Initiated in response to the 2019-20 “Black Summer” bushfire crisis, the project addresses critical energy resilience challenges exposed during extreme weather events.
Braidwood is located at the end of a single distribution line in a high fire zone, making it particularly susceptible to major outages. During the Black Summer bushfires, the community was nearly isolated from the National Electricity Market (NEM) due to its vulnerable location.
Central to the project’s design is an “island-mode” capability, which allows the system to safely disconnect from a compromised national grid and operate autonomously as a self-sustaining local microgrid.
This operational flexibility ensures a secure, continuous energy supply for essential services such as fuel and water pumping during unplanned power outages.
Under normal operating conditions, the system’s energy will be exported to the NEM. During extreme weather events, the system will pivot to supply the local community with autonomous power until grid connection can be restored.
