South Australia Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme (REPS)
With households across South Australia paying the highest average electricity kilowatt-hour (kWh) rates in Australia, home battery storage systems like the sonnenBatterie Evo have become increasingly popular among households with rooftop solar.
While South Australia doesn’t have a home battery scheme in place at the moment, households and businesses can take advantage of other initiatives offered by the SA Government, like the Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme (REPS).
The REPS scheme in SA doesn’t provide a battery rebate, but it does offer incentives for connecting a new or existing home solar battery to an approved Virtual Power Plant (VPP), like sonnenConnect.
What is the Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme (REPS)?
Administered by the Essential Services Commission, the Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme (REPS) is an SA Government initiative that helps households and businesses reduce their energy costs. The scheme commenced on January 1st 2021 and follows on from the previous Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme (REES) with the aim of delivering “a smarter, more affordable, reliable and sustainable energy future for all South Australians.” This involves improving energy productivity to reduce energy costs and greenhouse emissions, which it aims to achieve by setting electricity and gas retailers – known as ‘obliged retailers’ – energy productivity targets (EPTs) to meet. To achieve these EPTs, retailers offer households and businesses incentives to deliver energy productivity activities, like insulation, heating and cooling, and by participating in Virtual Power Plants (VPPs).
REPS energy productivity activities
There are a number of eligible Energy Productivity Activities offered through the REPS scheme in SA, with the list below outlining the activities that are available to South Australian households.
- Insulation and building sealing
- Standby power controllers
- Heating and cooling
- Virtual power plant
- Time of use tariff
- Water heating
- Appliances
- Lighting
While some REPS activities are limited to ‘Priority Group Households’, most South Australian households looking to take advantage of the Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme will find they can access most of these eligible activities.
How does the VPP Activity Rebate work?
- Check your eligibility for a rebate and complete your application at MAC Trade Services.
- Once verified and approved, you will receive your rebate within 60 days.
Example of cashback amounts:
Priority Group
- sonnenBatterie hybrid 9.53/5 | $290
- sonnenBatterie eco 8.0/8 | $590
- sonnenBatterie Evo | $730
- sonnenBatterie eco 8.2/16 | $1,170
Non-Priority Group
- sonnenBatterie hybrid 9.53/5 | $220
- sonnenBatterie eco 8.0/8 | $450
- sonnenBatterie Evo | $560
- sonnenBatterie eco 8.2/16 | $900
What is a Priority Group?
Priority Group Customer is defined as a person who holds one of the following cards: Pension Concession Card, Health Care Card, TPI or War Widows Gold Repatriation Health card, Gold Repatriation Health Card (EDA), a participant in an Energy retailer hardship/concession or payment plan program, a household that is receiving an SA Government Energy Concession, a household that has been referred by a registered member of the SA Financial Counsellors Association (SAFCA) or a household that is a rental property where the weekly rental is not more than $400 per week.
Find out more about REPS here.
*See www.mactradeservices.com.au for full terms & conditions.
REPS & Virtual Power Plants (VPP)
As one of the eligible activities under REPS, SA households can connect a new or existing battery to an approved Virtual Power Plant (VPP). That means if you connect your home solar battery to an approved VPP, like the sonnenVPP, you could qualify for a REPS scheme rebate. To be eligible to join the sonnenVPP, your sonnenBatterie must be connected to the National Electricity Market.
Learn more about the requirements, including product and installation specifications for ‘Connecting a new or existing battery to an approved virtual power plant (VPP1)’, here.
How can I join a VPP and take advantage of REPS?
Joining the sonnenVPP (sonnenCommunity) via our sonnenConnect VPP offer – which enables you to take advantage of REPS while taking your energy independence to the next level in the process – is easy and beneficial. And not only beneficial for your household’s energy costs and carbon footprint either – along with a $100 sign-up bonus, sonnenConnect pays customers $0.50 a day (when your battery is available for grid support), plus, as a sonnenCommunity member, you’ll help to stabilise the grid by contributing to the aggregated capacity of sonnen's virtual power plant. And that has benefits for many Australians.
If you’re an eligible sonnenBatterie owner and would like to make a positive difference while taking advantage of schemes like REPS and enjoying the many benefits of sonnenVPP participation, why not apply for sonnenConnect online today?
Not yet a home battery owner and want to find out how much you could potentially save each year with solar battery storage? Explore our home battery storage solutions that empower you to store and manage the energy your rooftop solar PV system generates and use our online solar battery calculator to get an immediate estimation of your potential solar savings.
