The beautiful logo is by local artist Freya Job
Microgrid aspect of the project funded
On 20 May 2026, The Hon Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Climate
Change and Energy and The Hon Kristy McBain MP, Minister for Emergency
Management jointly announced that the Government will be backing a $3 million
investment in the microgrid through the Australian Renewable ENergy
Agency (ARENA) Regional Microgrids
Program. Their media release is given here, with EDP Renewables' media release here and ARENA's project page here.
This is an important milestone in this project
and means that the 'Islandable' Braidwood Microgrid will be a trail blazer and
a first for Australia, capable of operating both on the National Electricity
Grid and as a stand-alone microgrid, should the National Grid not be available
for whatever reason. Not only will it make our district's electricity supply
more reliable and resilient, but it will also provide a blueprint for other
regional communities who are also at risk of becoming disconnected from the National
Grid, such as through transmission lines being damaged by fire, winds or other
reasons.
The Project
Braidwood and its surrounds
are connected to the electricity grid via a high voltage line from Captains
Flat. This line runs overland and if it gets broken, our community ceases to
have power until it is repaired. This line was nearly broken in 2023 when a cement
truck ran into one of the poles between Braidwood and Captains flat but could
also be severed due to hazardous weather or bushfires. The town of Cobargo
knows this all too well, as the 2019-2020 bushfires destroyed the poles and
wires and left them without power.
Braidwood Clean
Energy Inc. is working with EDP Renewables Australia (EDPR), a developer of town scale solar
farms, about making our community more resilient and less vulnerable to grid
outages. Since the fires, EDP Renewables has been helping Braidwood to be more resilient
by building a ‘microgrid’ which will mean that if they are disconnected from
the grid, they can operate independently.
This
microgrid will consist of a 5MW solar farm and a community scale battery (5MW/10MWh) to provide
the town with uninterrupted electricity in the event of future grid
outages.
Public Meetings
BCE and EDPR held two Public meetings on 19 March 2026 to explain the current status of the project with over 50 people attending the two sessions.
The presentation given by EPPR can be found here.
Development Application for the project is open for public consultation
The DA for the ‘Construction of a solar
farm, battery energy storage systems, landscaping and associated site works’ at
873 Wallaces Gap Road, Ballalaba NSW 2622 was submitted in March.
The DA application is being managed by QPRC
staff but will be assessed through the Regional
Significant Development (RSD) assessment process and decided upon by the
Southern Regional Planning Panel.
The DA application number is DA.2026.0113 and
can be found here.
Braidwood Clean Energy's written submission in support of the Development Application is here.