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Dr Saul Griffith and the Rewiring Australia team champion real-world cases of community electrification to fast-track our solar electric future. When a group of passionate locals in the 2515 postcode of NSW’s Illawarra region met Saul, they turned this idea of an electric community into a huge community campaign.
After two years of passionate community support, Rewiring Australia is partnering with Endeavour Energy and Brighte, to lead the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot. With funding support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the pilot will recruit 500 diverse homes concentrated on a small local section of the grid, and help them to upgrade from gas to efficient electric appliances.The pilot will show the rest of Australia how electrifying households can lower energy bills and reduce emissions.
To get on with the job of electrifying Australia’s 11 million homes, we need to understand the challenges and pain points of upgrading our homes, how to simplify the process, and how to integrate smart energy devices with local energy grids.
The pilot will provide a model of what our electrified future will look like. Real data on the concentrated and rapid electrification of a community will demonstrate how to implement home electrification at scale, including the practical challenges and the financial and technical barriers of upgrading different kinds of homes, including apartments and rentals.
By showing what electrification in a real community looks like, we can speed up the process for it to be done effectively across Australia.
The project will support 500 diverse households in the 2515 postcode in NSW's northern Illawarra with four main focuses:
1. Subsidies
Households will be offered subsidies to update their gas appliances to efficient, electric alternatives, and finance to help afford the difference (eg. low interest loans).
2. Installations
With help from Brighte, households can choose and coordinate the electric appliances to be installed in their home, with local tradies recruited for installations.
3. Energy Management
Households will be supplied with a smart energy device, a small piece of technology paired with an app that lets households monitor and optimise their energy usage.
4. Research
The interrelationship between consumers, appliances, energy loads, the electricity grid, installations, smart technology and education will be analysed to determine how electrification can best be rolled out and scaled up. If you live in the 2515 and would like to apply, head to electrify2515.org.
The Electrify 2515 Community Pilot is a joint project between Rewiring Australia, Brighte and Endeavour Energy, supported by local volunteers. This pilot has received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program. Local tradespeople and businesses are preferred suppliers for the pilot.
Rewiring Australia
Rewiring Australia will lead the engagement, education and research elements of the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot.
Brighte
Brighte will work with accredited installers and customers to manage household electric upgrades and provide access to payment solutions. This is similar to the role they are playing with the ACT Government’s Sustainable Homes Scheme and the Tasmanian Government’s Energy Saver Loan Scheme, demonstrating their experience managing large installation and customer support projects.
Endeavour Energy
Local electrical distribution network operator, Endeavour Energy will install network monitors and assess and support network impacts. This includes understanding how energy loads can be managed and generating insights for proactive roles of network distributors in managing the energy transition.
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)
ARENA supports improvements in the competitiveness and supply of renewable energy and the uptake of energy efficiency and electrification by providing financial assistance and sharing knowledge to accelerate innovation that benefits all Australians and helps achieve Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions targets. The Electrify 2515 Community Pilot is being realised with $5.4 million in federal funding as part of ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program.
This Project received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein - 13.2(d)