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https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/real-community-batteries-are-uninsurable-in-energy-game-of-snakes-and-ladders/>
"After seven years of persistent and relentless work to get a community-owned
neighbourhood battery installed for the Fairfield community of north-east
Melbourne, the community energy group Village Power has learnt that no
insurance company will provide asset insurance for their battery.
“We thought insurance would be very expensive for us to obtain, but we did not
anticipate that we would not be able to get coverage at all,” the President of
Village Power, Graeme Martin, recently told the All-Energy Conference.
It’s the latest set-back for the volunteer-run social enterprise, which likens
the process of installing a community owned battery to a game of snakes and
ladders, with snakes around every corner.
Over the years Village Power managed to obtain funding for their 500 kWh
battery through the Victorian Government’s Neighbourhood Battery Initiative.
Their plan is to have a subscription model for the shared battery where excess
energy from homes and businesses with rooftop solar is available for
subscribers, or sold back to the grid.
They managed to locate a site for the battery, and to lease land for the
battery from the local Darebin council. They also succeeded in signing a
connection agreement with an electricity distributor.
But just when they were ready to press go on the project, they have been
knock-backed for property and asset insurance by 20 odd insurance companies and
brokers.
“Insurance is an essential safeguard, and it’s also a requirement of our lease
with council,” Martin says. “So no insurance, no lease, no land, no project.”
“We have concluded that community organizations without other assets are
currently unable to obtain property and asset insurance,” said Laura Cacho from
Wave Consulting who have been advising the community group about their
battery."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
