Yesterday, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) unveiled its latest roadmap, the Integrated System Plan (ISP), outlining a pathway to achieve a net-zero energy system by 2050.

What is the ISP?

The ISP represents AEMO’s plan for an optimal development pathway that includes the necessary generation, firming, and transmission to transition Australia’s energy system to net zero by 2050. This plan is the product of two years of  analysis and consultation. You can download the latest ISP here.

The ISP presents that the cheapest and most reliable way for us to get to net zero is through renewable energy, connected by transmission and distribution networks and backed up by gas-powered generation. 

Key Takeaways from the 2024 ISP

Individuals, households, small businesses, communities to play a critical role

Consumer energy resources such as rooftop solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles are crucial and have been identified as a key element of the ISP. If coordinated effectively, these resources can significantly support the power system, reduce costs, and lower emissions – while also reducing the owner’s power bills. The 2024 ISP highlights that coordinated consumer batteries could eliminate the need for an additional $4.1 billion in grid-scale storage investment, while enhancing energy reliability and security.

The need for speed 

While progress has been made – 40% of electricity came from renewables last year, expected to rise to 50% by the end of next year – both generation and transmission project rollouts are lagging. We need new wind, solar and transmission to reach our renewables targets and keep the lights on as coal fired power stations retire.  Approval processes, investment uncertainties, cost pressures, social licence challenges, supply chain issues and workforce shortages are slowing down progress.These hurdles threaten the Federal Government’s target of 82% renewables by 2030.

Solutions Community Power Agency is advocating for 

Renewable energy access for all

Community Power Agency welcomes the news that consumers have a big role to play. We see this as a huge opportunity for people to participate in and benefit from the renewable energy transition. However, energy equity must be prioritised. Up to 30% of Australians – renters, apartment dwellers  and those with unsuitable roofs – are currently “locked out” of solar energy benefits.

Haystacks Solar Garden, Australia’s first large-scale community solar garden, serves as a model for improving solar accessibility. It allows anyone to purchase a “plot” of solar and reap the benefits on their electricity bill. Government and industry should support similar initiatives to expand solar access to those currently excluded.

Moreover, the upfront costs of many renewable technologies pose a barrier to low-income households. Ensuring these households have access to renewable opportunities is essential to prevent widening the energy equity gap.

Local Energy Hubs to boost social licence

The ISP highlights challenges around social licence (i.e gaining community acceptance and trust for renewable projects). From our extensive experience working with communities, we know that two key components of gaining a social licence are trust and fairness, achieved through meaningful participation opportunities, good relationships and access to quality information.

Community Power Agency and our allies, have been advocating to government to fund solutions to boost positive outcomes for regional communities hosting renewables infrastructure – such as a network of 50 Local Energy Hubs in Renewable Energy Zones across Australia staffed by trusted, local experts to provide information on topics such as local renewables, transmission projects and household and business electrification.

On Saturday 27 April, the small Riverina town of Grong Grong celebrated a major milestone – the launch of Haystacks Solar Garden. 

This Australian-first way of doing solar allows anyone connected to the electricity grid to access the benefits of solar directly on their electricity bill. 

This initiative is especially significant for the 30% of Australians who have been unable to access solar energy due to renting, living in apartments, or facing other barriers to installing rooftop solar panels.

“Haystacks Solar Garden has pioneered a new community-focused way of doing clean energy. It is a proof of concept for industry, demonstrating that there are many different ways to do solar and share the benefits with everyday people. Community energy projects like ours are a critical part of ensuring that the energy transition is both fast and fair.” said Kim Mallee, Haystacks Project Manager and Community Power Agency Director.

Haystacks Solar Garden is hosted by the purpose built 1.5MW Grong Grong Solar Farm that completed construction in March and this week began exporting electricity to the grid. Some background on how the solar garden works can be found here.

“Our incredible project team went above and beyond to pioneer this solar garden model in Australia – and to all our members that came on the rollercoaster journey from 2020 – we wouldn’t be here without them” said Kristy Walters, Haystacks Solar Garden Co-op Chairperson.

“Haystacks Solar Garden proves that solar can be made accessible for everyone – regardless of where you live or your tenure status, nobody needs to be locked out of benefiting from solar.”

175 solar garden plots were purchased by households in QLD, NSW, VIC and SA. These plots are expected to deliver an estimated $883,750 of savings to solar gardeners’ (household participants) electricity bills over the 10 year life of the project. 

“We’re making history here with Haystacks Solar Garden. I’m a renter, I live in a unit and my partner and I are both in our 80’s! We deeply care about equity in the shift to clean energy and this is a way of making the benefits of renewables accessible to all” said Haystacks Solar Gardener, Jean Hay. 

The launch of Haystacks Solar Garden comes just after the recent Commonwealth Government announcement of $30 million towards solar banks and onsite rooftop solar installation – aimed at enhancing solar accessibility for low-income renters and apartment dwellers. 

“The launch of Haystacks Solar Garden marks a significant leap forward in implementing solar garden models here in Australia—a concept that has already proven successful overseas in places like the US and Germany.” Kim Mallee, Project Director – Community Power Agency said.

“Despite the massive uptake of rooftop solar in Australia, there are still countless individuals in our communities who lack access to the benefits of solar energy. Haystacks Solar Garden serves as a template of success, paving the way for more solar gardens to follow and ensuring that more people can share in the solar revolution” said Nigel Hancock, Pingala Treasurer and project partner.

Haystacks Solar Garden is a project of Community Power Agency, Pingala and Komo Energy with Energy Locals as the participating electricity retailer. This project is proudly funded by the NSW Government in association with the Haystacks Solar Garden Co-operative, under the Regional Community Energy Fund.

Regional communities are central to the success of Australia’s shift to clean energy. Their treatment and level of agency in influencing new energy infrastructure development will greatly affect the efficiency of the large-scale renewables rollout. A roll out which, having been delayed for far too long, is now attempting to be delivered at a very rapid pace inorder to meet Australia’s much needed Paris Climate commitments and a 82% renewable energy target by 2030.  

So how can our regional communities who are being asked to host a nation’s new energy infrastructure be empowered to influence the design, reap the benefits of this energy boom, and genuinely participate in the energy shift? 

One method lies in the not-too-glamorous lever of tender merit criteria. 

• How a project has engaged with a community to date and what it plans for the future;
• How a project has designed its benefit-sharing program with its host community;
• Whether First Nations people have been involved; and
• Initiatives that have been established to enable local workforce participation.

When done well, these elements form the backbone of building trusted relationships and fostering stronger social licence. 

The call for better community engagement with a focus on building social licence is being voiced throughout the renewables sector. Most notably, the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commission (AEIC) Community Engagement Review recommended that the Government “Improve community engagement by motivating developers to achieve best practice and only selecting reputable developers for new project development”.

Australia needs national leadership that directly improves the social performance of renewable energy projects so that communities can have confidence in the national energy shift. Where the Federal Government provides incentives or permits for renewable energy development such as the Capacity Investment Scheme, funding provided through ‘Rewiring the Nation’ or Offshore Wind Feasibility Licenses, it must be coupled with strong National Merit Criteria for social performance. 

It’s not enough for a project to be financially viable and technically sound, projects must also be fair to the communities and environments that host them. 

Community Power Agency has prepared a discussion paper on the need and importance of implementing National Merit Criteria for incentivising best practice renewable energy development in an effort to highlight how this seemingly unassuming tool could be a key to unlocking social licence for the renewables sector.