Mallacoota’s Community Microgrids and Sustainable Energy Program
Community Energy
Reliable, renewable and resilient energy that works for you and your community.
In response to the 2019-20 fire season, the Victorian Government’s DEECA and AusNet initiated a feasibility study to develop innovative energy infrastructure for extreme weather support. By increasing distributed energy supplies, Mallacoota can remain connected during network disruptions using solar systems, batteries, generators, and the Mondo Ubi smart energy controller.
The three-stage program aims to strengthen the local energy network and support high-risk communities.
Essential properties will continue functioning during outages, ensuring relief hubs remain active. Residents can participate by adopting efficient hot water systems and the Mondo Ubi Energy Management Platform, reducing local energy supply pressure and extending Mallacoota Area Grid Storage (MAGS) community battery runtime.
Residential hot water heat pump systems with savings at more than 50% off
I’m so pleased about this Community Microgrids initiative. It was the one big hope I had after the Black Summer fires that our town could function independent of main lines power and make use of renewable sources of energy.
Marie Connellan Mallacoota, Resident and Teacher
Mallacoota community eligibility
Frequently Asked Questions
A resilient local electricity supply can provide electricity services even when the grid experiences an outage.
Energy resilience in Mallacoota is achieved by increasing renewable energy resources on community buildings and properties, to have the initiative to work independently on a daily but then work together in coordination when traditional energy resources or extreme events take place within the community impacting energy supply.
Suitable essential services and critical businesses will receive a solar system and battery designed to support their individual energy needs during an outage. In addition, essential services providers will receive a backup generator. Eligible residents will receive heat pumps that reduce the energy demand on the grid and can be triggered to store heat before an outage, which will decrease energy demand on the community battery during an outage. All participating energy systems will also have a smart energy management device (Mondo Ubi) installed to optimise and coordinate energy use.
• Improve the reliability and resilience of the electricity supply
• Support energy security in the event of an emergency for the community
• Reduce reliance on the broader energy system by generating power locally • Reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability
• Maximise the amount of locally generated solar energy while reducing annual energy bills.
• In the future, surplus electricity may be shared among participants of the microgrid, sold back to the grid or in the future even donated to a school, charity or other community organisation.
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