Local energy hubs are back in the spotlight for rural and regional communities, after a presentation by Chair of the Net Zero Economy Agency, Greg Combet at the National Press Club.
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Combet said he was tasked by the federal government to "develop a plan that will help people and communities through change" and clearly articulated that large-scale renewable energy generation is "fundamentally important" for communities.
It's music to the ears of CLEAN Cowra executive, Dylan Gower (pictured), who has worked alongside local government, agricultural and scientific leaders to introduce renewable bioenergy projects to the region.
"There is large potential for Cowra to have a regional energy hub and it is an initiative that CLEAN Cowra has been advocating for a number of years," he said. "Bioenergy for regional agricultural communities offers significant opportunities to generate local distributed energy alongside other renewable resources."
Andrew Bray, national director of rural renewable energy advocacy group, RE-Alliance said regional communities could greatly benefit from the rollout of renewable energy infrastructure - provided governments and industry committed to sustained and significant investment in community engagement.
"People and communities need to be at the heart of Australia's shift to an economy powered by clean sources like wind and solar," he said. "Working with regional communities for more than a decade, we've been talking to the federal government about the need to communicate more actively about our shift to renewable energy - we are pleased to see a focus on doing exactly this."
Dr Jarra Hicks, Director of the Community Power Agency, said government should invest in local energy hubs across Australia.
"We need to help communities feel a part of this change. Local Energy Hubs have the power to take people from being confused bystanders to active participants getting direct benefits," they said.
"Imagine if you could speak directly with someone you know and trust, who could help you to understand new energy infrastructure and what it means for your community - from electrifying your home appliances, to setting up a community energy project, to working with large projects to make sure there are good local jobs and benefits."
While work continues on implementing the Cowra microgrid, and biomass to energy project, Gower said the future is bright for towns like Cowra to plug into locally owned, locally run, energy infrastructure.
"Investing in local energy infrastructure enables the delivery of decentralised renewable energy resources to regional communities," he said. "Implementing local distribution networks, responding to both local thermal and electrical demand, has the capacity to displace reliance on centralised generation and transmission."
