Alice Springs Future Grid was a three-year whole of sys­tems project explor­ing how Alice Springs can over­come bar­ri­ers to achiev­ing 50 per cent renew­able ener­gy gen­er­a­tion by 2030. 

As the uptake of rooftop solar pan­els grows, new pres­sures have been placed on an elec­tric­i­ty sys­tem designed for con­ven­tion­al ener­gy gen­er­a­tion from gas and diesel. The grid needs to adapt and make allowances for more renew­ables to be intro­duced so Alice Springs can meet its clean ener­gy targets. 

The land­mark Roadmap to 2030 report brings togeth­er insights from inno­v­a­tive tri­als, mod­els and inves­ti­ga­tions to set out four plau­si­ble path­ways to upgrade the sys­tem for a decar­bonised future. It also out­lines the next best steps for cross-sec­tor stake­hold­ers, includ­ing three key stages of transition. 

In addi­tion to the Roadmap to 2030, Alice Springs Future Grid com­plet­ed a num­ber of tri­als and inves­ti­ga­tions through five inter-depen­dent sub-projects. These sub-projects were deliv­ered by a project part­ner and cen­tral­ly man­aged by the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy, and helped inform the Roadmap to 2030. Key out­puts include the first Vir­tu­al Pow­er Plant tri­al in the NT, the first island­able micro­grid, and the first wind ener­gy ener­gy tri­al for Alice Springs. 

Reports are avail­able from each of the sub-projects in the Knowl­edge Bank.

Mul­ti­ple organ­i­sa­tions were involved in the $12.5m project from across the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry and Aus­tralia. It’s hoped this world-lead­ing project will pave the way for oth­er grids in Aus­tralia and around the world as to take action for a more sus­tain­able future. 

The Alice Springs Future Grid project is sup­port­ed by the Aus­tralian Renew­able Ener­gy Agency (ARE­NA), the Aus­tralian Gov­ern­ment through the Region­al and Remote Com­mu­ni­ties Reli­a­bil­i­ty Fund — Micro­grids Pro­gram, and the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Gov­ern­ment through the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Energy. 

Cen­tral Aus­tralia has a strong his­to­ry of renew­able ener­gy inno­va­tion. This web­site has been cre­at­ed not only to sup­port the Alice Springs Future Grid project, but also as a repos­i­to­ry for exist­ing and emerg­ing renew­able ener­gy knowl­edge. Shar­ing knowl­edge is a promi­nent part of Future Grid. Our Knowl­edge Bank hosts reports, dis­cus­sion papers, poli­cies, media releas­es and much more.