Australia’s Largest Smart City Battery Development Under Way

One of the most highly-anticipated developments in New South Wales has completed its stage one solar and battery project, with Mulpha joining forces with Australia’s largest solar and battery installer Natural Solar to work on this new initiative.

Stage one has seen batteries installed across the Essentia development, with stage two and stage three to roll out during the next 18 months. This solar and battery project is the largest battery development project in the country.

Mulpha executive general manager Tim Spencer said that the decision to integrate renewable energy with high-end technology was clear cut.

“We realised early on in the design process that Natural Solar was closely aligned with our vision of a smart city in Norwest,” Spencer said.

Australian developers have a rare opportunity to harness the “battery boom”, Natural Solar chief executive Chris Williams says.

“We are in talks with some of the largest developers in Australia and worldwide on how they can not only make their developments more eco-friendly, but also give their buyers what they want.”

Williams says that there is an appetite for developers to push the boundaries and give buyers added extras that will not only add value, but also reduce their household expenses from day one.

“We see so many developers motivated by different things, but it truly comes back to the end-customer—the buyer or investor who is looking to achieve value on their home purchase,” Williams said.

We know savvy developers are exploring integrating technology into their new-builds.

“And with the growth of battery power and the ability for residents to store their power and use this how and when they please, there is no doubt we predict batteries will be at the forefront of all new developments in the next 3-5 years acting as the heart of the home ecosystem.”

Natural Solar has installed some of the most prominent battery storage systems in the world, including the first residential Tesla Powerwall globally and the first housing project to utilise blockchain technology for power sharing.

“We have a really clear company vision and this is to provide all Australian households with access to battery power,” Williams said.

“Our work with developers, including Mulpha and inhousing, has done this at scale as we move from early adopters to a more ‘mum and dad’ mainstream market.

Soon a home solar and battery system will be as commonplace as a stone benchtops and household air conditioning.”

At the 74-townhouse Essentia development, there has been a 100 per cent uptake of the solar and battery solutions to date from both owner-occupiers and investors.

“Natural Solar is pushing the boundaries and pioneering innovation within greenfield developments, and the uptake shows that the solution strongly resonates in the current market,” Spencer said.

Heading up Developments and Microgrids team at Natural Solar is Luke Cassar who has extensive experience working with companies such as CBRE Residential and Colliers International.

Williams says Natural Solar prides themselves on their intrinsic understanding of developers, as well as their ability to think outside the square.

“We are consistently presented with challenges from developers such as grid access or capacity.

“Battery storage is an opportunity for developers to avoid being forced to make costly grid upgrades which may in themselves make a project non-feasible.

Williams says that delivering a holistic solution at the planning stage is paramount to obtaining the best outcomes for developers.

“We view greenfield sites as a fully-interconnected energy eco-system starting from electrical infrastructure, centralised and decentralised solar generation and energy storage, through to end consumer energy offerings all the way down to smart home automation and EV chargers.

“A wave of innovation is under way within renewable energy and battery storage and we are fielding more enquiries than ever from forward-thinking entities looking to capitalise on the benefits of these solutions with a key focus on energy savings and net zero outcomes.

“The battery powered home of the future is officially here to stay.”

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