Remote communities finding success with renewable energy tech

Indigenous Australians are becoming key players in the renewable energy market, with stakes in two groundbreaking projects.

Renewable energy is finding a place in remote Australia.

In Western Australia (WA), a new model of renewable energy investment is being pioneered with Indigenous enterprises as equity partners.

Carnegie Clean Energy Limited selected the Perth Noongar Foundation (PNF) and Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) as co-equity investors in the $17 million 10 MW Northam Solar Farm.

The project was designed to offer profit to investors from a range of revenue streams in addition to power sales. These include sales of renewable energy certificates, reserve capacity credit payments, a project development fee when the project reaches financial close and a share of the Engineer Procure Construct (EPC) as well as operation and maintenance margins.

Read Nadine Cranenburgh’s create engineering story - “Remote communities finding success with renewable energy tech.

The stakes could not be higher

The stakes could not be higher.

In December 2015, the Government of France will host the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris.

Twenty-three years after the signing of the Framework Convention, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are still rising fast, dangerously disrupting the climate system, and posing a grave threat to sustainable development in all countries.

Avoiding highly dangerous climate change will require sustained efforts and profound changes in the world’s energy systems, land-use patterns, and socio-economic development trajectories.

The global agreement reached at COP21 in Paris must be a decisive turning point for the world’s efforts to fight climate change. COP21 will be the last chance to adopt a global agreement that makes it possible to secure a safe climate.

Read the full report here: “Key Elements for Success on Climate Change Mitigation at COP21 in Paris”.