The purpose of this site is to offer a dedicated space to hold information relevant to Central Australia’s strong renewable energy history, and its transition towards a renewable energy future.
The Alice Springs Future Grid Knowledge Bank aims to provide access to documents and information, both historical and contemporary. By building on lessons from the past, we can work towards a renewable energy future for the Northern Territory. Preserving knowledge can also help to mitigate the effects of corporate memory loss caused by population transience — a widely acknowledged challenge for the NT.
The materials are hosted by Intyalheme in the spirit of knowledge sharing and transparency.
Intyalheme welcomes feedback, but accepts no responsibility for the content supported by the Knowledge Bank. Intyalheme is careful to work within copyright laws. Please don’t hesitate to bring to our attention any accidental breaches. We promise to respond as soon as we can.
Intyalheme invites ideas for further documents that are relevant to renewable energy in Central Australia. Please get in touch with your suggestions.
Solar/Diesel Mini Grid Handbook
Power and Water Corporation
2019
The Northern Territory’s Power and Water Corporation has released a suite of detailed documents relating to learnings from its Solar Energy Transformation Program (SETuP), the largest isolated off-grid solar program in remote Australian communities. Among the documents is an updated solar/diesel mini-grid handbook, which is a general guide to power supply in remote isolated grids with existing diesel generation. Media release also attached.
Type: Guide Format: URL
NT Solar Energy Transformation Program
Power and Water Corporation
2019
As the largest isolated off-grid solar program in Aboriginal communities, the Solar Energy Transformation Program (SETuP) is a world-first. SETuP has seen the rollout of 10 megawatts (MW) of solar to benefit 25 bush communities. The solar arrays generate enough power for about 1750 remote houses, reducing reliance on diesel fuel.
Type: Website post Format: URL
Northern Territory Solar Resource project
ABC Alice Springs
2019
Alice Springs hosts one of four Northern Territory weather stations that together make up the NT Solar Resource project. The project was delivered by Alice Springs technical consultancy Ekistica. Ekistica’s Managing Director Lyndon Frearson talked to ABC Country Hour during the launch event at the DKA Solar Centre.
Type: Energy media Format: Audio
Off-Grid Guide
Intyalheme Centre for Future Energy
2019
The Off-Grid Guide provides a best practice guide to the procurement, deployment and maintenance of remote off-grid solar power systems in the Northern Territory and beyond. It was developed by the Intyalheme Centre for Future Energy, in collaboration with Ekistica. Ekistica's parent company, the Centre for Appropriate Technology, was responsible for the rollout of the renowned Bushlight program - which ran from 2002 to 2013. This guide leverages the knowledge generated during Bushlight.
Type: Guide Format: PDF URL
Beyond Zero Emissions: The 10 Gigawatt Vision
Beyond Zero Emissions
2019
The Northern Territory has an exceptional opportunity to prosper in this new era by converting abundant sunshine into renewable energy. By 2030, the NT Government could help drive investment in 10 gigawatts of renewables. By pursuing the 10 Gigawatt Vision, the Northern Territory can put renewable energy at the centre of a sustainable growth strategy that creates over 8,000 new jobs and over $2 billion in revenue by 2030. The 10 Gigawatt Vision is a sustainable alternative to economic strategies based on fossil fuels. The shale gas industry is financially unstable and totally unsuited to the needs of the coming zero-carbon economy. Achieving the 10 Gigawatt Vision has the potential to create many more jobs than the shale gas industry and prevent over 20 billion tonnes of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere and accelerating global warming.
Type: Report Format: PDF URL
Roadmap to Renewables
Northern Territory Government
2017
The Northern Territory Government is committed to 50% renewable energy by 2030 for electricity supplied to Territory households and businesses, while at the same time ensuring secure and reliable electricity at least cost to consumers and taxpayers. To help achieve this goal, the Government commissioned an expert panel to provide a report on possible policy options that may be suitable for the Territory. The panel’s report, was publicly released on 27 November 2017. It provided 11 recommendations to guide the Government to achieve the target.
Type: Report Format: URL
Roadmap to a Desert Smart Town
Arid Lands Environment Centre
2014
As one of the most remote and arid regional centres in Australia, Alice Springs faces a number of key barriers and limitations to its development. Yet, at the same time, there are many opportunities for increasing the resilience and sustainability of the town. The RoadMap to a desertSMART Town project and the RoadMap to a desertSMART Town 2013-18 report seek to outline these opportunities and the actions required to capitalise on them across the six areas of: energy, water, waste, built environment and planning, food, and transport. In doing so, it is hoped the RoadMap will make a significant contribution towards laying out the direction needed to make Alice Springs a more desert smart town.
Type: Report Format: PDF
Green Energy Taskforce — report 2
Northern Territory Government
2013
The Government’s 2009 Climate Change Policy established a Green Energy Taskforce to provide expert advice, as well as assisting the Territory in meeting its goal of having 20% of its electricity demand met by renewable and low emission sources by 2020.
Type: Report
Green Energy Taskforce — report 1
Northern Territory Government
2013
In late 2009, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory formed the Green Energy Taskforce and charged us with developing a Roadmap for the development of the renewable and low emission energy sector and products in the Territory.
Type: Report
Alice Solar City television advert
Alice Solar City
2013
Television commercial celebrating the end of Alice Solar City and the community's achievements.
Type: Project information Format: Video
Alice Solar City Report
Alice Springs Town Council
2013
Alice Springs was one of seven locations to be chosen as a Solar City, funded by the Australian Government. This report provides a snapshot of the outcomes and achievements during the project, which ran from 2008 until 2013, and was led by Alice Springs Town Council.
Type: Report Format: URL
Renewable Energy in Remote Australian Communities (A Market Survey)
Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE), Centre for Appropriate Technology (CfAT)
2000
In the 1980s and 90s, many stand-alone power systems (SPS) based on solar and batteries were installed to either replace or supplement existing diesel systems in remote communities. Over time, many issues arose issues with the use of these systems, which were particularly acute for remote Indigenous communities. In response, the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE) and the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CfAT) carried out a study into the deployment of renewable energy systems, which was published in 2000.
Type: Report