This week, the Federal and NSW Governments announced a joint allocation of $176 million for energy saving upgrades in social housing properties and $30 million for solar banks (aka solar gardens) – a program designed to improve solar access for low-income renters and apartment residents. This announcement is a welcome commitment to enhance the energy efficiency of some of the least energy-efficient homes in the country but also marks the launch of the Albanese government’s Solar Banks program. 

Announced as a pre-election commitment by Labor in 2021, the solar banks program strives to extend the benefits of solar power to households previously “locked out” of the market, whether due to economic constraints or logistical challenges. The ‘solar bank’ or ‘solar garden’ concept enables everyone to buy or lease a plot in an off-site solar array regardless of where they live. The electricity generated from their plot is sold into the grid, and participants receive credits on their electricity bills through a partnership with an energy retailer. 

The solar banks model is particularly critical for the 30% of Australians who rent or live in apartments and are  excluded from installing rooftop solar. The NSW Government anticipates over 10,000 households will benefit from the Solar Banks program, potentially saving them up to $600 annually on their electricity bills.

Community Power Agency welcomes this announcement, after advocating for this program for over 5 years and most notably, pioneering the first solar banks initiative in Australia – Haystacks Solar Garden, alongside project partners Komo Energy and Pingala. The Haystacks Solar Garden in the New South Wales Riverina provides a positive example of what could be to come in the rollout of the solar banks program.

Kristy Walters, Director of Community Power Agency said,

“community energy projects, such as solar gardens, play a critical role in the transition to renewable energy, not only in terms of megawatt capacity but also in creating social inclusivity, fostering social licence, and stimulating meaningful regional economic development.” 

“It’s wonderful to see State and Federal Governments recognise the barriers to solar access that thousands of Australians face – these programs allow everyone to benefit from solar.”

Community groups around Australia are taking on the shift to renewable energy, delivering local energy projects with outstanding socioeconomic and environmental benefits, including raising up to $87m to fund their own projects.  

These are the key findings of our report published today, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Technology Sydney and University of Melbourne. 

Our report makes eight recommendations, including calling on all state and territory governments to unlock 100MW of community energy projects by 2028.

55 groups, roughly half the Australian community energy sector, were surveyed about the largely volunteer-driven projects, which include solar, battery storage, energy efficiency, electric cars, microgrids and wind turbines.

We asked groups about projects they’d been working on in the past 12 months and found: 

• Groups had raised $86.8 million in funding for community energy infrastructure; 
• The projects had produced over 19,000 MWh of clean energy – enough for 2,800 homes for a year; and
• The projects had avoided 13,947 tonnes of CO2-e, which is the equivalent of removing 7,748 cars from the road for a year. 

Since 2015, there has been the establishment of at least 30 new community energy groups and the sector currently has a strong estimated supporter base of 38,000 people. 

Our report found people involved in energy projects were primarily motivated by action on climate change and emissions reductions. This was followed by a desire for local participation in the renewable energy transition and for increased energy reliability and self-sufficiency. 

Kristy Walters, Director of Community Power Agency said:

“It’s remarkable that these energy groups have achieved so much – funding their projects through the community, with minimal government support.

“This is the low hanging fruit of decarbonising our grid. Communities want to be involved in their own energy generation and the projects we have highlighted demonstrate how important this is for community buy-in.”

“Community energy projects are vital to democratising our energy system and in the process they are enabling many other benefits at the local level.” 

Co-author Dr Jonathan Marshall, a researcher from Climate, Society and Environment Research Centre (CSERC) at the University of Technology Sydney said:

“These findings show the growth and interest in community renewable energy, not only as a source of energy, but as a source of local development and resilience. It also illustrates the difficulties that volunteer organisations face, especially when the regulations seem geared for large scale commercial developments.”

Despite their achievements, community energy groups face challenges such as a lack of funding, navigating complex regulatory systems and volunteer burnout. 

The report emphasises the need for targeted government support to overcome these obstacles including:

• Dedicated and ongoing grant funding for community energy projects and capacity building hubs;
• The establishment of a Community Energy Collaboration Network to support community energy groups to navigate challenges and share knowledge; and
• The establishment of community feed-in tariffs for mid-scale community energy projects of 6-7c premium above PPA/wholesale rate for 10 years.

As Australian communities head into what is predicted to be the hottest summer on record, a new free resource offers help to plan, respond to, and bounce back from climate-related disasters.

The Energy Ready Toolkit, a first-of-its-kind free resource for Australian communities to help them prepare a plan for if the power goes out and ensure they remain energy resilient.

The toolkit is the result of a year-long process of research and consultation, funded by Energy Consumers Australia’s Grants Program and delivered in partnership with Community Power Agency, the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) and Parallel Lines.

It was important to the Energy Ready team that the process of developing the toolkit involved community members. Our Engagement Coordinator Elianor Gerrard says,

“Communities with lived experience of natural disasters and extended power outages have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to share on what to do or what not to do in crisis situations. They also know how to build local resilience.”

Elianor and our Director Kristy Walters travelled the east coast of Australia, from the Mornington Peninsula to Magnetic Island, consulting with communities to help inform the Toolkit.

CEO of Energy Consumers Australia Brendan French says,

“Consumers tell us that they want to take steps to be more energy resilient but they don’t know what to do, where to turn to, or how to do it. This means they need support to make the right decisions that suit their situation.

Energy Ready equips communities to be more energy resilient in the face of an emergency in ways that meet their unique needs. It’s important that communities take steps now to protect themselves so they can be summer ready.”

We’re pleased our work to facilitate community input into this timely resource ensures that it is grounded in the rich insights of communities.”

Events like the 2019 Mallacoota fires and the 2022 Lismore floods, which led to power outages caused through damage of power lines and infrastructure, can leave people unable to communicate, cook and store food, access money and more.

The Energy Ready toolkit contains the Energy Ready guidebook and materials for a series of activities communities can do to examine the risks they face, identify shared priorities and develop a plan of action that’s tailored to their unique needs and values.

The Energy Ready guidebook explains what energy resilience means for communities and includes advice from communities that have experienced, or are at high risk of experiencing, climate-related disasters. This information was collected at a series of workshops in Mullumbimby and Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Gympie and Magnetic Island in Queensland, and Bonang and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

The Energy Ready toolkit is an essential resource for local councils, community groups, and emergency authorities. Once communities work through the activities, they will be better connected, stronger and safer with a robust energy-resilience plan and an inventory of resources in place.

Dr Sarah Niklas, Research Consultant at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, says,

“The Energy Ready toolkit empowers communities to achieve a high degree of energy resilience, helping them prepare for increasingly extreme weather events.

The toolkit can be used to support collaboration and help community members work together to make the best use of their local assets, knowledge, connections, and capacity to achieve a higher state of energy resilience.”

Watch the webinar to find out how you can use the Energy Ready Toolkit to help build energy resilience within your community.