Synergy Battery Rewards VPP: can you actually earn money from your home battery?

Yes, but only a little. Synergy's Battery Rewards program pays 70c per kilowatt-hour when your battery discharges into the grid during a peak demand event, and most households earn somewhere between $30 and $190 a year from those events alone.

Synergy began testing Battery Rewards in late 2025 and ran its first live activation events in March 2026. The idea is simple: your battery automatically discharges stored energy back to the grid when Synergy calls an event, and you get paid for every kilowatt-hour you export. That 70c/kWh rate is worth several times more than a typical export credit, which is exactly why VPP earnings sound better than they turn out to be in practice. There are caps, conditions, and one big catch: joining a VPP is compulsory if you want the WA battery rebate.

How does Battery Rewards actually work?

During a peak demand event, typically a scorching summer afternoon or cold winter evening between 3pm and 9pm, Synergy remotely signals your battery to discharge stored energy back to the grid. Battery Rewards is Synergy's version of a virtual power plant, a program that coordinates lots of home batteries at once instead of relying on one big grid-scale battery.

The key details:

• Activation rate: 70c/kWh for energy exported during events
• Maximum events: no more than 30 per year
• Event window: typically 3pm to 9pm on extreme demand days
• Control: Synergy manages discharge remotely through your inverter
• Your usage first: your home's demand is prioritised, so the battery only exports surplus

You don't choose when events happen. Synergy calls them based on grid stress. In practice, most events cluster in January and February (summer air conditioning peaks) and June and July (winter heating peaks).

What could you realistically earn from VPP events?

These are modelled estimates, not a guarantee. Actual credits depend on how many events Synergy calls and how much your battery exports. Here's the maths for a 10 kWh battery (9 kWh usable):

Best case: 30 events a year, full discharge each time

• 30 x 9 kWh x $0.70 = $189/year

Realistic case: 15 to 20 events, partial discharge (your home uses some)

• 18 x 5 kWh x $0.70 = $63/year

Conservative case: 10 events, modest export

• 10 x 4 kWh x $0.70 = $28/year

The honest range: $30 to $190 a year from VPP events alone. It won't pay for your battery, but it's free money on top of the self-consumption savings you're already getting.

Combined with daily cycling savings ($700-1,400/year depending on tariff), a 10 kWh battery delivers $730 to $1,590 a year in total. VPP events add roughly 4-12% on top of that.

Do you have to join a VPP to get the WA rebate?

This is the part many people miss: joining a VPP is a requirement for the WA Residential Battery Scheme rebate, not an optional extra.

If you want the $1,300 Synergy rebate, you must:

1. Enrol in an approved VPP program (Battery Rewards or equivalent)
2. Stay enrolled for a minimum of 2 years
3. Have a battery paired with an inverter approved for DER Storage on Synergy's Supported Solutions List (SSL), with remote management capability

After the 2-year commitment, you're free to opt out. But given the 70c/kWh rate on offer, most households stay enrolled: a handful of discharge events a year is a small trade-off for the extra credit.

Which batteries are compatible?

Not every battery supports VPP. The inverter and battery combination must allow remote dispatch through Synergy's platform.

Batteries paired with an SSL-approved inverter that support Battery Rewards dispatch include:

• Tesla Powerwall 2 and Powerwall 3 (via Tesla Autobidder)
• Sungrow SBR/SBH (via iSolarCloud)
• BYD HVM/HVS with compatible hybrid inverters
• Enphase IQ Battery (via Enphase Cloud)
• GoodWe Lynx with GoodWe hybrid inverter

Check Synergy's current SSL for your inverter pairing before purchasing, as the approved list is updated regularly and new models are added over time. Your installer can confirm which inverter and battery combinations, including newer releases, are eligible at the time of installation.

VPP or daily cycling: which one actually matters more?

This is where people get confused. Your battery's primary value is daily cycling: storing cheap solar and using it during expensive peak hours. VPP events are a bonus, not the main event.

That last row covers whichever export scheme applies to your system. Systems with a completed REBS application received by Synergy on or before 7 September 2020 can still be on REBS, even if installed after that date; DEBS is a time-varying export credit for new connections. Older systems that haven't been touched since can still be grandfathered onto REBS, a flat 7.135c/kWh rate that's now closed to new connections. If you're not sure which one you're on, how DEBS and REBS compare walks through how to check. Confirm your eligibility and current status with Synergy or the WA Government, as eligibility can vary by location.

If someone tells you a VPP will make your battery "pay for itself," they're overstating it. The self-consumption savings do the heavy lifting. VPP is the cherry on top.

Why does Synergy want access to your battery?

WA's SWIS grid is under pressure. Record-low minimum demand from rooftop solar during the day, record-high demand from air conditioning during summer evenings. The grid needs flexible, dispatchable capacity, and the tens of thousands of home batteries already connected across Perth collectively provide some of that.

Synergy is also building its own grid-scale battery at Collie, a 500 MW facility, but home batteries distributed across the network can respond faster to localised demand spikes than one big battery in one location. Your 10 kWh battery is a tiny piece of a much larger grid stability puzzle.

As the SWIS shifts towards majority renewables, VPP rates and event frequency may well increase. The 70c/kWh rate may look modest now, but it's a foundation for what could become a more valuable program over time.

Should you factor VPP into your battery decision?

Yes, but don't let it be the deciding factor. If battery economics work for your household based on self-consumption savings alone (payback under 8 years), the VPP is a free bonus. If you need VPP earnings to make the payback work, the battery probably isn't right for you yet.

The real reason to join: the WA rebate requires it. The $1,300 rebate you get upfront is worth far more than any VPP earnings over the mandatory 2-year period. Think of VPP participation as the cost of accessing that rebate, and any actual earnings as a bonus.

Related reading

• Virtual power plants in Perth: what they are and what's available in WA: the broader picture on how VPPs work and what's on offer beyond Battery Rewards.
• WA Battery Scheme 2026: how to claim your $1,300 battery rebate: who qualifies, how the rebate works, and what your installer needs to do.
• Is a home battery worth it in Perth in 2026?: payback calculations across A1, Midday Saver, and export-limited scenarios.
• Australia's battery boom: what Perth buyers need to know: supply, wait times, and brand availability.

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Model your battery + VPP earnings: Our Savings Planner includes VPP credits in the battery ROI calculation, using your actual tariff and usage pattern.