First Nations communities have indicated a desire to actively participate in the energy transition.
Grid-connected community energy projects in Australia face significant challenges that innovative approaches to behind-the-meter asset investment can avoid. Where dedicated communities endeavour to step into grid-connected asset deployment, however, they do better in some locations than others, with some project designs than others, and where they can secure access to FCAS, technical expertise, mentoring, and even the partnership of an aggregator.
Despite the immense complexity and market risk, there are projects delivering the right mix of positive outcomes sought by their communities. Community projects so often involve generous people doing good work, but not all project configurations are equal. There is no shortcut for energy market knowledge. Caveat emptor.
To explore the value of community energy projects, whether financial, non-financial or a combination of both, it is helpful to understand the driving objectives of those that initiate them. With an understanding of the problems that proponents are looking to solve, it’s possible to reflect on how successfully these projects perform.
We identified four driving motivations, with crossovers common across projects: accelerating climate action; securing energy access, reliability and resilience; building community economic opportunity and agency, and; building Social Capital and energy transition literacy.
This report was authored by Anna Hancock, Mitch Shannon, Andrew McConnell, and Tristan Ashford, Pollination Group, July 2024
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