The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is inviting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) under its Advancing Renewables Program (ARP) to fund innovative community electrification demonstration projects across Australia.
Community electrification holds the potential to unlock renewable energy demand in the residential sector, reduce household energy bills, and empower communities to actively participate in the clean energy transition.
Under its "Optimise the transition to renewable electricity" strategic priority, ARENA is seeking proposals for high-impact demonstration projects that:
- Empower household and community participation in the clean energy transition
- Showcase innovative technologies and approaches
- Deliver tangible benefits to diverse residential settings
Projects are encouraged from Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory, complementing existing initiatives in New South Wales, Western Australia, and South Australia.
Proposals should address one or more of the following:
- Deployment at scale (ideally involving ~1,000 homes)
- Inclusion of private and multi-dwelling residences, including medium and high-density dwellings
- Low-income households
- First Nations communities
- Integration of innovative technologies such as vehicle-to-home (V2H), vehicle-to-grid (V2G), and shared/community energy storage
- Solutions to overcome barriers to Consumer Energy Resources (CER) adoption
- Infrastructure to orchestrate and optimise energy use at household and grid levels
- Products and technologies that enable active household participation in the energy transition
Projects should also contribute to one or more of the following objectives:
- Integration of CER into distribution networks and wholesale markets
- Enhancement of aggregator business models and capabilities
- Support for IT infrastructure and governance
