Australia’s Labor Party, under the country’s current Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has promised to shell out AUD 2.3 billion ($1.4 billion) as part of its Cheaper Home Batteries Program in a bid to win the upcoming federal elections on May 3, 2025.
The party says this program will help lower the cost of a typical installed battery by 30%. Paired with rooftop solar, it could save up to AUD 2,300 ($1,388)/year on the household power bill, compared with annual savings up to AUD 1,100 ($664) for rooftop solar at present.
Under the scheme slated to come into effect from July 1, 2025, households will be able to purchase a typical battery with a 30% or AUD 4,000 ($2,415) discount on installed costs for their own use, to be delivered through the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme.
Support will be available for up to 50 kWh of capacity for batteries sized up to 100 kWh.
It will slash energy bills for households, small businesses and community facilities by up to 90%, pitched the party, while adding, “It will help push down peak demand with fewer homes needing to be on the grid at one time, pushing down prices for everyone. This will help households reduce reliance on the grid – and take back control of their power bill.” It could stimulate installations of more than 1 million new batteries by 2030. The proposed scheme is part of the government’s 2025-26 Budget.
The Clean Energy Council (CEC) welcomes the commitment, calling it the missing piece of the energy transition puzzle. Its General Manager-Distributed Energy, Con Hristodoulidis said, “Today’s commitment by Federal Labor to provide a 30 per cent discount on the upfront cost of purchasing a home battery, through its Cheaper Home Battery Program, is a significant and welcome cost of living measure that will supercharge energy savings for the four million Aussies with rooftop solar on their homes.”
Australia is among the leading rooftop solar markets globally. In 2024, it installed 2 GW of new capacity, exceeding 25 GW in cumulative installations (see Australia Installed 3 GW Rooftop Solar Capacity In 2024).
However, Albanese is competing against Liberal Party’s Peter Dutton, whose manifesto proposes a balanced energy mix vis-à-vis Labor’s ‘renewables only approach,’ which has resulted in high prices.
Dutton says solar and wind will continue to play an important role in the country’s energy mix under his party’s administration to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The focus will be on an energy mix with renewables, gas, storage and zero-emissions nuclear. This will save Australians up to AUD 263 billion ($159 billion) through to 2050.
Community-funded climate change communications organization Climate Council is not a fan of the Liberal plan, though. Climate Councillor and Energy Expert Greg Bourne explained, “Labor’s battery plan can get clean power into the hands of more Australians in a few months. But, the Federal Coalition’s energy schemes will all take years, if not decades, to be realised, while unleashing billions more tonnes of dangerous climate pollution.”
