ENERGY STORAGE: POLL OF AUSTRALIANS AUGUST 2017 CLIMATECOUNCIL.ORG.AU

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1 ENERGY STORAGE: POLL OF AUSTRALIANS AUGUST 2017 CLIMATECOUNCIL.ORG.AU

2 Climate Council The Climate Council is an independent, crowd-funded organisation providing quality information on climate change to the Australian public. Climate Council of Australia Ltd 2017 This work is copyright the Climate Council of Australia Ltd. All material contained in this work is copyright the Climate Council of Australia Ltd except where a third party source is indicated. Climate Council of Australia Ltd copyright material is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License. To view a copy of this license visit You are free to copy, communicate and adapt the Climate Council of Australia Ltd copyright material so long as you attribute the Climate Council of Australia Ltd and the authors in the following manner: Energy Storage: Poll of Australians August 2017 comissioned by the Climate Council of Australia conducted by Rechtel. facebook.com/climatecouncil twitter.com/climatecouncil info@climatecouncil.org.au climatecouncil.org.au

3 Preface The electricity system in Australia is undergoing a major transformation due to technological change, changing consumer preferences, rising domestic gas prices, as well as a shift away from fossil fuels like coal and gas. Energy storage such as battery storage, pumped hydro and solar thermal, is set to become a key part of Australia s electricity grid. Energy storage will enable Australia to quickly transition to high levels of renewable energy by enabling electricity from wind and solar to be stored when it is plentiful and consumed when it is in higher demand. Storage can also meet technical grid requirements, like providing frequency control to the electricity system and assisting the management of extreme power system conditions (AFR 2017a). This will improve the electricity system s security and reliability, and reduce the likelihood of blackouts. Energy storage, such as batteries, can respond to changes in frequency far more quickly than fossil fuel power stations - and unlike gas prices (which are skyrocketing) the cost of batteries are falling (Reputex Carbon 2017). Climate Council commissioned ReachTEL to conduct a national survey of Australians in order to better understand their views and understanding of energy storage, including batteries. ReachTEL surveyed 1,928 residents of Australia on the 28 th August 2017.

4 Key Findings 1 2 Australians expect batteries to take off. Three quarters (74%) of those surveyed expect household batteries to become commonplace within the next decade, and more than half (55%) expect large-scale batteries to be commonplace within the same timeframe. Most solar households are keen to add batteries. 68% of those surveyed, who have a rooftop solar system, are considering adding a home battery. 3 4 People understand the key benefits of energy storage. Australians think batteries will make our energy system more reliable, cheaper and efficient. The majority of Australians polled trust that renewables + energy storage = 24/7 power, on demand. 52% understand that largescale energy storage enables wind and solar to provide power 24/7, on demand.

5 v ENERGY STORAGE: POLL OF AUSTRALIANS AUGUST 2017 Question 1: Do you own a solar system? Yes 37.7% 36.2% 39.3% 26.8% 43.1% 41.3% 43.0% No 62.3% 63.8% 60.7% 73.2% 56.9% 58.7% 57.0% Question 1a: Would you consider adding a battery? Yes 68.2% 66.7% 72.6% 74.3% 66.7% 54.6% No 16.0% 15.7% 16.2% 8.9% 12.7% 17.2% 28.4% Already have one 1.9% 0.8% 2.7% 0.6% 2.0% 3.2% 1.4% Not Sure/ Undecided 13.9% 16.8% 10.8% 17.8% 11.0% 12.9% 15.6% Note: Only respondents who answered Yes to Question 1 were asked Question 1a. Question 1b: Do you think getting solar would save you money? Yes 54.2% 54.1% 54.3% 67.8% 52.0% 47.7% 35.8% No 28.6% 27.8% 29.4% 21.4% 27.7% 29.5% 45.5% Not Sure/ Undecided 17.2% 18.1% 16.3% 10.8% 20.3% 22.7% 18.7% Note: Only respondents who answered No to Question 1 were asked Question 1a.

