"These projects show the opportunities for First Nations-led design and co-development of local energy solutions, improving reliability, lowering costs and reducing reliance on diesel", says Darren Miller, CEO of Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

The Borroloola community’s Ngardara Solar Microgrid project in the Northern Territory has been awarded $8.347 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency today.

Four remote First Nations communities will be transitioned away from a diesel powered electricity supply to solar and battery storage-based microgrids, as part of a federally funded program supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

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

Read the report

Congratulations to Ruby Heard, one of the First Nations Clean Energy Network’s fabulous steering group members, on being appointed as a board member of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

The nuts and bolts of how we transition to a clean energy economy are many and varied. We explore what the transition looks like, from the global economy to impacts on local communities. How do we assert native title rights and build resilience in regional and remote communities? What infrastructure do we need? Who finances the shift and how will the market adjust?

Speakers:

• Tim Buckley, Climate Energy Finance
• Amanda Cahill, Next Economy
• Chris Faris, ARENA
• Emily Gerrard, Comhar Group