Community Energy News

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.