New guide highlights community co ownership opportunities in Australia’s clean energy transition

16 March 2026

Community Power Agency has released Power in Partnership: A guide to developing a community stake in renewable energy, a new practical resource designed to help communities, developers and governments embed genuine partnership and shared ownership into renewable energy projects. The Guide sets out nine models for community participation, drawing on case studies from Australia and overseas, and provides clear steps for implementation.

For BCCM members, this work is highly relevant. Co-operatives and mutuals have long demonstrated that community ownership builds trust, supports local economies and ensures the benefits of renewable investment stay in regional areas. The new guide offers a structured pathway to expand these approaches at scale.

Across Australia, a growing number of co-operatives and community groups are already putting shared‑ownership models into practice. Hepburn Energy in Victoria remains a benchmark for community-owned wind generation, while Ngardara Cooperative in the Northern Territory is progressing a solar microgrid to replace diesel generation in Borroloola. In New South Wales, the Goulburn Community Energy Cooperative has developed a medium-scale solar and battery project through local investment. Initiatives such as Cooperative Power, Pingala’s rooftop solar investment program in Sydney and the Denmark Community Wind Farm in Western Australia show the breadth of models emerging across the country.

These examples demonstrate strong community appetite for involvement, but they also highlight the need for clearer, more consistent policy settings to support participation in mid to large-scale projects. Power in Partnership provides a timely national resource to help bridge that gap, offering evidence, models and practical tools for embedding community ownership into the transition.

The BCCM welcomes this contribution and encourages members to explore the Guide as a way to strengthen community participation and expand co-operative approaches in Australia’s clean energy future.

Read the Guide: Power in Partnership: A guide to developing a community stake in renewable energy