RACV program charges up Surf Coast community facilities for emergencies

RACV’S $1 MILLION investment in free solar energy systems for regional Victorians is on track with the two-year program reaching its halfway mark of installations.

Across Victoria, 12 towns – including Anglesea and Winchelsea – have received a solar and battery system worth about $40,000 on average.

Winchelsea and another 11 towns are next in line to get the system.

This is the largest program of its kind being rolled out by a non-government organisation in Australia.

Solar panels and batteries are being installed on community halls, sporting grounds and recreation reserves that act as emergency safe places and relief centres during bushfires and other extreme weather events.

Each installation includes rooftop solar plus a battery that can provide back-up power in case the grid goes down.

As well as being designated meeting points in an emergency, these facilities play a broader community role as hubs for events, sport and other activities.

Anglesea Football Netball Club president Jamie Mackenzie thanked the RACV for recently installing the system on the roof of the clubhouse at Ellimatta Reserve.

“Taking practical steps like this to prepare for extreme weather events is a welcome necessity and it’s fantastic RACV has the foresight and motivation to do this,” he said.

Solar panels and a battery have also been installed on the roof of the Anglesea Senior Citizens Centre in McMillan Street.

The other completed installations are in Omeo, Tallangatta, Wairewa, Wodonga, Goongerah, Clifton Creek, Yea, Calivil, Heathcote and Dederang and will be followed by sites including Hamilton, Harrietville, Hawkesdale, Warrnambool, Balmoral and Mirranatwa.

RACV is consulting with local councils and community groups to identify the most suitable sites that would deliver the greatest benefit to each community.

Many of the sites are in remote locations where electricity supply from the grid is unstable and where access can often be constrained.

“The bushfires of summer 2020 that devastated many regional towns highlighted the importance of energy resilience during a natural disaster,” RACV Solar chief executive officer Andy McCarthy said.

“We’re not just putting solar panels on the roof so people can save on electricity. We are providing energy so people will have electricity when they really need it in critical situations.

“This is particularly important as so many regions across Victoria are becoming increasingly bushfire prone and vulnerable to more extreme weather events, such as the recent storms that saw many without power across the state.”