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AAP
AAP
Politics
Maeve Bannister

Greens pledge solar battery assistance

Greens leader Adam Bandt says government support can bring down the cost of batteries. (AAP)

A plan to help Australian households and businesses switch to electricity and solar batteries is set to be unveiled by the Australian Greens.

The Greens' proposal includes grants of up to $25,000 for householders and business owners and loans of up to $100,000 to help make the switch from gas to electricity.

It also includes support for households and businesses to buy solar batteries in grants available up to $10,000 and loans up to $50,000.

The Greens expect to hold the balance of power in parliament after the next election.

They promise to put forward the plan to transition households from relying on natural gas, a more polluting and expensive power source, to electricity which can be made by renewable energy.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said government support helped bring down the cost of solar panels and the Greens want to do the same with batteries.

"Australia has so much sun and wind that we can produce clean energy cheaply and by supporting households and businesses to install batteries and get off gas, it's a win for climate and the cost of living," he said.

In the next decade, the plan expects to require a government investment of nearly $32 billion to help homes and small businesses switch to electricity and $12.6 billion to install small scale batteries in homes and businesses.

The fully costed plan assumes 40,000 homes a year will take up the household batteries scheme and it will grow by 19 per cent a year.

While all small businesses will be eligible for the grants, the parliamentary budget office estimated costs on roughly 11,500 businesses taking it up in the first year and growing by 13 per cent each year.

The Greens propose to pay for the plan by raising taxes on billionaires and big corporations in Australia.

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