a significant WA presence, workforce and track record in the State to be eligible for registration by the Scheme administrator.