Two First Nations Microgrids Under Development as part of Australila's $125M Regional Buildout
Australia is one of the world’s biggest economies ranking in the top 15 in both gross domestic product and per-capita production. Its electricity generation mix is still led by coal-fired power, but that is shifting toward decarbonizing resources over time.
Even so, the large, sprawling island is stretched so far that some of the remote territories are at the mercy of an unreliable grid or no access at all.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is trying to remedy that inequity by investing $11 million in funding for two First Nations-led microgrid projects in the Northern Territory. The projects will utilize solar and battery storage to generate and balance cleaner energy in Borroloola and Ltyentye Apurte.
“These projects show the opportunities for First Nations-led design and co-development of local energy solutions, improving reliability, lowering costs and reducing reliance on diesel,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said in a statement. “Just as importantly, they help de-risk future community microgrid projects by generating practical learnings that other communities can draw on as they plan their own energy solutions.”
The first First Nations microgrid project being supported by ARENA is the Ngardara Project in Borroloola in the Northern Territories gulf region. Ngardara will be owned by the tribe-owned Ngardara Cooperative and co-led by Original Power.
It is designed to include the first utility-scale solar microgrid led by a First Nations cooperative with solar and battery interconnection. This is intended to reduce diesel consumption burned by generators in the region.
The second project, which is in early-stage planning and design phase, will be the Ltyentye Apurte microgrid developed near Alice Springs by the Atyenhenge-Atherre Aboriginal Corp. It will combine solar panels, battery storage and diesel backup.
“One such challenge is electricity reliability. In the past few years blackouts have occurred for significant lengths of time, and there is no alternative if power is down in the community,” Ellie Kamara, CEO of Atyenhenge-Atherre Aborginal Corp. pointed out. “In the extreme hot or cold our old people suffer from either no heat or air-con, and the store cannot open – impacting food security for the community. The microgrid aims to alleviate this challenge enabling a constant source of electricity in the event of a blackout.
The developers hope to complete the Ltyentye Apurte microgrid by January 2027. Construction on the Ngardara Microgrid could begin construction early this year. Both projects have to meet certain conditions before starting construction.
Nationwide, ARENA’s Regional Microgrid Program will fund $125 million toward development and deployment of microgrids in remote communities. About $75 million of that is allocated toward microgrid projects on First Nations lands.
“Looking forward, ARENA remains focused on our mission to support the global transition to net zero emissions by accelerating the pace of pre-commercial innovation, to the benefit of Australia,” the agency wrote in a recent long-term corporate plan report.
Last summer, ARENA funded nearly $4 million for a First Nations microgrid in the Blackstone region of western Australia. Horizon Power led that project.
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About the Author
Rod Walton, Microgrid Knowledge Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For Microgrid Knowledge editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
I’ve spent the last 18 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. I was an energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World before moving to business-to-business media at PennWell Publishing, which later became Clarion Events, where I covered the electric power industry. I joined Endeavor Business Media in November 2021 to help launch EnergyTech, one of the company’s newest media brands. I joined Microgrid Knowledge in July 2023.
I earned my Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. My career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World, all in Oklahoma . I have been married to Laura for the past 36-plus years and we have four children and one adorable granddaughter. We want the energy transition to make their lives better in the future.
Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech are focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
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