Victorian community energy company Indigo Power has commissioned its first community battery at the Old Beechworth Gaol – a 119 kW / 336 kWh Pixii PowerShaper system that provides backup power, increases solar self-consumption, and shares locally generated energy with retail customers across the region. It is the first of seven batteries Indigo Power will deploy under a $4.7 million project supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
The challenge
The Old Beechworth Gaol in northeast Victoria has operated as a tourism and community venue since its heritage listing. Close to seven years ago, Indigo Power – a community-owned energy retailer – installed a 30 kW rooftop solar system at the site, making it the company’s first customer.
The solar installation reduced on-site energy costs, but left two problems unsolved. First, the site had no way to store surplus generation, which was exported to the grid rather than used locally. Second, and more pressing for a rural community in bushfire country, there was no backup power capability. Extended outages are a real risk, and the gaol hosts a mix of businesses and community services that depend on reliable supply.
Indigo Power also had a broader objective: to build a scalable model for community energy resilience across regional Victoria and southern New South Wales. Beechworth was the logical starting point – a community with high rooftop solar penetration, a strong appetite for renewable energy, and an established relationship with Indigo Power.
The solution
Indigo Power selected Pixii’s PowerShaper XD as the battery platform, based on previous experience with Pixii hardware and confidence in the system’s grid-forming capability and energy management software.
The installed system pairs a 90 kW / 336 kWh Pixii BESS with a new 70 kW of solar PV – a 35 kWp DC-coupled array and a 34 kWp AC-coupled array. The Pixii Energy Architect (EMS) coordinates all energy flows and, critically, enables the DC-coupled solar to continue operating during a grid outage. That means the system can generate and store energy even when the grid is down – a practical requirement for a site that serves as a community refuge during emergencies.
The modularity of Pixii’s PowerShaper building blocks was a technical enabler here. Pixiiboxes can be configured to either operate as an MPPT charge controller or a bidirectional inverter, which made the DC-coupled configuration possible at this scale without additional conversion equipment. The same modularity allows capacity to be added in future if on-site loads grow or additional solar is installed.
“Indigo Power has procured Pixii systems in the past and found them to be of high quality and reliable. Pixii’s grid-forming ability and EMS appears to be market leading. Due to this, we were very confident in the Pixii product and knew it would be a great fit for the OBG project.”
Indigo Power
The benefits
The system delivers value across three areas.
Backup power: The battery provides long-duration supply for on-site operations during grid outages, covering the businesses and community services located at the gaol. This was a primary requirement for the project, particularly given the site’s role as a community venue and its exposure to extreme weather events.
Solar self-consumption and cost reduction: By storing surplus solar generation rather than exporting it, the system increases the proportion of renewable energy used directly at the site and reduces dependence on grid electricity during peak tariff periods.
Energy sharing: The battery operates as a shared community asset for Indigo Power’s retail customers. The system is expected to share up to 38.2 MWh of stored solar energy per year with participating households in the Beechworth area, without those customers needing to own solar panels themselves. Around 1,600 customers are within the local energy-sharing hub.
The Pixii Energy Architect (EMS) also helps participate in wholesale energy markets using an Orchestration layer – Ubi by Mondo, charging when prices are low and discharging at peak demand times. This value stacking – across backup, self-consumption, community sharing, and arbitrage – is what makes the economics of community battery projects like this one viable at scale.
“This project shows what is possible when communities take the lead on the issues that matter to them. When we speak with rural communities about batteries, the conversation always comes back to resilience – having reliable backup storage when it is needed most. The Beechworth Community Battery is a practical example of a community stepping up to meet its own needs.”
Benjamin McGowan, Managing Director, Indigo Power
The results
BEECH01 was commissioned in early 2026 and launched with a community event at the Old Beechworth Gaol. The project is the first milestone in Indigo Power’s seven-battery regional rollout, which will bring a combined 5 MWh of community storage to sites across Victoria and southern New South Wales.
Pixii BESS have already been commissioned in Myrtleford, Yarra Junction, and Yackandandah and Baradunda sites. Each deployment uses Pixii hardware. Indigo Power has also been appointed to deliver the Powering Resilience in the Regions project, working with local councils to extend energy security to further rural communities.
For Indigo Power, Beechworth demonstrates that the model works: community-owned storage, deployed at a visible local site, serving both the host organisation and the surrounding retail customer base. For Pixii, it adds to a growing portfolio of community battery projects in Australia alongside deployments including Bondi Beach with Ausgrid.
“Very positive ! We would highly recommend Pixii for any BESS project. The quality and reliability of the hardware, combined with the grid-forming capability of the EMS, gives us confidence as we scale our community battery network across the region.”
Dena Schulz, Project Manager, Indigo Power
| Objective | Backup power, solar self-consumption, and community energy sharing for Indigo Power retail customers |
| Industry | DSO/DNSP |
| Country | Australia |
| Location | Beechworth, Victoria |
| Grid partner & Orchestration | AusNet, Mondo |
| Partners | BankWAW, Indigo Shire Council, ACRE, Totally Renewable Beechworth |
| Solution | Pixii PowerShaper XD hybrid BESS |
| Capacity | 90 kW / 336 kWh, LiFePO4 (LFP) |
| New Solar PV | 30 kWp DC-coupled + 40 kWp AC-coupled |
| EMS | Pixii Energy Architect – grid-forming, backup, and arbitrage |
| Backup operation | DC-coupled solar operates during grid outage via Pixii EMS |
| Modularity | PowerShaper units operate as MPPT and bidirectional inverters; expandable |
Background
Indigo Power is a community-owned renewable energy company in North East Victoria. It operates as both an energy retailer and project developer, installing and managing community solar and battery assets at local sites. Its current ARENA-backed project will deploy seven community batteries across regional Victoria and southern NSW, with a combined capacity of 5 MWh.
AusNet operates the electricity distribution network covering Beechworth and the surrounding region. AusNet is the grid integration partner for BEECH01.
The Old Beechworth Gaol was built in 1858 and is listed as a heritage site. It operates today as a social enterprise venue housing local businesses, tourism operations, and the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship (ACRE). It was Indigo Power’s first solar customer in 2019.
