Australia’s big clean energy projects get a lot of attention, from giant solar farms to the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro scheme. So too does the push for rooftop solar and home batteries.
What often gets overlooked are the innovations underway where the power grid ends. It costs power utilities a lot to keep these towns connected to the grid. But the plunging costs of renewables and storage mean it’s increasingly possible to do things differently. It makes sense for towns, remote communities and mine sites to produce more of their own power – and eventually, cut the link to the grid entirely.
Western Australia – a state larger than western Europe – is at the forefront of these changes. Because it’s not connected to the national power grid, it has long gone its own way on power. Now, utilities are rethinking whether the state’s huge grid is necessary. Over 15,000 kilometres of overhead line have been decommissioned in recent years.
Life at the end of the grid isn’t easy
For the residents of small towns in outback Western Australia, remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory or a mine site in the middle of the WA Goldfields, power isn’t something to take for granted.
For decades, these places have had to make do with an often unreliable trickle of electricity transmitted along very long, ageing wires. These can be battered by storms, coated in salt and sand, and regularly knocked out .
For instance, the small outback Queensland town of Thargomindah had 20 unplanned blackouts in the three months to February 2024 – more than one a week.
This is a common problem for communities at the edge of the grid. Electricity is often less reliable and more expensive . Transmitting power thousands of kilometres from where it is produced means up to 35% is lost along the way.
Many remote communities rely on diesel generators, either as a backup or permanently. Because these rely on expensive fuel trucked in, residents can end up paying much more for electricity than people in cities.
Three ways to power the end of the grid
For a long time, there was no real alternative to generators and unreliable power. Now there are several.
The three most advanced options are standalone power systems, renewable microgrids and community batteries. All represent a shift away from grid dependence, though they differ in the degree. Standalone systems operate without the grid, microgrids can work with or without it and community batteries remain connected to the network.
Standalone power
A standalone power system is a self-contained power supply combining solar panels, batteries or a backup generator to replace long, costly powerlines. These work best for large isolated properties, such as an outback station.
Combining solar with storage or a backup means the power supply is reliable, and can cut costs for both customer and the network.
Microgrids
For small towns, renewable microgrids offer a new alternative. These are essentially power grids in miniature – a local electricity network serving multiple consumers through shared solar and batteries, with diesel generators as a backup. They are overseen by a smart control system making thousands of decisions every day over when to store, use or share power. They can be owned by the community, run by a utility or operated by a third party.
Community batteries
A community battery is exactly what it sounds like: a large battery shared by many homes and businesses in a local area. It stores excess daytime power from rooftop solar and releases it when demand rises in the evening. It’s like a neighbourhood water tank, but for electricity.
These batteries reduce pressure on local networks, make voltage more stable and allow households and businesses to install more rooftop solar without grid issues. Some make it possible for eligible households to access stored power from their solar arrays for around 30% cheaper than a home battery system.
Why is Western Australia leading the way?
WA has two electricity grids – one in the southwest, where most people live, and another in the northwest mining hub. It also has 38 microgrids . Authorities want to have 1,000 standalone power systems dotting the state by 2030 .
Here are some examples of what’s being tested at the edge of the grid.
The town of Kalbarri sits at the end of a notoriously unreliable 130km power line from Geraldton, regularly lashed by storms. This is why it was chosen to host the state’s standout example of what’s possible – a 5 megawatt microgrid .
It combines local wind, rooftop solar and batteries and detects faults in milliseconds, switching to island mode so smoothly that residents may not even notice. It’s expected to eliminate 80 per cent of the town’s previous outages.
In towns such as Esperance, Exmouth and Carnarvon, 10 community batteries are being installed , while the gold mining hub of Kalgoorlie will soon host a large 50 MW battery.
Mining companies are looking to these methods to lower operating costs and cut emissions. The Agnew Gold Mine now gets 50-60% of its electricity from wind, solar and batteries with 99.99 per cent reliability, which is essential for a mining operation.
Remote First Nations communities such as Blackstone are also looking to microgrids combining solar, batteries and a diesel backup. Reliable electricity is vital for family homes and healthcare.
From the edge of the grid to cutting edge
The innovation at the edge of the grid isn’t just vital for remote residents.
These real world trials of microgrids, batteries, smart software and standalone power systems will feed into how we manage bigger energy grids and make the best use of renewables and storage.
