Community batteries and distributed energy in Australia with Graeme Martin (Founder - Village Power)

Jun 25, 2025

Graeme Martin, Founder and Director of Village Power, shares insights on community batteries in Australia, aiming to enhance local energy storage and consumption. He discusses their role in maximizing rooftop solar efficiency and reducing grid strain. Key topics include the hurdles of regulatory complexities, the importance of customer trust, and innovative funding models. Martin emphasizes community engagement and collaboration as essential for successful projects, suggesting that these local solutions could pave the way for a resilient and inclusive energy future.

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ANECDOTE

Origin Story of Village Power

Graeme Martin started Village Power with no prior energy industry experience, driven by a desire to enable community climate action.
The initial focus evolved towards community batteries, aiming for impactful local energy storage solutions.

INSIGHT

Community Batteries Serve Multiple Homes

Community batteries connect directly to the grid and serve multiple households as a shared resource.
This setup enables local solar energy time-shifting, increasing renewable self-consumption.

INSIGHT

Community Battery Scale and Appeal

Community batteries are mid-sized, around 50 kW to 5 MW, acting as a 'Goldilocks' solution between household and large-scale storage.
The term "community battery" resonates well because it captures public imagination and inspires involvement.

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As rooftop solar booms and the grid grows more complex, one question is gaining urgency: how do we store energy locally, efficiently, and in a way that benefits everyone?

Community batteries are emerging as one solution small-scale, shared storage systems designed to maximise solar self-consumption, reduce network strain, and deliver value back to neighbourhoods.

In this episode of Transmission, Wendel is joined by Graeme Martin - Founder of Village Power to take a closer look at the real-world deployment of community batteries in Australia.

From funding and grid integration to ownership models and consumer trust, this conversation explores what it takes to build energy infrastructure at street level and why that might be the key to a more resilient, inclusive electricity system.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What community batteries actually do and how they fit between household solar and grid-scale storage.
The biggest roadblocks to rollout, from regulatory complexity to grid connection delays.
Why customer experience and transparency matter, and how trust shapes participation.
The economics of local storage, including how these systems are funded and who benefits.
How community-led models can scale, and what Australia’s experience means for global grids.

About our guest

Graeme Martin is Founder and Director of Village Power, a volunteer-led community energy group based in Melbourne. With over 30 years in environmental science and geospatial consulting, Graeme has led the group’s multi-year campaign to install a community battery in Alphington/Fairfield. For more information on the work Village Power is doing - head to their website.

About Modo Energy

Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage solutions understand the market - and make the most out of their assets.

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