Australia has surpassed 400,000 home battery storage installations under the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program, reaching a combined storage capacity of 11.2GWh in less than a year since the scheme was introduced.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced the milestone on 16 May, highlighting that installations are currently being completed at a rate of around 2,000 batteries per day.
The new data represent a considerable increase from the 380,712 battery systems and 10.7GWh of storage capacity reported by Bowen at the Smart Energy Conference on 6 May.
“400,000 Australian households are reducing their bills very dramatically while also helping the grid and supporting lower energy costs for all Australians,” Bowen said. “That’s 11.2GWh of extra storage introduced in less than a year.”
The total residential battery capacity added through the program now matches the amount of utility-scale battery storage introduced into the National Electricity Market (NEM) over the past 12 months.
According to the Australian Energy Market Operator, 4,445MW and 11,219MWh of new large-scale battery storage projects were commissioned in the year leading up to 31 March, more than doubling the NEM’s total installed battery capacity.
The rapid growth in home battery adoption has also coincided with recent changes to the subsidy structure. Adjustments introduced on 1 May now provide greater support for smaller battery systems, resulting in the average battery size decreasing from around 28kWh to 25kWh.
The program has attracted criticism over equity concerns, with some research suggesting that higher-income households in metropolitan areas have benefited the most from the subsidy scheme. In response, the revised tiered subsidy structure aims to improve fairness by reducing incentives for larger battery systems, which are more commonly installed by wealthier households.
The Australian government started the Cheaper Home Batteries Program following the 2025 federal election. Initial funding estimates of AU$2.3 billion have since grown significantly, with projected support now expected to reach AU$7.2 billion by 2030.
By November 2025, approximately 8,000 applications per week were being processed through the scheme, which offers households discounts of around 30% on the upfront cost of battery installations.
Earlier this year, speculation emerged that the government may consider winding back or ending the program early as part of the May budget review. However, those reports did not eventuate, and the subsidy remains in place.
Despite this, other clean energy initiatives have been affected, including the Battery Breakthrough Initiative, after the government announced plans to reclaim AU$1.3 billion in unallocated clean energy funding.
Solar analytics firm SunWiz expects another 400,000 household battery systems to be installed across Australia during 2026, indicating strong ongoing demand even as subsidy levels gradually reduce under the program’s phase-down mechanism, which will continue until the scheme concludes in 2030.