Victorian government increases rebates for electrification

The Victorian government is driving further electrification for households and businesses through changes to the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program.

Major milestones

The VEU has made significant progress since it introduced its electrification activities, including:

• More than 500,000 certificates for upgrades to efficient electric space heating and cooling systems
• Over 150,000 certificates for upgrades to efficient electric hot water systems
• More than 10,500 Victorians have switched to efficient electric heating and cooling (including over 8,500 consumers upgrading from gas heating)
• Over 19,000 Victorians have upgraded from a gas water heater to a hot water heat pump system.

The latest changes

To build on this momentum, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) has made further changes to the electrification activities under the VEU program. This includes:

• Increasing incentives by up to 50 per cent for space heating and cooling installations in non-residential premises (Part 6)
• Expanding product eligibility for space heating and cooling (Part 6) to allow more quality products to be installed
• Expanding eligibility for water heating upgrades (Part 1 and Part 3) to allow upgrades from solar hot water systems
• Making changes to cold room activities (Part 43) to increase incentives for large cold rooms and reduce incentives for small cold rooms.

Making a difference

DEECA has seen significant uptake in the upgrades of space heating and cooling appliances in non-residential premises (such as aged care, hospitals and schools) since it first introduced the incentives in May 2023.

The agency has reviewed the heating and cooling loads attributed to non-residential upgrades and increased heating loads as a result of this analysis. This change increases emissions reduction efforts and incentives by up to 50 per cent for upgrades in non-residential premises when replacing a gas appliance.

There are also changes to the VEU’s water heating activities to align with the Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap and Solar Homes, helping more consumers switch to efficient electric appliances. Consumers can upgrade their electric and gas-boosted solar water heaters if the solar component of the system is non-functional and the system is over five years old.

Learn more

DEECA is hosting a free webinar about the rebates to electrify non-residential space heating and cooling on Thursday, September 5 from 12.30–1.30pm (AEST). The webinar will cover the increased rebates for gas and electric heating and cooling system upgrades, and the financial incentives available when upgrading inefficient heating and cooling systems.

The changes reflect the efforts in various jurisdictions to drive energy-efficiency upgrades and degasification.