The Nari Nari Tribal Council in south western New South Wales is working with companies willing to partner with it to build a wind farm on Country.

The economic shift brought about by the Australian Government's Future Made in Australia Act cannot come at the expense of First Nations peoples. We want to see economic and policy systems that include and embed First Nations culture, rights and interests, and priorities. We don't want to see a repeat of the mistakes of the past.

Collaboration and equitable partnerships with First Nations are critical to ensuring a clean energy transition which is just and prioritises community benefits. Access to finance, capacity building and an enabling policy environment will be key to making this a reality.

Australia’s Capacity Investment Scheme, rolling out from April 2024, has room to echo significant First Nations equity participation requirements currently being spelt out in Canada.

The combination of First Nations partnership, governance and equity is unequivocally the factor that unlocks positive impacts for First Nations communities and projects.

The $3 billion solar and green hydrogen project proposed for the East Kimberley region of Western Australia is based on a new partnership between three traditional owner groups, the Balanggarra people through the Balanggarra Ventures Corporation (a subsidiary of Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC), the Yawoorroong Miriuwung Gajerrong Yirrgeb Noong Dawang Aboriginal Corporation (MG Corporation), and Kimberley Land Council, with clean energy investor Pollination.

The three First Nations groups will each have an initial 25% share in the new company they've formed - Aboriginal Clean Energy, with Pollination also having a 25% share.

The East Kimberley Clean Energy project will see a ~ 2,000-hectare solar farm developed on MG Corporation freehold land near Kununurra. The resulting solar energy (approximately 1,000 megawatts) will be combined with water and hydro energy from the existing Ord Hydro Power Plant at Lake Argyle to produce green hydrogen. The green hydrogen will be transported by pipeline to Balanggarra Country in Wyndham where it will be converted to green ammonia. The green ammonia will be sold locally as a fertiliser for irrigated agriculture, and will also be exported.

The East Kimberley Clean Energy project was announced in July 2023. 

In March 2024 the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) committed $1.6 million towards a feasibility study for the project. 

As of August 2024, the Aboriginal Clean Energy partnership had delivered the first phase of the feasibility study, according to the project’s Workforce and Capacity Building Report.

The partnership is hoping to start construction in late 2025, with the first hydrogen produced by late 2028.