Australians spend millions on solar panels and batteries for their homes every year, subsidised by federal and state governments. But imagine if Australia’s blueprint for the energy transition treated all those solar panels and home batteries as completely free? That is exactly what’s happening under the hood of Australia’s energy transition plan. Watch the video to find out how the official modelling hides $360 billion in rooftop solar and home battery costs that consumers will have to pay.
~Quick maths~
All solar and battery cost estimates are sourced from CSIRO’s GenCost 2023-24 Consultation Draft.
Calculations for utility-scale storage and solar:
Shallow Storage: Average of 1-2 hour battery prices = (1009 + 731)/2 = $870/kWh
$870/kWh x 8 GWh = $7 billion
Medium Storage: Average of 4, 8 and 12 hour battery prices = (592 + 519 + 478)/3 = $530/kWh
$530/kWh x 28 GWh = $15 billion
Deep Storage: 24 hour battery price = $427/kWh
$427/kWh x 51 GWh = $22 billion
Utility-scale batteries total: $7 billion + $15 billion + $22 billion = $44 billion
Utility-scale solar: $1526/kW x 55 GW = $84 billion
Total = $44 billion + $84 billion = $128 billion”