Solar power coming to Dapto households - whether you've got panels or not

Cheaper power bills for Dapto and Russell Vale residents are on the cards thanks to a community battery rollout.

Community batteries store solar power collected by rooftop panels in the community so it can be used when the sun is not shining and shared by homes in the neighbourhood.

They give people without rooftop solar access to cheaper, greener energy and reduce pressure on the electricity grid, bringing prices down for all customers.

Wollongong City Council voted on Monday 17 March to grant Endeavour Energy an easement over four pieces of council-owned land to install and maintain the batteries, which have been funded by the NSW and Federal governments.

Endeavour Energy will pay the council for access to the sites – at Kundle Street Reserve in Dapto, the Dapto Ribbonwood Centre, Compton Street Reserve Dapto and Cawley Park in Russell Vale.

The Dapto sites will be part of the first rollout, while the Russel Vale site will be part of the second.

Endeavour Energy will also be responsible for ongoing maintenance to the batteries and supporting infrastructure.

Wollongong councillors were in unanimous support of the project.

Deputy Mayor David Brown said the community supported the scheme.

“I know there are financial and other barriers that prevent people having home batteries,” he said.

“Battery uptake lags behind solar uptake, but the technology is improving day by day.”

Council staff said all of the proposed easements would have minimal impact on the public’s use of the sites, as they would be located in unused parts of the public reserves and were no different in scope or size to existing power poles or transformers across the area.

Councillors Ann Martin and Kit Docker said they were pleased to see the batteries roll out in communities that could benefit most from help with cost-of-living pressures.

Councillor Deirdre Stuart said the batteries would also help the community keep the lights on when the broader network suffered outages, such as during the storms earlier this year.

“I’m pleased this initiative will help our community have reliable energy,” she said.

“We need to be resilient when bigger networks go down, and it helps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”

Endeavour Energy has identified 17 suitable sites for the installation of community batteries throughout the Wollongong region.

The other 13 sites are not owned by the council.

According to the Federal Government there will be a total of eight ground and pole-mounted community batteries installed in Dapto, while five ground and pole-mounted batteries will be installed in Warrawong.

Local residents will be able to apply to use the batteries through a retailer subscription.