Funding to support studies into improved energy supply arrangements

The Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund – Microgrids provides funding to undertake feasibility studies into more reliable, secure and cost effective energy supply for regional and remote communities in Australia.

The $50.4 million Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund - Microgrids (the program) will run over five years from 2019-20 to 2023-24. The program was announced by the Australian Government as a measure in the 2019 Budget to support feasibility studies into more reliable, secure and cost effective energy supply to regional and remote communities in Australia.

The program will fund feasibility studies looking at microgrid technologies to replace, upgrade or supplement existing electricity supply arrangements in off-grid and fringe-of grid communities located in regional and remote areas. This will be achieved through:

• improved regional business, community services and emergency resilience through innovative microgrid solutions
• scaled-up and improved microgrid systems in regional and remote communities
• increased human capital (skills/knowledge) in the design and deployment of microgrids
• demonstrated commerciality and/or reliability and security benefits of deploying and upgrading microgrids
• reduced barriers to microgrid uptake in remote and regional communities
• increased dissemination of technology and/or project knowledge regarding the deployment and upgrading of microgrids.

The minimum grant amount is $100,000 and the maximum grant is $10 million.

The Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund – Microgrids is closed to applications.