Location: Old Beechworth Gaol, Beechworth, Indigo Shire, on Dhudhuroa Country
Project initiator: Totally Renewable Beechworth
Battery owner and operator: Indigo Power
Project funding: Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) Community Batteries for Energy Resilience Project, with community support through an equity crowdfunding campaign organised by Indigo Power.
Project status: Commissioned March 2026
What are the benefits?
- Provides backup power to tenants at the Old Beechworth Goal during outages and after extreme weather events.
- Local residents have access to charge their devices.
- Supports Beechworth’s journey towards 100% renewable energy
- Local residents who have Indigo Power as their electricity retailer can save on their bills.
- Stores rooftop solar generated during the day to power the Old Beechworth Gaol tenants during the afternoon and evening peak, and exports excess solar electricity to the grid.
Features
- Prior PV inverter capacity: 30 kVA.
- Prior export limit: 0 kVA – this means the system was not allowed to export excess solar electricity to the grid.
- New additional PV capacity: 34 kVA (35kW of new 69kW is DC coupled to the BESS).
- BESS inverter capacity: 119 kW / 336 kWh.
- Total new capacity: 183 kVA.
- New export limit: 200 kVA.
How does it work?
- No discharge / export to the grid between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm.
- No charge / import from the grid between 3:00 pm and 9:00 pm.
- Battery charging and discharging to and from the grid is permitted outside these periods, provided it remains within the limits specified as per the supply agreement.