Latest news with #Electrify2515
ABC News
10 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Hundreds of homes to convert to renewables
Rachel Mealey: Re-wiring Australian homes to run off renewable electricity and cut emissions is a big project, but in one New South Wales postcode, dozens of houses have already been switched over. A pilot program in northern Illawarra has so far seen 60 homes converted to run entirely on renewable energy, with the aim of every home in the region changing over. Experts say the grid can handle the added load, but it's not cheap to get started. Joanna Crothers reports. Joanna Crothers: Tosca Lloyd and her family have had their eyes on converting their Wollongong home to run off renewables for several years. Tosca Lloyd: I think the climate impacts of coal and gas is the primary motivator for us and our family. Joanna Crothers: Her family is one of the lucky few to benefit from the Electrify 2515 pilot program, which is aiming to convert 500 homes in the 2515 postcode to run entirely off renewable energy. 60 homes in the New South Wales Illawarra postcode have already been converted, with a further 440 signed up to the program. But those homeowners are looking at a fairly steep bill. Tosca Lloyd: So we got a really big solar system, quite a large battery, induction, ducted heating for our whole house and an electric heat pump. We also had a bunch of rewiring done. All of that cost around $40,000, but we only ended up being out of pocket around $32,000. Joanna Crothers: The Federal Government is subsidising the pilot as part of Australia's push to reach net zero by 2050. Almost $5.5 million has been given to the program so far by Australia's Renewable Energy Agency. Rewiring Australia founder and chief scientist Dr Saul Griffith says he wants to prove that it's possible to convert millions of homes off gas. Saul Griffith: So we know that 11 million Australian households have got to get to zero emissions by probably 2040. We thought we'd try to really accelerate what that looks like in one community. Joanna Crothers: Professor Tania Urmee works in Murdoch University's School of Engineering and Energy in WA. She agrees that the program can work without crippling power grids, but says getting everybody on board with such big changes will be the biggest challenge. Tania Urmee: It's not an easy thing. We need to look at social issues like energy equity issues. You are setting up whole new ideas into a real practice. The whole energy generation needs to start from home. If that social learning happens, then it is good. Joanna Crothers: The Illawarra region, with the city of Wollongong and Port Kembla, has become a hub for renewable development both domestically and in industry. Dr Griffith says he's hopeful the scheme will eventually become affordable for low-income households too. Saul Griffith: So we've incentivised the program with small subsidies. They're larger for the lower-income households. They're lower for the top-income households. Joanna Crothers: Australia's Renewable Energy Agency has confirmed it's also funding a home electrification pilot for 500 homes in South Australia. Rachel Mealey: Joanna Crothers there with additional reporting by Nicholas McLaren and Brooke Chandler.
The Guardian
27-01-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Suburb-wide electrification trials to be rolled out across Australia in bid to fuel transition away from gas
Suburb-wide electrification trials are set to be rolled out across the country under an intervention designed to help spark the household transition from gas. The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has formally directed the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) to consider funding more pilots like Electrify 2515, a community-led initiative to electrify 500 homes in one postcode in Wollongong, NSW. The pilot, the brainchild of local resident and Rewiring Australia co-founder Saul Griffith, offers subsidies to lower the upfront costs for households to install solar batteries and replace gas heaters, cooktops and hot water systems with electric alternatives. The trial - backed by $5.4m in Arena funding - has received applications from more than 400 households in the 2515 postcode. With Arena-backed electrification projects already underway in SA and the NT, the agency will now look to fund trials in the ACT, WA, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania following the minister's direction. The referral is the first time Bowen has used his ministerial powers to ask Arena to consider funding a specific type of project, and was part of a deal Labor struck last year with crossbenchers David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie, Lidia Thorpe and David Van to pass its Future Made in Australia laws. Advocates such as Griffith and Pocock believe the small-scale pilots can provide a roadmap to electrify households nationwide, helping to slash greenhouse gas emissions while delivering cost-of-living relief. Analysis in 2023 from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimated that converting to all-electric appliances and an electric car could save an average homeowner as much as $2,250 per year on their power bills. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The major barrier for households to make the switch is often the prohibitive upfront cost of electric appliances, meaning any nationwide transition off gas likely hinges on government subsidies. Guardian Australia understands Labor is considering a package to spur household electrification ahead of the federal election, due in May. The federal government has already allocated $800m to upgrade more than 100,000 social housing properties with energy efficient appliances. Pocock - who led the crossbench negotiations with Bowen - said support to help households switch to electric appliances was one of the 'highest impact, non-inflationary' policies a government could deliver during a cost-of-living crisis. 'Globally the built environment accounts for 39% of energy-related carbon emissions so electrification will also have a huge impact in our efforts to combat climate change,' he said. Parliamentary Budget Office modelling, which Pocock commissioned in 2022, found it would cost about $11.3m over the forward estimates to subsidise the transition for 1,000 households. Lambie welcomed Bowen's direction but questioned why the government hadn't acted sooner. 'Surely giving low-income people the chance to save money on their power bills would be a no-brainer?' she said. 'But they didn't, but thank God we have a strong crossbench and the government has come to the party.' While the independent Arena board will decide which projects to fund, the federal government wants to see trials in every state and territory. 'Communities across Australia are seeing the benefits of the clean energy transformation, and the Albanese government is delivering the leadership and support they need to grasp those benefits,' Bowen said. 'Arena pilot projects supporting home electrification will help create valuable insights into how households can transition to renewables and smart energy systems to cut energy costs and reduce emissions.'
