Amber customers step up to support the grid during Vic power crisis

As Victoria was hit yesterday with one of the largest outage events in the state’s history - taking down its biggest power station, Loy Yang A - Amber customers stepped up to support the grid when it needed it most.

Victorian Amber battery customers, optimised by Amber’s SmartShift technology, sent excess renewable energy into the grid to bolster stability. In a vision of what the future holds for more Aussie households, the average Amber battery customer in Victoria earned $106 for their energy exports during the power crunch.

The top Amber energy exporter ended the day $578 up for the support they provided to the grid, while eleven customers took home more than $300 for the afternoon’s battery exports.

Victorian customer Scott Watkins, who made almost $120 sending energy from his home battery, was among many customers who proudly shared their earnings on social media.

The top energy exporter ended the day $578 up for the support they provided to the grid, while eleven customers took home more than $300 for the afternoon’s battery exports. In each case, these earnings - strengthened by the peak wholesale feed-in tariffs available when the grid was under duress - are set to be passed through in full in each customer’s next bill.

Amber’s non-battery customers also supported the grid during the crisis, brought on by extreme weather. They responded to notifications sent out by Amber suggesting that they shift their usage away from peak times, when wholesale prices spiked in response to stress on the grid.

As coal-fired power stations are taken offline and extreme weather intensifies, the need for flexible and fast moving renewable energy to support the grid only increases. A consumer-led energy transition that sees household batteries and EVs coordinated to send excess energy to the grid, and consumers shifting more energy demand away from peak times, is one of the primary ways we can ensure a smoother transition to a renewable-powered future.

This crisis is a painful one for many who have lost power and experienced significant disruption, but it also reinforces the importance of home batteries. Increased uptake in home batteries will mean more excess energy storage capacity is available to be shared with the grid when it needs it most, reducing the likelihood of similar outages in the future. With access to wholesale prices, we can ensure more households can get fairly rewarded for sharing their excess battery energy with others.

‍Learn more about the benefits of optimising your battery in line with wholesale prices, or check your battery’s compatibility with Amber’s SmartShift.