Endeavour Energy switches on Western Sydney’s first community battery

Local residents in Bungarribee Blacktown invited to participate in the community battery trial.

Endeavour Energy CEO Guy Chalkley joined with the NSW Minister for Climate Change and Minister for Energy, The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC, local MP for Blacktown Stephen Bali, Blacktown City Mayor, Tony Bleasdale OAM and Frank Calabria Origin Energy CEO to formally launch Western Sydney’s first community battery, and are now inviting residents to join the program.

Endeavour Energy Chief Executive Officer Guy Chalkley said that community batteries are one of the ways Endeavour Energy is investing to help shape Western Sydney as a green energy hub.

“As the electricity network that has been powering Western Sydney for over 130 years, our customers and community rely on us to support their daily lives and livelihoods.

“The Bungarribee Community Battery is a first for Western Sydney but the first of many more to come. It is an exciting innovation that will see our customers both be a part of, and benefit from the energy transition, whether they have rooftop solar or not, and whether they own their home or are renting.

“The installation of community batteries supports our target of becoming climate positive by 2040 and is part of our transition to a modern, clean energy grid that meets the changing needs of our customers with customers able to generate, store and share their energy,” said Mr Chalkley.

The Mayor of Blacktown City, Tony Bleasdale OAM welcomed the battery to Bungarribee and the environmental and financial wins for the community.

“Blacktown City Council strongly supports the use of community batteries. This is the first community battery installed in Blacktown City and I am delighted that it will support our residents in reducing their household energy costs and their household carbon footprint,” said Mayor Bleasdale.

Council enthusiastically welcomes more community batteries across our City. The battery at Bungarribee will allow residents to access lower cost, environmentally friendly, renewable solar power without the cost of installing a battery or solar system,” said Mayor Bleasdale.

Origin will be providing the platform for customers to participate in the battery trial. Origin will also orchestrate the energy stored in the battery including dispatch to the wholesale market and work with Endeavour Energy to support electricity demand management.

Origin CEO Frank Calabria said, “We are pleased to be partnering with Endeavour Energy on this initiative, which recognises the value of batteries to customers and the rapidly changing energy market.

We look forward to providing customers in Western Sydney with the chance to participate in this trial and believe there are strong opportunities to help communities enjoy the benefits of community batteries,” he said.

Residents living within the Bungarribee trial area are invited to register their interest now at www.endeavourenergy.com.au or by phoning Endeavour Energy on 133 718. Further information on the community battery and trial location is available here.

For media enquiries, to arrange an interview, photos or video footage please contact:

Media contact
M Rebecca Hill: 0409 266 248
E Rebecca.Hill@endeavourenergy.com.au

Community batteries
A community battery works by storing excess solar not used in a home, this energy is then available for participating customers to use when needed. For customers without solar, excess solar generated within the neighbourhood is stored in the community battery, and is available for them to use for a small fee.

Customers rent a portion of the battery to virtually store and access neighbourhood solar. Participating customers will receive a rebate on the energy they store and use from the battery.

Community batteries can be a more efficient way of managing supply and demand in the electricity network which can become congested in the evenings. Community batteries avoid unnecessary investment in network infrastructure, lowering costs for all customers.

Bungarribee community battery artwork
The Bungarribee community battery and associated electrical assets feature the artwork entitled Family Values by Karen Maber, Cabrogal woman belonging to the Dharug Nation.

Family Values explores the concept Caring for Country is the responsibility of everyone. We pass this knowledge to our children through our stories.

Karen’s artwork explores the relationships between people, place, emotions and spirituality. Her passion for art and the creative process is to celebrate her unique and proud connections to her culture and encourage personal and collective journeys of healing.

About Endeavour Energy

Endeavour Energy has been powering Western Sydney since 1890. Today we are a trusted supplier of safe, reliable and affordable power to over 2.7 million people living and working within Sydney’s fastest growing economies including Sydney’s Greater West, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands, Illawarra and the South Coast of NSW.

We are a trusted supplier of affordable, safe and reliable electricity to over 2.7 million homes and businesses. As the most efficient electricity distribution business in NSW, Endeavour Energy is focused on powering Australia’s third largest economy, Sydney’s Greater West, including communities across North West and South West Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands, Illawarra and the South Coast of NSW.

Since 1890, we have expanded our footprint to be at the forefront of Australia’s energy industry in integrating traditional and renewable energy sources. Our mission is to leverage the latest technology and data to plan the grid of tomorrow where batteries, microgrids and solar integrate seamlessly with the traditional distribution network to power communities for a brighter future.

About Origin

Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) is a leading Australian integrated energy company. Origin is a leading energy retailer with more than 4.5 million customer accounts, approximately 7,000 MW of power generation capacity and is also a large natural gas producer. Origin is the upstream operator of Australia Pacific LNG, its incorporated joint venture with ConocoPhillips and Sinopec, which supplies natural gas to domestic markets and exports LNG under long term contracts.