Sunny Shire is working with the Bundeena and Mainbar community to investigate the possibility of an energy project utilising solar and batteries to reduce costs and improve energy reliability.
A Bundeena-Maianbar solar group has been established for 3 years. Additionally, Sunny Shire has many solar installations in Bundeena as part of its Bulk Buy, and over 130 for the broader Sutherland Shire community, as well as presenting at events in Bundeena
There are many reasons why a new energy project is possible in Bundeena:
- New technologies such as batteries and solar are becoming more cost effective and advanced
- New projects such as Community Mini Grids, Virtual Power Plants and Community Batteries are starting to be developed around Australia
- There are several NSW and Federal subsidy and grant programs coming up that could support a project
- Bundeena has a supportive community and has been an early adopter of solar
- There are challenges in supply of electricity to Bundeena and Maianbar, due to its remoteness from the Sydney grid
Sunny Shire and the local community have limited resources to explore this potential, engage with the community and implement such a project. So it is seeking expressions of interest from suitability qualified companies who would like to work with us to develop this further.
An EOI document has been prepared, and is available upon request to info@sunnyshire.org.au. EOIs are due 21 March 2019