10 March 2026, for immediate release
Australia’s shift to clean energy is reshaping the country’s landscape, yet communities hosting renewable projects are often consulted rather than brought in as genuine partners. Community Power Agency today released Power in Partnership: A guide to developing a community stake in renewable energy, a new resource designed to help shift the dial from community consultation to genuine community partnerships and financial participation.
The Guide draws on 18 months of research and collaboration with renewable energy developers, local and state government stakeholders, advocacy organisations and community members.
It responds to a growing recognition that Australia’s shift to renewable energy must move beyond consultation and towards genuine partnership with host communities if people are to have a real say in projects, share in the benefits, and avoid unnecessary conflict. While there has been increasing focus on improving community engagement practices, many renewable projects still rely primarily on information-sharing and benefit funds rather than bringing communities into the fold and providing pathways for them to have a real stake in projects.
Lead author Dr Anna Berka says communities deserve more than to be informed about renewable energy projects - they should also have the opportunity to directly participate and shape projects so that they can deliver on priority community needs.
“The shift to renewable energy represents a major change for many regional communities. For it to succeed, communities need meaningful opportunities to shape the decisions that affect them and to share in the benefits.”
Community partnerships offer a different approach. Models such as co-ownership or co-investment give communities a real say and a real stake in renewable energy projects. Compared to one-off benefit funds, these models can create long-term income streams and bring communities into the decision-making process, helping turn projects into shared local assets.
The Guide brings together emerging case studies from Australia alongside international examples where shared ownership models are well established. In Denmark, community co-ownership of wind energy isn’t a pilot program, it’s policy. The same is true across the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and the Netherlands. Australia is yet to catch up.
Dr Berka said Australia is now at an important moment in the shift to renewables.
“Unlike some other countries, Australia has done little to enable communities to participate meaningfully in the renewable energy rollout. Given the scale of additional renewable capacity needed to 2030, now is the time.”
“The shift to renewable energy is happening at scale in regional Australia. Done well, community partnership models can deliver significant regional development benefits, strengthen local economies and build the social support needed to transform our energy system.”
The Guide, supported by Energy Consumers Australia, provides a practical roadmap for developers, investors, governments and communities seeking to embed partnership models into renewable energy projects, helping ensure projects not only deliver clean power, but stronger regional economies and fairer outcomes for the communities hosting this infrastructure.
Justin Whelan, Manager Consumer Advocacy at Energy Consumers Australia, said,
“There is growing awareness that good community engagement means taking real steps to work with local communities on how energy projects can work for them, as well as the developer.
“Approaches like community co-ownership and co-investment can help turn engagement into genuine partnership, giving communities a meaningful stake in renewable energy projects and a share in the benefits.
“We are therefore delighted to support this important new guide from Community Power Agency, which showcases practical examples of how these partnership models are being developed in Australia and overseas.”
ENDS
Media contact
Eleanor Buckley, Communications Coordinator, Community Power Agency
Ph: 0407 613 231
Audio grabs available for radio run
Quotes and case study voices
*Available for interview
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*Claudia Hodge, co-author of Power in Partnership, and Project Manager - Community Development, Community Power Agency
“If we’re serious about empowering communities to participate in and benefit from renewable energy, co-ownership, co-investment and subscription models are a no-brainer. These models give communities a real stake in the projects being built around them, and it’s time to bring them into the mainstream.” -
Taryn Lane, co-author of Power in Partnership, community energy expert
“There are many lessons and insights in the Guide for shared learning across the sector. Whether it’s co-ownership, co-investment or other meaningful partnership models, bringing communities into a project can deliver transformative local benefits and enhance project delivery.” -
*Gavin Brown, CEO Yamagigu Consulting Pty Ltd, Director of Wambal Bila
Gavin is the Director of Wambal Bila, an Indigenous community corporation established to participate in the shared equity partnership for the $340 million Bulabul Battery project in Wellington, NSW. The Bulabul Battery is featured as a case study in the Power in Partnership Guide.
"The Bulabul battery partnership shows what’s possible when First Nations communities are brought in as genuine partners from the start. For us, equity is about having a real stake in projects on Country and creating long-term opportunities for our community.
If we want the shift to renewables to be both fast and fair, these kinds of partnerships should become business as usual. We have proven now that virtually any community and proponent can do this and crucially, in a way that is commercially beneficial to both parties.” -
*Emma Stilts, President of Manilla Community Renewable Energy Inc. Emma Stilts is the President of Manilla Community Renewable Energy Inc., a community organisation developing a 4.6 MW (AC) solar and battery project in Manilla, New England NSW. The project has attracted 186 investors, around 80% of whom are local, and is also a case study in the Power in Partnership guide.
“Community co-investment gives people a real stake in renewable energy projects. When communities know the people and organisations supporting a project, it builds engagement and trust. That process brings communities into the project and provides a true share in the benefits.” -
*Satya Tanner, Tanner Consultancy Services and Adjunct Fellow, University of the Sunshine Coast. Satya is an energy expert who spent seven years in Denmark’s offshore wind sector. She has deep knowledge of the country’s well-established community shared ownership models.
“In countries like Denmark, community co-ownership has been key to building long-term public support for renewable energy. One lesson for Australia is how to shift communities from the cost side of projects to the ownership and benefit side. When communities have a stake in developments, it builds local support and can help de-risk projects for both industry and government.”
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Luke Osborne, Partner at Stride Renewables
“The currency of social licence is trust. Sharing ownership of a project with communities gives people a genuine stake in renewable developments being built near them.
Policy settings are incentivising stronger outcomes for host communities and shifting the dynamic from consultation to real partnership. Co-ownership and co-investment models are one practical way developers can deliver legacy benefits for regional communities.”
Contact details:
Media contact
Eleanor Buckley, Communications Coordinator, Community Power Agency
Ph: 0407 613 231
