The ACT government will set aside $4 million worth of grants to subsidise the cost of installing solar battery storage in Canberra homes, despite less than half of the funds from the last two grant pools being used.
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About $600,000 and $2 million respectively were set aside for rounds one and two of the Next Generation Energy Storage program.
The grants are funded by the ACT's large-scale renewable energy projects and aim to encourage the rollout of around 36 megawatts of energy storage in up to 5000 Canberra homes and businesses over the next three years.
However a Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate spokesman confirmed less than half of the money allocated in the previous rounds had been used.
He said that money would roll over to round three, which ACT climate change and sustainability minister Shane Rattenbury said came off the back of "strong community and industry interest".
"This program has so far facilitated a 24 per cent upfront discount for people who've taken those early steps in bringing in batteries," Mr Rattenbury said.
"What we are seeing with this program is around 200 battery installations so far, more are on the ordering books and this program will see a continued rollout."
Mr Rattenbury said the battery storage network would help make Canberra's electricity grid more resilient in times of high demand.
"The real strength of having this sort of battery capacity in the network is the real pressures in the grid at the moment are those days where it gets extremely hot and demand goes through the roof," Mr Rattenbury said.
"What we can see with this sort of battery system is we can offset those absolute peaks it means you don't need to build more grid capacity, you can actually use this smart technology to really help iron out those extreme peaks in the grid."
The program has also helped give a boost to businesses in Canberra's renewable energy sector.
Reposit Power chief executive Dean Spaccavento said his company, which builds "brains" for solar batteries, was able to scale up much faster because of the demand for subsidised batteries.
"We started Reposit in October 2013 and we've gone from three employees to about 30 employees in that time," Mr Spaccavento said.
His technology helps customers reduce their power bill to about $1.50 a day, by constantly monitoring the grid to check when power is cheapest.
"Several times a second it makes an evaluation about how much solar is coming in, what's happening on the grid both at your house and also in the wider system and it makes a decision about what you should do with your battery right now," Mr Spaccavento said.
"All the time, 24 hours a day, forever it is looking a those signals, and helping you save the maximum amount of energy and maximum amount of money on your electricity bill and also reaching into the wider electricity system to help out and earn additional money whilst also stabilising the grid."
Eight providers are currently a part of the grants program and companies seeking funding for installing subsidised battery storage linked to rooftop solar have until October 19 to prepare their submissions for the next round.
Round three will begin early next year.
