What the grid can learn from the bush: how small energy systems can make big changes

The Guardian

24-04-2025

Thousands of kilometres from town centres and centralised power grids, remote Aboriginal communities are powering their homes with renewable energy. Hybrid, stand-alone energy systems have been put in place by the Bushlight Project, an Indigenous-led program grounded in collaboration and cultural understanding.
Prof Chris Lund, from Murdoch University, led the design of the systems in partnership with the Alice Springs-based, Aboriginal-controlled Centre for Appropriate Technology to deliver energy to areas that are lacking in infrastructure.
For years, remote communities have relied on costly, diesel-powered generators for everything from keeping food fresh to lighting spaces where children do their homework. But generators are notoriously unreliable, and when the wet season hits, flooding and distance can make fuel almost impossible to access.
To tackle this, Lund and his team took a novel approach, blending design, technology and community advocacy to create long-term solutions.
Prof Chris Lund. Photograph: supplied
'We realised that what we were using in the city wouldn't work out there, especially when local communities needed to do some of the maintenance and troubleshooting on these systems themselves, often thousands of kilometres from local service providers,' Lund says.
'We developed really simple, reliable hybrid systems that drew on solar and wind to replace as many diesel generators as possible.'
Since 2002, the Bushlight Project has installed these stand-alone renewable energy systems that function independently of large grids in more than 130 Aboriginal homelands across the Northern Territory and central Australia, providing power for more than 2,500 people and paving the way for community independence and energy efficiency.
For Murdoch University, Bushlight is more than a success story. The project highlights the university's commitment to a research community that is not only technically skilled but attuned to the social and cultural dimensions of its work.
Photograph: Centre for Appropriate Technology
In some of Australia's most remote communities, from the Kimberley to Mount Peachy, 100km from Alice Springs, Aboriginal communities were facing significant challenges keeping the power running. The generators they relied on often broke down, and constantly replacing gas bottles was not only expensive but unsustainable.
Through ongoing conversations with households and community members, the Bushlight Project team came to understand each community's unique energy needs.
The consensus was that communities needed reliability and affordability in their energy systems. People wanted to keep food cold around the clock, have reliable hot water, make fewer trips to town and have better access to computers and entertainment.
Bushlight's community-driven approach not only delivered better energy systems for communities but empowered households to understand their energy needs. In consultation with energy experts, residents from more than 30 communities considered their daily routines and energy-reliant activities to build realistic energy budgets.
The result of these community consultations was the installation of Bushlight household systems, typically a combination of solar panels, battery storage and an energy management unit (EMU) that monitors energy consumption and displays how much power is available.
Community system enclosure. Photograph: Centre for Appropriate Technology
These systems enabled residents to make informed decisions about their power consumption. Without giving up essentials or fun, residents could enjoy uninterrupted electricity while saving money and putting funds towards what was needed, such as a new car or refurbishing houses and gardens.
By prioritising consultation and community ownership, the project enabled people to remain on Country while tackling energy security challenges.
'Two decades later, many of these systems still hum quietly, a testament to the design, system development, delivery, education and maintenance efforts of the Centre for Appropriate Technology,' Lund says.
Craig Memery, a senior adviser at the Justice and Equity Centre, an independent law and policy centre, says awareness of energy consumption is key to developing energy efficiency.
'The more we invest in and understand energy efficiency, the less infrastructure we will need to build when making the transition to decarbonisation.
'Energy grids are focused on their capacity to deliver the maximum amount of power, but in a stand-alone system, the pinch point is the amount of energy provided. Power is like the pressure in a hose, and energy is the number of buckets that can be filled by that hose.'
Photograph: Centre for Appropriate Technology
Unlike grids, which can draw on vast resources, these smaller systems that draw on renewable sources of energy require users to be aware of their energy use and make every 'bucket' count.
In simple terms, energy efficiency means achieving the same outcomes while using less energy. 'Stand-alone power supplies illustrate how effectively this can be achieved,' Memery says.
Murdoch University's sustainability mission involves melding research, education and holistic engagement to empower individuals and communities to enact meaningful change. The Bushlight Project is an example of this – combining lived experience with scientific knowledge to bring reliable, culturally appropriate and energy-efficient power to remote Aboriginal communities.
Cheaper and cleaner than fossil fuel solutions, and built to last, systems such as these can keep lighting up the bush for generations to come.
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