There isn’t one! If you do nothing, then your power bill will stay the same, you’ll stay with the same retailer. The only difference will be that during blackouts, the part of the town covered by the microgrid will still have power. 

All members of the Braidwood community are invited to participate in the community discussions, which has begun in June. Alternatively, you can send your questions and comments to us through the form on this website.

The Project Plan for the Braidwood Microgrid has been developed collaboratively by ITP Development and Braidwood Clean Energy Inc. BCE is a coalition of residents, business owners, farmers and other interested parties working in collaboration with the Braidwood community and relevant organisations.

The current feasibility study and design stage has been funded by in-kind contribution from ITP Development and BCE.

Once the feasibility study and design are complete, we will need to secure funding to actually purchase the solar panels, battery, generators and other equipment, and to install and commission it. We are currently looking into options for how to finance this, and are hoping that there will be some element of community ownership, so that revenue generated by selling the electricity will stay within the community. There are also additional government grants available which we are looking into which could subsidise the cost. ITP Development is assisting with grant application and attracting investors.

We hope to have at least some portion of community ownership. Community ownership would mean that some of the profits from selling the electricity would remain in the community, and encourage a sense of pride and ownership, as well as interest in personal energy use and efficiency which will help households lower power bills. We are currently looking into different financing and ownership models which would make sense.

ITP Development have been working with landholders between Braidwood and Majors Creek  to examine options and potential sites. Consultations have also commenced with Essential Energy’s Grid-connection and Innovation teams. There are many factors to consider including the availability of land, proximity to the electrical substation and existing power lines, required area, etc. .

The current design has the microgrid powered primarily from a single community-scale solar farm with a large community-scale battery to provide power all day. The solar farm will consist of approximately 7MW of solar panels, with a maximum grid export of 5MW. The battery will be a minimum of 6.4MWh. The existing 2MW of rooftop solar in the Braidwood region will also contribute to the microgrid when disconnected from the main grid. 

The current feasibility study will be finished by September 2023.

After the feasibility study is complete, the next phase will seeking development approvals and applying for connection to the grid. This will take approximately 2 years. If approvals are granted, the next phase will be finding funding and commencing the construction.

With the current design, it is anticipated that the whole Braidwood region will be supported.

A feasibility study has commencedto sort out the numerous technical issues. A key objective of the microgrid feasibility study will be to work with Essential Energy to more clearly define the technical requirements, approval processes and operating protocols for microgrids that can temporarily energise part of Essential Energy’s network in island mode.

Solar is currently one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity, and it is still going down in price. The more solar connected to the grid, the cheaper electricity becomes for everyone. By coupling it with a large battery we can charge it up during the day and discharge in the evening when electricity demand is highest, again, lowering the cost of electricity for everyone.

There are also other costs associated with transferring energy from where it is generated to where it is needed, and maintaining all of the infrastructure. By generating electricity locally and having a large battery to absorb peaks in demand, it can potentially reduce the need for costly upgrades of grid infrastructure such as transmission/distribution power lines, or transformers at the substation. Working out the saving here is complicated, but if done right it can potentially reduce the amount of money spent on upgrading and maintaining the grid, which again lowers electricity bills for everyone.

Because the community solar and battery will be directly connected to the national grid, you won’t see any itemised discount on your power bill. However, projects like this around the country will all contribute to lowering electricity prices for the whole country. We are also hoping that it will be possible to offer some form of community ownership of the solar farm and battery, so that a portion of the revenue from selling excess power back to the grid would stay within the community