A new pilot training program aimed at introducing First Nations communities to the clean energy industry is underway. A small team of First Nations workers learned the basics of solar installation by powering a series of tiny homes with panels and batteries in an intensive five-day renewable energy program held earlier this month in Mataranka, Northern Territory.

In Tennant Creek, the sun shines about 300 days of the year but for many in the Indigenous community, that energy isn’t being put to good use in the home.

Rooftop solar can reduce energy insecurity and improve wellbeing among First Nations households pre-paying for electricity in the Northern Territory.

Australia is a world leader in per-capita deployment of rooftop solar PV with more than three million households realising benefits including reduced energy bills and improved energy security.

However, these benefits are unevenly distributed. Research shows First Nations residents of public housing in remote Australia using prepay metering experience frequent ‘self-disconnection’ from energy services, a known indicator of energy insecurity.

Upfront capital costs and an absence of local regulations codifying the ability to connect solar PV have long locked out these households from realising benefits of energy transition in regions host to world class renewable energy generation potential.

This article describes early experiences of those residents among the first to install and grid-connect rooftop solar to prepay in Australia’s remote Northern Territory.

In addition to reduced electricity expenditures, rooftop solar PV mitigates experiences of energy insecurity through reducing the incidence of involuntary ‘self-disconnection’ due to inability to pay.

Support for rooftop solar for prepay households can alleviate frequent exposure to disconnection, bringing multiple co-benefits.

Policy responses should focus on reducing barriers to realising the benefits of rooftop PV for priority communities, including First Nations families living in public housing using prepay.

Authors: Bradley Riley, Lee V. White, Simon Quilty, Thomas Longden, Norman Frank Jupurrurla, Serena Morton Nabanunga & Sally Wilson (2023) Connected: rooftop solar, prepay and reducing energy insecurity in remote Australia, Australian Geographer, DOI: 10.1080/00049182.2023.2214959

Read the paper

Welcome to Country. Introductions and setting the scene.

Speakers:

• Cissy Gore-Birch, MC
• Jamie Lowe, National Native Title Council
• Karrina Nolan, First Nations Clean Energy Network / Original Power
• Chris Crocker, First Na5ons Clean Energy Network / Impact IP

Across the country, First Nations communities are right now designing and building renewables, from small-scale solar to microgrids, while others are negotiating with large-scale proponents. Hear from them about what’s working, what’s not, and what they’ve learnt along the way.

Speakers:

• Ellie Kamara, CEO, Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation
• Jason King, TO, Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation
• Les Shultz, Mirning / Ngadju
• Gadrian Hoosan, Borroloola
• Lauren Mellor, Original Power

As heatwaves become more frequent and extreme due to climate change, the impact on Indigenous Australians struggling with energy poverty is potentially life threatening.

An Indigenous-led initiative, the First Nations Clean Energy Network, is being launched to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities are not left behind as the nation transitions to cheaper renewable energy.

For the full story from 16 November 2021 on RN Breakfast listen here.