Yack’s second community battery to be constructed

It’s taken 12 months of effort but TRY is chuffed to announce that Yack’s second community-scale battery, Yack02, will be constructed in the next 6 months. After the recent signing of the funding agreement with the Victorian government’s 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program, we held an information session for local residents on the 22 August at the Yackandandah Sports Park, the soon-to-be new home for Yack02.

Matthew Charles-Jones, the president of TRY, explained the rationale for Yack’s second community battery and the role it will play by storing daytime solar generation and then releasing it at night for local customers of Indigo Power.

It also has a second, equally important function in enabling the Sports Park facility, with its catering-level kitchen, showers, toilets and significant indoor space, to continue operating despite potential disruptions to the mains power supply. Thus continuing the significant original purpose for the building, that of a community facility and gathering space after emergencies.

An impressive story

Sports Park Committee Vice President, Kevin Poyner, told the amazing story of the transport of the unwanted sheep holding shed from Orange, NSW, by an enterprising group of 34 locals, to become the Yackandandah Sports Park facility. With less than a month’s notice and a collaborative effort in 1997, they travelled to Orange for a weekend, dismantled the building, and transported it by semi-trailer to Yackandandah!

Over the next two years, they worked out a construction plan, and within a $100,000 budget (including purchase of the building at $23,000), constructed the facility in stages, including a Scout Hall, cricket pavilion and basketball stadium. The entire project took 10 years, was project managed by locals and used Job Skills funding for some of the construction.

The upcoming addition of a community-scale battery helps fulfill the building’s revised purpose and adds a new chapter to its unique history. While the Sports Park is not a safe haven during fires, it can support the community during recovery, and with essential amenities for welcome support during extreme weather or other emergencies.

Filling in the details

The specifics and timeline of the 200 kWh battery installation were explained by project manager, Dena Schulz, from social enterprise Indigo Power who will install the unit. And TRY committee member and engineer, Jervis Whitley, gave an insightful overview of the role of community-scale or neighbourhood batteries in our changing electricity system.

The twenty local residents who attended the information session had some great questions at the end and there was further discussion once the formalities had finished.

There is palpable excitement that Yackandandah is about to take another step on the road to the 100% goal, and that the Sports Park building’s original purpose for the community will be fully realised. It’s another piece in the mosaic of doing energy differently.

With sincere thanks to funding and support from the Australian Ethical Foundation, the Victorian Government’s 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program, the Yackandandah Community Centre and the Yackandandah Folk Festival.

You can also read the media release here.