AGL's Virtual Power Plant is a bring-your-own-battery program. You keep your battery and solar, move your electricity account to AGL, and let AGL draw on the battery during a limited number of events when the grid is under pressure. In return you get three separate credits: a one-off welcome credit, an annual credit tied to how much energy moves in events, and a small quarterly credit for staying connected.
It is a fixed-rate program, not a wholesale one. That makes it easier to predict, but it also means the upside is capped. If you like knowing roughly what you'll get and want the battery to behave normally most of the time, it is worth a look.
Who it suits
- Owners of a Powerwall, SigenStor, AlphaESS SMILE, a Sungrow SBR or SBH setup, or SolarEdge and LG batteries on a SolarEdge inverter.
- People who want predictable, capped credits rather than wholesale price swings.
- NSW households who want the NSW VPP incentive paid as a bill credit through their retailer.
Who should skip it
- Homes with an export limit under 5kW, a SIM-only battery connection, or life support equipment. They are not eligible.
- Anyone who would pay more on AGL's usage rates than the credits are worth. Compare the whole bill first.
- People who want every kWh to earn wholesale spike prices. The event credit is a flat $1 per kWh with a cap.
AGL VPP at a glance
| Provider | AGL |
| Plan | AGL Virtual Power Plant |
| Status | Open to new customers with their own battery when checked. |
| States | NSW, QLD, SA, VIC |
| Networks / regions | NSW, QLD, SA and VIC, wherever you can be an AGL electricity customer. |
| How it pays | Per kWh exported in events: $1 per kWh your battery charges from or discharges to the grid in events, up to 250kWh a year, paid annually, plus a quarterly credit ($20, or $45 in SA per AGL's help page). |
| Sign-up bonus | $200 welcome credit on your first bill |
| Control and reserve | AGL can use your battery down to a reserve of up to 20% (fixed at 20% on Powerwall), for events under 10 hours, and can charge it from the grid. |
| Contract and exit fees | 12 months, auto-renewing. 30 days notice to leave and no exit fee on the bring-your-own offer. |
| Switch retailer? | Yes. You must be an AGL electricity customer. |
| State incentive link | NSW: AGL passes on the NSW VPP incentive as a once-off bill credit of about $40 per kWh, up to 28kWh, via MAC Trade Services. SA: listed as an approved VPP activity, amount not published. |
| Last checked | Sep 2026, against the provider's own pages |
How the money actually works
Start with the welcome credit: $200, applied to your first bill. It is a one-off, so leave it out when you think about what the program earns year after year.
The main ongoing money is the annual VPP credit. For every kWh your battery charges from the grid or discharges to the grid during an AGL event, you earn $1, up to 250kWh a year. AGL adds it up and pays it once, at the end of each 12 months. Note that both directions count: if AGL tells your battery to soak up power during an event, those kWh count too.
On top of that is a quarterly credit for being connected. AGL's main VPP page says $20 a quarter ($80 a year). Its help page says $20 in NSW, QLD and VIC but $45 in SA. We could not reconcile the two, so check which applies to you before you sign.
Outside events, your battery works as normal for your home, and you are paid whatever feed-in rate your AGL electricity plan includes.
Worked example: the most a year can pay, and a quieter year
Built only from AGL's published terms, with every assumption spelled out.
- Published: $1 per kWh charged or discharged in events, capped at 250kWh a year; $200 once; a quarterly credit.
- We use the $20 quarterly figure (NSW, QLD, VIC). SA may be $45 a quarter per AGL's help page.
- The "quieter year" assumes 120kWh moved in events. That is our assumption for illustration, not an AGL figure. AGL does not publish how many events to expect.
These are VPP credits only. They are separate from the federal battery discount and any state incentive, and they say nothing about what AGL's usage rates cost you compared with your current retailer. How many kWh you actually move depends on how many events AGL calls, which it does not publish.
Which batteries work with AGL VPP
This is AGL's own compatibility list as published when we checked. Lists change, and it is often the exact model, inverter and firmware that matter, not just the brand, so confirm your system with AGL before you count on the numbers.
- Tesla Powerwall 2 and Powerwall 3 (reserve fixed at 20%)
- LG RESU 7H, 10H and 16H, with a SolarEdge HD-Wave, Genesis, StorEdge or Energy Hub inverter
- SolarEdge Home Battery, with a SolarEdge HD-Wave, Genesis, StorEdge or Energy Hub inverter
- AlphaESS SMILE range
- Sigenergy SigenStor
- Sungrow SBH, SBR and SBP4K8 batteries with SH-RS, SH-RT or SH-T hybrid inverters
Read up on the brands we cover: Tesla Powerwall, SolarEdge, AlphaESS, Sigenergy, Sungrow.
The catch: fine print worth reading first
- You switch to AGL. The program is only open to AGL electricity customers, so your usage rates, supply charge and feed-in all become AGL's.
- Reserve of up to 20%. AGL can draw your battery down to its reserve during events of up to 10 hours. On a Powerwall the reserve is fixed at 20%.
- Grid charging counts, and happens. AGL can charge your battery from the grid during events. That energy counts towards your credit, but it also means your battery may not be sitting where you left it.
- Annual payment. The per-kWh credit arrives once a year. Leave after 11 months and check what the agreement says about part-year credits.
- Bundled battery offers are different. AGL also offers $1,000 off an AGL-installed battery, but that comes with a 5-year VPP term and a pro rata repayment if you leave early. The bring-your-own program has no exit fee.
- The quarterly credit is inconsistent between AGL's own pages ($20 everywhere, or $45 in SA). Ask AGL to confirm yours in writing.
Other things to know
- Your solar export limit must be at least 5kW. Homes limited to under 5kW export are not eligible.
- The battery needs an ethernet or Wi-Fi connection. A SIM-card connection does not qualify, and you need a smart meter.
- One battery per address, and homes with life support equipment cannot join.
- AGL also sells an optional Battery Rewards Plan, a separate retail plan paying 28c per kWh exported 5pm to 9pm (varies by state) and 3c at other times. It is not the VPP, so don't mix the two up when comparing.
How it sits next to your battery rebates
In NSW, AGL passes on the state's VPP incentive as a once-off bill credit, quoted at about $40 per kWh of battery capacity up to 28kWh and paid via MAC Trade Services. That is a state incentive with its own rules, and it is a different number from the $200 welcome credit and from the ongoing VPP credits. In South Australia AGL is listed as an approved VPP activity for the state's VPP incentive, but AGL does not publish the amount.
We always treat these as separate numbers: the federal Cheaper Home Batteries discount comes off the battery invoice, any state incentive is its own amount with its own rules, and VPP payments are ongoing credits on your power bill. Check your state: NSW battery rebates, QLD battery rebates, SA battery rebates, VIC battery rebates. Then run your own numbers in the savings calculator before you add any VPP income on top.
Alternatives worth comparing
- Origin Loop VPP (Battery Lite) (Origin Energy): same $1 per kWh idea but only counts discharge, caps at 200kWh, and has a much longer battery list.
- Powershop Virtual Power Plant (Powershop): a flat monthly credit by battery size instead of per-kWh event credits.
- Amber for Batteries with SmartShift (Amber Electric): wholesale-linked instead of fixed, for people who want the spikes.
Or see every plan side by side in our VPP plan comparison, and read how to compare VPP providers if you are weighing a few up.
Where these facts come from
We checked AGL Virtual Power Plant against AGL's own published pages and documents in Sep 2026. VPP offers get repriced often, so treat this as a starting point and read the current offer before you sign.