Australia’s first Indigenous-owned solar farm connected to a power grid has been officially opened in a remote community in the Northern Territory, 700 kilometres south of Darwin, offering a blueprint for how to roll-out community-owned solar across the NT’s other 72 remote communities while keeping power and profit in local hands.

The 60-member Marlinja community built the solar farm and battery after years of planning the microgrid project with Indigenous clean energy organisation Original Power. This has made it almost self-sufficient, and is expected to reduce residents’ power costs by 70%.

The solar-powered community centre is the first step, offering a hub for kids, family and cultural activities. It’s part of a much larger plan for the community to go 100% renewable and generate its own electricity from solar power with battery storage. 

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