Essential Energy has secured Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) support to deploy islandable renewable microgrids in Far West NSW, with projects proposed for Wilcannia and Sunset Strip/Menindee to improve energy resilience for remote communities at the edge of the grid.

The funding, awarded under ARENA’s Regional Microgrids Program, will support construction of solar and battery microgrids for about 403 customers in Wilcannia and 697 customers in the Sunset Strip and Menindee area.

Far West NSW communities can be more vulnerable to outages because of geographical isolation, long single-line network connections and challenging conditions for fault restoration.

In the case of Wilcannia, its electricity is supplied via a single power line running about 130km from Broken Hill to Sunset Strip and Menindee and then about another 130km to the town itself.

Unplanned outages anywhere on that line can sometimes be difficult to rectify quickly with accessibility issues due to difficult terrain in one of the country’s most remote areas.

The proposed microgrids will be able to operate on solar and battery power during outages, helping keep Wilcannia, Sunset Strip and Menindee powered when the broader network is affected.

Essential Energy Head of Strategy Marc Thiebaut says the project is about delivering practical, renewable resilience where it is needed most - in remote communities where distance and network geography can make outage recovery more complex.

“This funding recognises the importance of finding new ways to strengthen energy resilience for remote communities. The proposed microgrids at Wilcannia and Sunset Strip/Menindee will help reduce the time customers spend without power when the network is affected,” Marc says.

“It is a practical demonstration of how renewable technology can support reliability outcomes for communities in Far West NSW.”

AI generated image of a potential renewable microgrid solution.

While microgrids have been deployed elsewhere in Australia for resilience and back-up purposes, the Far West NSW projects form part of a proposed deployment that will be among the first in the National Electricity Market to combine network-owned renewable generation and islandable operation.

Essential Energy has carried out assessments of grid load and fault profiles for Wilcannia and Sunset Strip/Menindee and is working through the best pathway for rolling out the proposed microgrids.

The Wilcannia microgrid will include a 3.25 MW solar array and 8 MWh battery, while the Sunset Strip/Menindee microgrid will include a 3.75 MW solar array and 8 MWh battery, designed to support improved energy resilience during unplanned outages.

Construction and commissioning of the microgrids is expected to be staged over the next year with Essential Energy meeting with the communities to discuss how microgrids work and the benefits to boosting resilience.

Learnings from the Far West NSW projects will be shared with ARENA and the broader energy sector to help inform future microgrid deployments across Australia.