Narara Ecovillage (NEV) has been awarded further funding of $190,000 from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to help maintain one of Australia’s most advanced community-owned energy grids.
Federal Member for Robertson, Ms Lucy Wicks, attended a briefing on the NEV Smart Grid and a tour of the recently completed civil works at the Ecovillage.
“Providing a clean, reliable supply of power from renewable sources for our residents is a primary concern of the project, and we’re grateful to ARENA for granting the additional funds to enable us to build this state-of-the-art Smart Grid, one of the first in Australia,” commented Mr John Talbott, NEV Project Director.
“Micro-grids like ours represent a paradigm shift in the way communities can manage energy use themselves, generating and storing renewably produced energy on site and minimising the use of the national grid.
“Our long-term goal is to generate more energy than we need and to offer our surplus to Central Coast residents at a competitive price,” he said.
NEV has been awarded total funds from ARENA of $1,158,000, representing 31 per cent of the total cost of the network, the remainder of which has been contributed by the future residents.
“As a community, we have come far through boldly pushing the established boundaries of conventional building, water and power models in NSW, and we look forward to the day when our energy regulators and decision-makers remove some of the remaining barriers to deliver even more autonomy to regional communities to take control of their own power issues,” he added.
Ms Wicks said she was pleased to see ARENA funding helping community groups on the Central Coast.
“The Narara Ecovillage is an outstanding initiative that is leading the way in its field, not just on the Central Coast but around the world,” Ms Wicks said.
“The Smart Grid is set to be one of Australia’s most advanced community-owned energy grids and I’m pleased that it has been made possible through ARENA funding.
“The Ecovillage is an incredible project and I look forward to seeing the village go from strength to strength,” Ms Wicks said.
Thanks to a high-tech ‘tap change transformer’ (dubbed ‘Priscilla’ by the Ecovillagers), sourced from Europe, and other advanced control technology, the Smart Grid is designed to manage when energy should be used directly on site, stored in batteries, or exported.
The system factors in weather conditions like sunny or cloudy days, as well as time of day demand, to predict the amount of energy that will be available from solar panels or battery storage to meet the community’s fluctuating needs and to determine whether to import or export energy to or from the local grid.
NEV Founder, Ms Lyndall Parris, said: “We welcome the opportunity to show Ms Wicks the ARENA funds at work in her electorate.
“Without the agency’s funding, a network on this scale and level of sophistication would not be possible.
“While we’re brazenly claiming to be Australia’s smartest community-owned grid right now, we will be delighted to pass on the mantle when others develop even more efficient systems based on our learnings,” Ms Parris said.
“This is an important part of our mission, to share with others what we have learned and inspire them to take steps in their own lives towards more sustainable approaches to living.”
Source,
Media release, Jun 6
Rachel Harris, Narara Ecovillage