Australia's energy transition has never been more urgent.
Authors
- Mingming Cheng
Professor, School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University
- Peta Ashworth
Professor and Director, Curtin Institute for Energy Transition, Curtin University
Aging coal-fired power stations are retiring and energy bills are rising sharply . To address this, the obvious solution is to build more renewable energy projects and the transmission infrastructure to connect them at scale.
But a major hurdle remains: community opposition. In regional areas, where most of the renewable infrastructure must go, locals are protesting against new transmission lines and are locking farm gates to keep developers off their property.
However, regional communities should not be forced to choose between supporting the national energy transition and protecting their land and livelihoods.
Our new research suggests we're asking the wrong question. Instead of querying "if" communities support renewable energy, we should be asking "under what conditions" will they back such projects.
Not simply for or against
Our new study took a closer look at how three regional Western Australian communities - Busselton, Kojonup and Albany - view renewable energy infrastructure.
To do this, we analysed online discussions about solar and wind projects slated for their communities, each at different stages of development. The online discussions took place from January 2024 to May 2025 across a range of platforms, including Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), as well as relevant local and regional media websites, newspapers, community forums and online noticeboards.
Our results challenge the assumption that communities can simply be divided into those who are "for" clean energy and those who are adamantly "against" it.
In Busselton on WA's south-west tip, renewable projects are still in the planning stage. There, local residents were most concerned about land use, property values and the visual appeal of landscapes. Many residents raised consultation as a key issue, with some expressing the view consultation came too late or did not give residents any opportunity to influence the outcome.
In the inland town of Kojonup, south-east of Perth, the Kojonup wind farm is currently being rolled out. This community's concerns were decidedly practical: who actually gets the jobs? Who receives the financial benefits? Who bears any disruptions, such as visual disruption and lower property values? Financial fairness was a major concern for locals, with some landowners receiving benefits such as local investment opportunities while their neighbours got nothing except interrupted views.
The port city of Albany has been home to working wind farms for more than two decades. Here, the picture is very different. Albany's wind farm supplies the equivalent of 80% of the city's annual electricity needs and attracts an estimated 200,000 visitors a year. Community sentiment was largely positive, associating the wind farm with various environmental benefits including reduced reliance on coal and gas, as well as tourism and regional identity.
It's worth noting not every host community will embrace renewable energy in such a linear pattern. However, our findings suggest community support is not necessarily fixed and can change over time as a project progresses.
Lessons from abroad
Overseas, other countries are already trialling ways of giving host communities a more tangible stake in the renewable energy shift.
Since 2014, the Scottish government recommends wind developers pay a minimum of £5,000 (roughly A$9500) annually for each megawatt of power a renewable project generates.
These payments are channelled into community funds, where a local committee decides how the funds are spent. If a project stretches across multiple regions, the funds are split based on how many megawatts of power each community hosts. However, these payments are not mandatory so not all renewable companies are contributing to community funds.
In Denmark, a global leader in wind energy development, several communities have established energy cooperatives . While each has a slightly different model, these cooperatives allow residents to own a share of renewable energy projects and, as a result, actively engage in the green transition.
Where to from here
These international examples underscore the need to engage with host communities in innovative and thoughtful ways.
Our research suggests these three strategies could help:
recognising that if people resist local solar and wind projects, they are not simply "anti-renewables"
engaging communities early, listening to their concerns about proposed renewable projects, involving them in decision-making processes and providing clear, transparent information about how any risks will be managed and benefits will be shared
monitoring online discussions, particularly to identify emerging concerns before they become entrenched as opposition and potentially fracture trust between communities, government and renewables companies.
Australia, like many countries, is racing to shore up its renewable sector and shift away from fossil fuels. We must build more wind turbines and solar farms. But to ensure our energy transition works, building trust with local communities is just as crucial.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
