Community Power Hubs Program

Since 2017, the Community Power Hubs program has accelerated Victoria’s transition to a renewable energy future. Based in each of Victoria’s regions, the hubs have been working closely with their communities to offer trusted advice on clean energy solutions and have supported, developed and delivered locally owned, cost-effective renewable energy projects.

The program empowered communities to be active participants in planning and decisions around the transition to renewable energy and enabled local environmental, social and economic benefits to be realised, including cost savings for local communities. It has also boosted Victoria’s renewable energy capacity which will contribute to meeting Victoria’s target of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The delivery of this program to each region in Victoria in 2021 was an expansion of the successful 3 year Community Power Hubs Pilot Program, which developed 3 hubs in Ballarat, Bendigo and the Latrobe Valley from 2017.

Community impact

By September 2022, these hubs collectively completed 42 community clean energy projects, amounting to 1454kW of new solar capacity. In total, the projects will reduce carbon emissions by 1,104 tonnes per year and reduce community energy bills by $207,435 per year.

Since their establishment, the hubs have been working closely with community organisations across the state to ensure more community facilities reap the benefits of renewable energy. They have helped to progress an additional 145 proposed projects and delivered feasibility studies for more than 10 significant community-driven initiatives.

Projects include:

• installing community batteries
• microgrids, electric vehicle charge points
• onsite battery storage
• solar farms
• community energy retailer opportunities.

For more information on the Community Power Hubs and the Implementation ready projects, view the fund recipients.