Renewable Energy : Community Battery Dja Dja Wurrung Nation
We are currently fundraising for this project.
Hepburn Energy, formerly known as Hepburn Wind, is a 100% member owned cooperative and Australia’s first community-owned wind farm located at Leonards Hill, about 100km northwest of Melbourne. They operate two wind turbines (known as Gale and Gusto). Established in 2007 and generating clean energy since 2011, the wind farm is now working towards installing solar and battery storage at the site. As a co-operative, they have 1979 shareholding members, mostly from the local region.
Hepburn Energy has secured funding for stage 1 of their battery project, to be co-located with their 2 wind turbines. The grant of $500,000 came from Round 1 of the Federal Government’s Community Batteries for Household Solar Program. An additional zero interest loan from CORENA would assist them to relatively cheaply add additional battery capacity. The battery will support greater uptake of mid-scale renewables on the local distribution network and deliver renewable energy to be used during evening peak times. The battery will support the co-operative to avoid curtailment, manage negative pricing intervals (when there is too much renewable energy in the grid), and enable more exported clean energy. It will also underpin a future 5MW solar farm at the same site.
CORENA supports community energy projects where the benefits of the renewable energy transition go to those in the local community. Investing in battery storage will also be critical for the renewable energy transition.
As our loans increase in size due to the revolving energy fund it is exciting to be able to support larger projects like this one. We hope to raise at least $100,000 (combined with loan repayments) to support this project. However, this will only partly fund the loan Hepburn Energy requires to deliver the scale of battery needed, so if we are able to fundraise more we may decide to increase our target (depending on the needs of other pending projects).
Website – https://www.hepburnenergy.coop/
We are currently fundraising for this project. Donate now.
Loan details
Loan target amount: $100,000 or more if fundraising allows
Loan repayments: $5,000 per quarter
Status: Fundraising
Installation date: TBD
Work Details
Community Battery either 2, 2.7 or 5MWh depending on final funding secured from CORENA and other sources.
“Hepburn Energy is so grateful to the team at CORENA and their investment community for the support of what will be Australia’s first fully owned community wind and battery project. This investment allows us to deliver a battery that is scaled to our wind farm’s needs. The energy market in 2024 is incredibly volatile and this battery allows us to have more income stability as well as more resilience for the local grid. The Hepburn Energy Park has been a pioneer in the Australian energy landscape and this battery will add to our community’s aspiration of being the first zero net emissions Shire in Australia.“
Taryn Lane, General Manager, Hepburn Energy