Australia’s largest mainland Indigenous community is a step closer to finding long-term sustainable energy solution, through a local MicroGrid project.
The entire Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council met with the Queensland Government on Thursday, including Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen and Minister for Public Works and Procurement Mick de Brenni; Stirling Hinchcliffe – community champion for Yarrabah’ Member for Mulgrave, Curtis Pitt; and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Craig Crawford.
Yarrabah has been the focus of an 18 month feasibility study funded by the Commonwealth Government to investigate and demonstrating how microgrids can supply reliable electricity, improve quality of life, boost resilience and allow the communities to respond locally to climate change by reducing their reliance on fossil fuels”.
Curtis Pitt said “The Queensland Government owns the electricity network and the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council met with the State to discuss options to establish Working Party to coordinate Microgrid program implementation and to establish protocols for On-going liaison with Energy Queensland”.
Yarrabah Mayor Ross Andrews said “Being at the end of a single 80km long power line means that Yarrabah has a high number of power outages due to programmed maintenance on the line and vegetation on the line. When the power goes out, most local services shut including schools, the general store, chemist and Centrelink, and unlike in bigger towns and cities, there is no opportunity for residents to go to an air-conditioned shopping centre to wait for power to come back on”.
The Microgrid project is expected to deliver a localised power solution that can operate independently from the State power supply. Mayor Ross Andrews said “Due to overcrowding many families have electricity bills of over $1000 per month, compared to the Queensland average of around $1,400 per year and in addition to providing a reliable power supply, the Microgrid solution is likely to generate $1.7 million per annum in savings to the 400 households in Yarrabah through improved energy efficiency and roof top solar”.
The Microgrid project leader, Ken Ash said, “We are investigating community build, own and operate microgrid solutions and we have developed a robust business case for discussions with investors”.