Renewable energy funding for regional and remote areas

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has launched the Regional Australia’s Renewables (RAR) program to fund renewable energy projects and cut diesel use in remote communities. 

The initiative will provide $400 million in funding to support the roll out of renewable energy such as solar, small wind power and hybrid technologies in remote areas or on the fringe of the electricity grid.

Resources and Energy Minister Gary Gray said the program is expected to generate 150 MW of electricity from renewable energy sources in regional and remote locations within five years - enough to power up to approximately 30,000 homes. At least two large-scale renewable energy plants of 10 MW or greater are expected to be built.

Gray said that in the Pilbara - where the cost of wind energy can be half that of diesel - energy demand is growing faster than in any other part of Australia.

“It’s no secret that in Western Australia we have a lot of remote areas and meeting our growing energy demand is a big issue,” Gray said. “Where there is no grid-connected electricity, many communities and industries truck in fuels to generate energy.”

The Industry RAR program will support the development of renewable energy solutions, including hybrid and integrated systems in off-grid and fringe-of-grid locations across Australia - enabling industry to generate industry from a combination of energy sources. Gray noted that hybrid technology ensures renewable energy systems are reliable 24 hours a day - “not just when the sun shines or the wind blows.”

The Community RAR program works directly with electricity distributors to demonstrate technologies that can feed more renewable energy into community electricity grids, such as innovative energy storage systems.

ARENA may also support exceptional, high-merit, stand-alone projects greater than $20 million if they are deemed to be game-changers for renewable energy in Australia.

Clean Energy Council Policy Director Russell Marsh welcomed the funding, saying it demonstrated the enormous potential of renewable energy to make a positive impact in regional and remote communities.

“We’ve known for quite some time that renewable energy is a viable alternative to diesel-fuelled power generation, but up until now the industry hasn’t had the necessary backing to give it the jump-start it needs to get rolling,” Marsh said.

“The cost of technologies such as off-grid solar is actually below that of diesel in many countries. The problem is that the up-front investment for solar is higher, but after that the fuel is free. In comparison, companies will continue paying dearly to operate diesel generators for many years.

“The opportunities for large industrial users like mining companies to significantly cut their operating expenses by switching to off-grid renewable energy are huge, and we welcome this move by ARENA to assist projects in this area,” Marsh said.