Hepburn Energy

21/07/2025

We're excited to launch this program in August. More information to come!

Hepburn Energy will lead a regional energy literacy initiative to help households across the Grampians Central West region switch to cheaper, cleaner electric appliances. The projects, to be delivered over the upcoming financial year, will also build awareness of Victorian Government incentives such...

14/07/2025

Thanks to our friends at The Wombat Post for sharing our news!

“Bessie” Hepburn Energy’s 5MWh community battery arrived last Friday. Bessie is co-located with the wind turbines Gusto and Gale on Leonard’s Hill, just outside Daylesford, and is located just below Gale. It is the equivalent of around 400 household batteries.  Hepburn Energy (formerly know...

06/07/2025

We are so pleased to be able to continue our local climate action work with funding from Sustainability Victoria

Six community organisations across Victoria will share in $660,000 in funding to deliver localised programs that support households to switch from gas to efficient electric appliances – cutting emissions, lowering energy bills and making cleaner living more accessible. 💡🏡

Delivered by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government, the Community Electrification Engagement Program will connect Victorians with the rebates and incentives that make it easier to go electric – such as the SEC Victoria Electric Home Planner, Solar Victoria rebates, and the Victorian Energy Upgrades Program. 👷🏼‍♀️

The program will focus on priority groups – including renters, low-income households, First Nations communities and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities – helping ensure all Victorians can benefit from cleaner, more efficient electric living. ⚡

Congratulations to the recipients:
➤ Geelong Sustainability
➤ Gippsland Climate Change Network
➤ GV Community Energy
➤ Hepburn Energy Wind Community Co-operative
➤ Mount Alexander Sustainability Group
➤ Yarra Energy Foundation

05/07/2025

Thanks to our friends Renew Economy for the coverage on our exciting partnership with Optigrid. 🔋

The first community wind farm to be built on Australia’s main grid will use smart bidding software originated at the University of Adelaide to help it survive and thrive in an increasingly volatile…

05/07/2025

Happy International Day of Co-operatives, everyone!
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01/06/2025

Our friends in Denmark WA, are looking to expand their turbines and to add a battery. We have so much available capacity in the existing distributive network; it would be great to see governments getting behind mid-scale community renewables!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-27/community-owned-denmark-wind-farm-to-double-output/105318020?utm_source=abc_news_web&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_web

A co-op wind farm in Denmark, Western Australia is one of hundreds of "mid-level" energy projects being developed across Australia amid a growing trend of community-led investment.

25/05/2025

Electricity use in our Shire has gone up by 15% since 2018, jumping from 82,024 MWh to 94,695 MWh in the 2024 financial year. But compared to last year, that’s only a 1.5% increase. This rise is probably due to a growing population and more people switching from gas appliances to all-electric options.

There's a solid argument for boosting energy efficiency in homes and looking into household batteries because a lot of rooftop solar energy is being sent back to the grid instead of being used right at home. Right now, about 35.9% of solar energy is consumed by households directly, and overall, the Shire relies on 38.8% of clean energy from community renewables and Power Purchase Agreements with the Council and Central Highlands Water.

20/05/2025

It's pretty amazing what local people have been doing at home over the years. The Shire now has 21.8 MW of solar PV capacity installed, an 8.4% jump from last year and a huge 107.5% increase since 2018. Back then, only 17.7% of homes had rooftop solar, but now that number has shot up to 37.6%. That's more than double in just six years!

The size of solar PV systems has changed a lot over the years. Back in 2018, the average size was 3.6kW, but now it's jumped to 5.9kW. In our Shire, community-generated renewable energy—including our two turbines and rooftop solar—hit 37,760 MWh this past year, almost double what we produced in 2018. That's a whopping 96% increase!

20/05/2025

Our community battery ‘Bessie’ is on the way! Travelling on a vessel called Pusan C from China she is estimated to dock in Melbourne on 2 June. Thanks to the awesome team at for all of their support.

13/05/2025

The results from our latest shire wide energy audit are in! In FY2024, the Shire's net emissions from electricity were down to 41,433 tonnes of carbon, which is much lower than the 69,251 tonnes we had back in 2018 (our baseline).

The locally avoided emissions have gone up from 21,181 tonnes in 2018 to 31,612 tonnes in the 2024 financial year. That’s a solid 49.2% increase in avoided emissions over the last six years!

12/05/2025

Site preparations for our new 5MWh community battery ‘Bessie’ are well underway with the civil works now complete!

We're thrilled with the outcome! Huge thanks to Ron and Nathalie for allowing us to work on their farm and hosting our battery. We appreciate our contractors, Aidan from O'Brien Electrical Engineering and John and Kieran from JM Contracting, for their great work.

08/05/2025

Our cooperative has been working with David Booth, aka the street artist Ghostpatrol, for quite a while now. Back in 2013 and 2015, he painted Gale and Gusto (our wind turbines), giving them visable personalities, and they really took off, becoming the first of their kind in the world. We are working with him to decide what story the battery mural will tell , and we’ll share more details on that soon.

Check out more about David’s work here: https://david-booth.com/