Key points:
- The Jabiru hybrid micro-grid generates 50 per cent renewable energy
- Energy experts predict more of these will pop up across the country as Australia attempts to decarbonise
- But that won't happen if the government doesn't start investing more in shoring up the renewables supply chain
For decades in the tiny town of Jabiru, air conditioners, lights, TVs and fridges would be cut off multiple times a week – sometimes multiple times a day.
Often the black-outs would last a few minutes, but sometimes they lasted hours.
In the sweltering heat that hangs around the Northern Territory town of Jabiru for most of the year, the power cuts were torturous for locals.
It was also a big hindrance for businesses and hotels that would have to shut down and reboot regardless of how long the electricity was out.
Then in 2021, Ranger, the uranium mine that had been operating on the outskirts of Jabiru for four decades closed down.
And the NT government poured a massive amount of money into building a new power system, pledging a 50 per cent renewable energy supply.
The micro-grid – using a hybrid model of solar generation, battery and diesel power – opened at the beginning of last year, and was the first in Australia at this scale.
Ken Jones, the manager of Kakadu IGA, in Jabiru, said he can't remember the last time the town was plunged into darkness.
"People who are new here wouldn't notice a difference because it just stays on all the time, you don't even see where it comes from.
"But anyone that's been here a while really notices."
Now, following the UN's latest climate report that delivered a "final warning" on the climate crisis, some industry experts and energy manufacturers are calling on the government to put more money into replicating the Jabiru blueprint across Australia.
And as the community transitions from its mining legacy to a tourism hub, reliable energy is more important than ever.
"There's a lot of talk around what we need to be doing to decarbonise the power system in Australia," said Geoff Hobley, the general manager of remote energy for EDL, which operates the Jabiru Power plant.
"I think what Jabiru demonstrates is that we can just get on and do it."
The complexities of generating higher rates of renewables become more difficult to navigate the bigger the power grid, as all incoming sources of energy need to be operating on the same frequency.
But Jabiru's relatively small size, and the fact that it acts as a standalone island, makes it perfect for generating high amounts of renewables, Mr Hobley said.
"I probably wouldn't recommend everywhere being a small grid but I think we will see an increased influence of micro grids [across Australia]," he said.
"We've significantly decreased the level of carbon emissions at the site. Beyond that, we've also decreased the number of trucks that are on the road transporting diesel."
In the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, the world's leading climate scientists warned "rapid and deep reductions" in emissions from fossil fuels require major energy system transitions.
And they said reliance on coal and gas needs to end immediately to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Jabiru Power Plant switches to energy from the solar farm when the sun comes up, but relies on diesel generators and battery storage when it's dark.
Mr Hobley said EDL has a goal of 85 to 100 per cent renewable energy at it's power plants across Australia, of which there are around 50, by replicating the Jabiru template and adding wind farms.
"Beyond that, we're looking at longer term battery storage and biofuels to close the final gap and get to 100 per cent renewables," he said.
Energy expert Bruce Mountain from the Victoria Energy Policy Centre predicts micro grids will play a "valuable role in electricity supply particularly in isolated markets", and diluted issues around the use of diesel when used in small amounts.
"Diesel back is likely to continue to decline as a result of declining costs of solar, batteries and load shifting," he said.
Fears a bigger flow of solar could destabilise Australia's power networks have added to the delay in transitioning to renewables.
But Josh Birmingham from SMA Australia, a solar energy equipment supplier, says the emerging "grid forming" technologies at Jabiru could be a game changer.
"As we transition towards higher levels of renewable penetration, we will need to be able to restore from these potential system black events without relying on traditional coal-fired or gas-fired generation," he said.
He pointed to the infamous 2016 blackout in South Australia, which saw the entire state lose power, and forced operators to trigger a series of complex never-before-done actions to turn the network on from a complete "system black".
"What we're starting to see now, from a technology perspective, is [the ability to restart a plant with solar] being implemented into small micro grids like Jabiru," he said.
"If you had a system black within the Jabiru town you would be able to restore that system, just with the solar and batteries.
"There's only a few places in the world where that technology has been implemented."
Ahead of the budget, manufacturers in the renewables sector want more investment behind these projects, and the supply chain, which likely won't be able to keep up with demand as the sector takes off.
"What we're seeing now is that it's much harder to deliver on a target than it is to set a target," Mr Birmingham said.
A spokesperson for Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the Commonwealth is investing in micro grids to improve reliability and resilience of electricity supply for regional and remote communities, including First Nations communities.
Mr Bowen has also agreed to develop a National Renewable Energy Supply Chain Action Plan to ensure delivery of the infrastructure Australia needs for the transformation.
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