Regional Microgrids Program

Regional Australia Microgrid Pilots (Stream A)

The aim of Stream A is to fund Projects that contribute to the following Outcomes:

• Innovation and/or acceleration of the development and deployment of equipment and technology solutions that enable the coordinated use of distributed renewable energy technologies.
• Improved resilience and reliability of electricity supply in regional areas.
• Resolving one or more of the remaining barriers to deployment of microgrid solutions.

First Nations Community Microgrids (Stream B)

The aim of Stream B is to fund Projects that contribute to the following Outcomes:

• Reduced cost of energy and other community benefits in First Nations Communities.
• Cleaner and more reliable energy in First Nations Communities.
• First Nations Communities are empowered to participate in their electricity supply arrangements and the development of energy infrastructure.
• Resolving one or more of the remaining barriers to deployment of microgrid solutions.

The Applicant must:

• at the time of applying and throughout the life of the Project, hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) and
• be either:
  1. an Australian entity incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
  2. an Australian State or Territory Government;
  3. an Australian local government or council;
  4. an Australian State or Territory owned corporation or a subsidiary of an Australian State or Territory owned corporation;
  5. an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation incorporated under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth);
  6. the Torres Strait Regional Authority or Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation established under the Australian and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005 (Cth);
  7. an Aboriginal Land Council, Aboriginal Land Trust or Torres Strait Islander Land Trust (or equivalent entity) established under Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation;
  8. an Australian entity incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 1991 (ACT), the Associations Incorporation Act 1984 (NSW), the Associations Act 2003 (NT), the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld), the Associations Incorporation Act 1985 (SA), the Associations Incorporation Act 1964 (TAS), the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (VIC) or the Associations Incorporation Act 1987 (WA);
  9. an Australian entity incorporated under the Co-operatives (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012 (NSW), Co-operatives National Law Application Act 2013 (VIC), Co-operatives National Law (South Australia) Act 2013 (SA), Co-operatives (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2015 (NT), Co-operatives National Law (Tasmania) Act 2015 (TAS), Co-operatives Act 2009 (WA), Co-operatives National Law (ACT) Act 2017 (ACT) or the Co-operatives National Law Act 2020 (QLD);
  10. an Australian university; or
  11. the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

See the RMP guidelines for full details of eligible organisations.

The Applicant must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of ARENA that the Project described
in the Application:

• Includes the deployment of equipment and/or technology solutions that enable the Project.
• Includes the use of a Renewable Energy technology or enabling technology and/or the Project
  contributes to increased uptake of Renewable Energy.
• Is located in an inner regional, outer regional, remote or very remote area as defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Area

See the RMP guidelines for full details of eligible projects.

Eligible expenditure items are:

• eligible contract expenditure for the cost of any activities to support the project performed for the recipient by another organisation
• labour expenditure, such as salaries and wages, including reasonable on-costs for personnel employed directly on the project
• administrative expenses, including expenses incurred on communications, accommodation, computing facilities, travel, recruitment, printing and stationery, directly to the project
• expenditure for plant installed for the project at the full delivered cost of the plant
• expenditure on plant used for the construction of a project
• expenditure activities that directly contribute to or enable knowledge, including database development, websites, applications and reports
• expenditure on legal, audit and accounting costs related directly to the project
• expenditure related to the raising of funds for the project, or the formation of consortia or joint ventures or other partnering arrangements, directly to the project
• expenditure such as relevant licence fees or intellectual property purchase costs, where the Applicant needs to access specific technology to undertake the project
• expenditure related directly to obtaining government approvals to undertake the project

Expenditure items that are not eligible includes, but is not limited to:

• expenditure related to the general operations and administration of the Applicant or Recipient that the Applicant or Recipient could reasonably be expected to undertake in the normal course of business, other than costs that are directly related to the Project;
• expenditure on activities that a local, state, territory or Commonwealth government agency has the responsibility to undertake, unless the Applicant or Recipient can demonstrate to the satisfaction of ARENA that the expenditure is related to a co-contribution;
• expenditure on Feasibility Studies;
• interest on loans for new and pre-existing capital items used for the Project;
• expenditure on the acquisition of land for a Project;
• sales or promotional activities that do not directly support the successful completion of the Project;
• membership fees;
• donations; and
• any other expenditure that does not directly support the delivery of the Project.

No more than 10% of funds awarded to a project may be spent overseas, with the exception of the purchase or use of equipment and materials.

See the guidelines for full details of eligible and ineligible expenditure.

1. Contribution to project outcomes

• Stream A
  1. Support technical innovation
  2. Electricity Resilience and Reliability
  3. Microgrid Barriers
     • Inform regulatory reform
     • Demonstrate commercial feasibility
• Stream B
  1. Reduced cost of energy
  2. Cleaner energy
  3. Reliable energy
  4. Empowered Communities
  5. Microgrid Barriers

2. Applicant capability and capacity

• Capability of the Applicant and any partner organisation(s) and personnel
• Capacity of the Applicant and any partner organisation(s) and personnel
• Stream B also considers the cultural competency of personnel and/or organisation to engage with First Nations Communities and plans or processes in place to ensure cultural competency.

3. Project design and methodology 

• A well-articulated Project Plan.
• The quality and appropriateness of the Risk Management Plan including how the Applicant will manage safety issues (e.g. safety standard compliance).
• The quality and appropriateness of the Project’s Community Engagement Plan and expected stakeholder management.
• The quality of any other application attachments as required for a given Stream.
• How the Project will meet the requirements

4. Financial viability and co-funding commitment 

• Whether the Applicant and any Project Partners have the financial capacity and appropriate
  levels of co-funding commitment to deliver the Project successfully.
• The extent to which the Applicant or other Project Partners are providing funding or in-kind
  support for the Project.
• Relevant industry benchmarks for the economics of a particular Project.
• The appropriateness of the budget allocated to knowledge sharing to deliver the outcomes as proposed.
• Capacity to operate and maintain the system over its lifetime

5. Knowledge sharing

• The value of the knowledge generated by the Project in contributing to the Program Outcomes;
• How well that knowledge is targeted to specific audiences; and
• How the Applicant will capture, store and disseminate the data, information and lessons learned from the Project.

See the guidelines for full details of the assessment criteria.

You should read and understand the guidelines.

You need to ensure you are eligible for the funding. Applicants that do not meet all the eligibility criteria outlined above will not be considered.

• a sound project design and methodology and clearly defined objectives, with measurable and achievable outcomes and the capacity to manage risk
• the financial capacity to deliver the project and the extent of outcomes relative to the level of requested funding
• the necessary capacity and capability of the applicant, project partners and key project personnel to deliver the project in full within the agreed timeframe
• how they respond to each criterion listed under the assessment criteria

See the guidelines for full details on how to demonstrate merits against criteria.

Information is required against the assessment criteria (see below) as follows:

Applicant capability and capacity 

• CVs of (up to 5) key personnel (optional)

Project design and methodology

• Project Plan (mandatory at both stages, for both streams)
• Risk Management Plan (mandatory at Full Application stage, for both streams)
• Community Engagement Plan (mandatory at Full Application stage, for both streams)
• Compliance Table (mandatory at Full Application stage, for both streams)
• Community Benefit Plan (mandatory at Full Application stage, Stream B only)
• Letters of Support and other evidence (optional)

Financial viability and co-funding commitment

• Financial Model (mandatory at both stages, for both streams)
• Evidence of financial capacity (Optional)

Knowledge sharing

• Knowledge Sharing Plan (Mandatory at Full Application stage, for both streams)

See the guidelines for full details of information requirements.

Applications are submitted through ARENA’s Grants Management System, ARENAnet.

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