The New South Wales government is investing AU$3 million (US$2.1 million) to scope new solar-plus-storage-powered microgrid projects across four remote communities in the state's Far West. The initiative responds to electricity reliability problems that have affected the region since a storm destroyed transmission infrastructure in October 2024. Delivered in partnership with distribution network operator Essential Energy, the pre-feasibility programme will examine microgrid options for White Cliffs, Tibooburra, Milparinka and Packsaddle.
In White Cliffs, the study will examine expanding the town's existing solar generation. In Tibooburra, the work will assess how a proposed solar-powered microgrid could replace the town's existing diesel-backed system. In Milparinka and Packsaddle, the programme is examining battery storage options to support the communities during outages. Essential Energy will assess whether the proposed systems could keep essential services running during outages, including communications infrastructure, emergency response facilities and fuel supplies, before reporting its findings to the government ahead of any decision to progress to the next phase.
The announcement follows a storm that destroyed seven transmission towers on the single high-voltage line supplying Broken Hill and the Far West region on 17 October 2024, cutting power to Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Menindee, Tibooburra and White Cliffs for weeks and prompting a parliamentary inquiry that reported in June 2026. NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water executive director of energy infrastructure, Liam Ryan, said the scoping work builds on lessons from that event. Essential Energy chief assets and digital officer Luke Jenner said the pre-feasibility work was a first step in assessing whether local solar generation and battery storage could offer a more resilient solution for the four communities, where long distances, extreme weather and fuel supply lines can all affect energy security.
No details on the size of the microgrid projects, nor the size of the battery storage system, have been disclosed. The scoping programme sits within a broader pattern of microgrid deployment in remote and regional Australia, including the Australian Renewable Energy Agency's AU$50 million Regional Australia Microgrid Pilots Program launched in 2021. It remains unknown whether the four projects will advance beyond pre-feasibility, what their eventual capacity or cost would be, or how Essential Energy's findings will shape the government's next-phase decision.