6 vi Question 2: One in five Australian households now have a solar system. Thinking ahead to the next 10 years, how commonplace do you expect household batteries (that store excess electricity from these solar systems) to become in Australia? Very Common 32.5% 33.8% 31.2% 29.6% 37.1% 33.6% 28.4% Common 41.1% 41.5% 40.8% 36.6% 42.0% 45.7% 41.3% Not very common 21.2% 21.1% 21.3% 27.1% 16.5% 18.0% 23.2% Rare 5.1% 3.7% 6.7% 6.7% 4.4% 2.7% 7.0%

7 vii ENERGY STORAGE: POLL OF AUSTRALIANS AUGUST 2017 Question 3: South Australia is building the biggest large-scale lithium ion battery in the world, and the first of its kind for Australia. Looking ahead to the next 10 years, how commonplace do you expect large-scale batteries (that store excess electricity from solar and wind farms) to become in Australia? Very Common 18.0% 15.8% 20.3% 19.4% 17.8% 18.3% 15.5% Common 36.8% 39.2% 34.3% 38.7% 37.8% 37.4% 30.8% Not very common 30.2% 31.8% 28.5% 19.8% 33.4% 32.5% 40.2% Rare 15.0% 13.1% 17.0% 22.2% 11.1% 11.8% 13.4% Total Surveyed Very Common Common Not Very Common Rare

8 viii Question 4: Thinking about the people who are adding a battery to the solar system on their house or business, what do you think is their primary motivation? Reducing Power Bills Protecting themselves from black outs Having more control over their power bills Getting off the grid Unsure/Don t know 51.4% 54.0% 48.7% 58.5% 54.1% 46.5% 40.7% 6.2% 4.0% 8.5% 7.2% 2.5% 6.9% 9.7% 16.9% 16.4% 17.3% 11.0% 17.2% 21.6% 20.4% 13.3% 10.8% 15.9% 11.4% 15.3% 15.1% 10.6% 12.2% 14.8% 9.6% 11.9% 10.9% 9.8% 18.5% Reducing Power Bills Protecting themselves from black outs Having more control over their power bills Getting off the grid Unsure/Don t know

9 ix ENERGY STORAGE: POLL OF AUSTRALIANS AUGUST 2017 Question 5: Thinking about a large-scale battery that is connected to a solar farm, wind farm or gas plant, what do you think the main benefit is for the electricity system as a whole? Make our energy system more reliable 25.0% 22.5% 27.7% 35.2% 17.8% 23.8% 21.3% Prevents black outs 7.1% 5.1% 9.3% 6.9% 4.6% 10.7% 7.3% Makes our energy system more efficient Makes electricity cheaper 19.0% 20.0% 17.9% 17.3% 21.8% 17.1% 19.8% 24% 26.2% 21.8% 22.3% 23.2% 24.0% 28.6% Unsure/Don t know 25.0% 22.5% 27.7% 35.2% 17.8% 23.8% 21.3% Question 6: In thinking about the term energy storage in Australia which of the following technologies first comes to mind: Pumped hydro storage 19.6% 15.5% 23.7% 17.4% 20.9% 20.2% 20.5% Flywheel 7.1% 7.5% 6.6% 8.9% 7.4% 6.7% 4.0% Individual batteries connected to household solar systemst Large-scale batteried connected to the grid 41.8% 45.1% 38.4% 35.6% 48.4% 45.3% 36.4% 22.8% 23.3% 22.2% 27.8% 14.9% 22.7% 27.5% Thermal 6.2% 7.3% 5.2% 5.5% 6.7% 4.4% 9.2% Compressed air 2.5% 1.2% 3.9% 4.8% 1.8% 0.7% 2.4%

10 x Question 7: Do you think large-scale storage, including batteries and hydro schemes, in combination with renewable energy sources like solar and wind can provide power on demand, 24/7? Yes 52.4% 54.1% 50.6% 48.3% 58.3% 54.3% 47.0% No 22.9% 17.3% 28.8% 30.1% 17.0% 22.0% 21.6% Not sure/ Undescided 24.6% 28.6% 20.6% 21.6% 24.6% 23.6% 31.4% Yes No Not sure/undescided