Two remote Northern Territory communities are set to benefit from cleaner, more reliable power, with the Albanese Government backing First Nations-led microgrid projects with $11 million in funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
The projects at Borroloola and Santa Teresa (Ltyentye Apurte) will support local communities to design, develop and lead their own energy solutions, improving power reliability, affordability and energy security in areas where the electricity grid does not reach or is currently unreliable.
They will also help create a pipeline of local skills and training, with 10 Certificate II places in Construction and Renewable Energy Pathways and two electrical apprenticeships to support jobs during construction, operations and future energy projects in the region.
The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, and the Special Envoy for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience, Kate Thwaites, today met with trainees at Charles Darwin University, who are acquiring skills in connection with the Borroloola microgrid project.
The projects will use solar and batteries to help reduce reliance on diesel and demonstrate how community-led clean energy can deliver practical benefits in remote Australia.
The first project, the Ngardara Project in Borroloola in the Gulf region, is being led by Original Power in partnership with the Ngardara Cooperative, a First Nations-owned and led cooperative representing community interests in the project.
It will support the design and development of a First Nations-owned utility-scale solar and battery microgrid aimed at improving reliability, lowering energy costs and significantly reducing diesel use.
In Santa Teresa (Ltyentye Apurte), near Alice Springs, ARENA is supporting early-stage planning and design for a proposed First Nations-led microgrid being developed with Atyenhenge-Atherre Aboriginal Corporation.
The project has the potential to improve reliability and supply around half of the community’s electricity from renewables.
Both projects have the potential to provide a blueprint for scalable, community-led microgrid models in remote communities across Australia.
These investments are being delivered through ARENA’s Regional Microgrid Program, which includes $125 million to support microgrid technologies in regional and remote communities, including $75 million specifically allocated for First Nations communities.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen:
“These projects are about practical action to deliver cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy for remote communities.”
“First Nations communities should be at the centre of designing and leading the energy solutions that work for them. That is exactly what these projects are doing.”
“This is what the energy transformation looks like in practice, communities leading change, cutting diesel use, improving reliability and building a stronger energy future.”
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy:
“Reducing the reliance on diesel for power and electricity in places like Borroloola and Santa Teresa is critical to improving energy security and affordability in remote communities.
“Community-led microgrid projects mean more reliable, clean energy while at the same time supporting local training and job opportunities.
“These projects show what is possible when communities design and lead their own energy solutions.”
Quotes attributable to the Special Envoy for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience, Kate Thwaites:
“Remote Indigenous communities are among the most energy insecure in the world, despite having sunlight in abundance most of the year.
“Projects like the Borroloola and Santa Teresa microgrids are important in shoring up community access to clean, reliable electricity all year round.
“These projects are a demonstration of the Albanese Government’s commitment to working with remote and regional communities to implement the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy.”