DEVONPORT, TAS – Households across the Mersey Valley, including Latrobe, with home battery storage systems are increasingly looking at how they can participate in Virtual Power Plant (VPP) trials, with the state’s energy landscape continuing to evolve. While Tasmania’s VPP market remains smaller than mainland states, local residents with compatible setups can join existing programs, primarily through state-owned retailer Aurora Energy.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), in collaboration with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), previously conducted VPP Demonstrations across Australia between 2019 and 2021. These trials aimed to understand how aggregated distributed energy resources (DER) like rooftop solar and batteries could provide services to the National Electricity Market (NEM) and inform regulatory changes. AEMO has since published knowledge-sharing reports on the insights gained.
For individual households in the Mersey Valley, the main opportunity to participate in a VPP currently comes via Aurora Energy’s Battery Bonus program. This is described as Tasmania’s only active residential VPP program, functioning as a retail product for battery owners. It combines a capped flat retail rate with optional VPP enrolment, acting more like a sign-up bonus than a per-event payment scheme. To be eligible, households must be Aurora Energy retail customers, possess a compatible battery, and have a smart meter installed. Aurora Energy, a Tasmanian Government-owned electricity retailer, is the primary provider for most residential customers in the state.
Beyond direct residential VPPs, ARENA has also backed larger-scale community battery initiatives in Tasmania. In March 2026, Synertec secured a contract with TasNetworks to deploy six “Powerhouse” Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) across the state’s distribution network. These community batteries, funded by ARENA, are designed to improve solar hosting capacity, manage peak demand, and support network reliability. TasNetworks is installing eight such community batteries in total as part of a trial, with two already completed in Burnie and Howrah in the second quarter of 2025, and six more estimated for completion in the second quarter of 2026. These are “front-of-the-meter” solutions, meaning they serve a local community rather than directly integrating individual home batteries into a VPP.
What Participants Can Earn
For households participating in VPPs in Tasmania, earnings are generally modest compared to other states. Typical annual returns for participating households are estimated to be between $150 and $400 per year. Some estimates suggest that for households with a 10-13.5 kWh battery and average evening usage, VPP enrolment could add $300-$900 per year to total solar income.
The Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator sets the regulated feed-in tariff (FIT) annually. For 2026, Tasmania’s flat regulated FIT stands at 8.93 cents per kilowatt-hour (c/kWh), which is considered competitive with VPP-only earnings in many other states and remains a dominant earning mechanism for solar households. The state’s hydropower-dominated grid results in fewer peak-demand events and lower wholesale price volatility, contributing to the more modest VPP returns.
Federal Support for Home Batteries
While Tasmania no longer offers a state-specific battery rebate (the Energy Saver Loan Scheme closed on September 1, 2025, after exhausting its funding), the federal “Cheaper Home Batteries Program” is available to eligible Tasmanian residents. This program, which commenced in July 2025, offers a subsidy of up to $372 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of usable battery capacity, potentially saving thousands on upfront costs. For an average 10 kWh battery system, this could mean a rebate of around $3,720. A key requirement for this federal rebate is that the battery must be VPP-capable, meaning it can support enrolment in a VPP, though actual enrolment is optional.
Mersey Valley residents interested in joining a VPP should contact Aurora Energy directly to confirm eligibility and understand the specific terms and benefits of their Battery Bonus program. General VPP eligibility typically requires a solar system with a compatible battery, a smart meter, and a reliable internet connection.