General News
22 May, 2025
Funding success for Donald project
Funding success has brought the Donald Community Power Plant project a step closer to being trialled after it secured $400,000 from the State Government.
Received from the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries Program, the pilot project aims to reduce electricity bills and improve local grid stability by installing a grid-connected battery in Donald.
If the initiative is successful, the project may be expanded to other towns within the GWMWater service area.
The proposed battery would be installed at the redundant GWMWater water storage site on Racecourse Road, Donald.
If additional external funding can be secured, there are plans to expand battery capacity and include additional solar generation at the site.
GWMWater has been working with Donald 2000 Inc. and Powercor Australia to develop project concepts.
In January 2024, GWMWater was awarded $85,000 from the Water Minister's Climate Challenge to explore the feasibility of community energy project for Donald.
Building on this initiative, GWMWater submitted the application for $400,000 in additional funding to commence implementation of the project.
Facilitating community energy initiatives is an integral component of GWMWater's Clean Energy Strategy which outlines the company's commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 20235.
This includes sourcing 100 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2025 while ensuring that energy investments do not result in increased water bills for customers.