Ausgrid began trialling new bonus tariffs to encourage households to invest in battery storage. Home batteries help stabilise the grid, by storing power at times when it’s not helpful for power to be exported to the grid (eg. in the middle of the day) and discharging at times of peak demand (eg. 2-8pm). They also help households become more energy independence, by using their own stored energy, rather than rely on the grid.
The innovative Ausgrid tariff is a residential two-way tariff where solar battery customers receive an extra feed-in bonus when they:
- use less energy between 2pm and 8pm daily.
- use more of their energy between 10am and 2pm daily.
- export more energy between 2pm and 8pm daily.
This might sound difficult, but with smart software that manages your battery for you, it’s actually really simple. And by joining this sort of scheme, you’re able to achieve a much faster payback on your battery by converting your quarterly power bill to a credit.
Ausgrid and Essential Energy’s two-way tariffs with bonus FiTs make it very attractive for homeowners in these areas to invest in battery storage. Both run until 30 June 2024. Essential’s is 13.5c/kWh from 4-9PM on top of the wholesale FiT. Endeavour Energy’s two-way tariff is coming soon.
For a flat rate of $19/month, customers can access wholesale rates plus all of the bonuses made available via the Ausgrid and Essential Energy (and soon to be Endeavour Energy) tariffs.
This is an offer like no other on the Australian market currently.
If you want to join Amber and benefit from their SmartShift™ battery optimisation, best to do it via this page.
Bonus: Tesla Powerwall 2 rebate
As a cherry on top, any customers who install and register a new Tesla Powerwall 2 battery between 11 August 2023, and 31 December 2023 will receive a $750 rebate for each Powerwall installed*. Customers can install a single or multiple Powerwall batteries.
Best of all, Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries are compatible with Amber’s SmartShift™ battery optimisation.
* Once installed, the battery must be connected to the internet and registered. The rebate request must be submitted via the Tesla app. Once confirmed, Tesla will transfer the rebate to a nominated bank account.
How much could a customer make?
With the Amber Electric SmartShift™ battery optimisation, not only do customers get the full 26.6c per kWh of the two-way tariff, but they also earn the wholesale feed-in price of their energy. For instance, if the wholesale price in NSW between 2-8pm is:
- 0c per kWh, you’d earn 26.6c/kWh Feed-In Tariff
- 10c per kWh, you’d earn 36.6c/kWh Feed-In Tariff
- 30c per kWh, you’d earn 56.6c/per kWh Feed-In Tariff
Gareth Jones, an Amber customer from NSW, earned a $767 bill credit from November 2022 to March 2023 using a 13kw solar system and a Tesla Powerwall 2.
“With my previous retailer, I was up by something like $6 in credit over a three-month period. Once SmartShift and the Ausgrid trial tariff kicked in, I’ve been up by around $200 each month since then, so it’s been really good” says Mr Jones.
If Mr Jones had installed his Tesla Powerwall after 11 August 2023, he could have also added an extra $750 rebate to that credit, leaving him with a total return of $1,517.
