FAQs

Endeavour Energy is keen to hear from the residents of Bawley Point and Kioloa on how we can deliver resilient, sustainable and affordable energy to your community. 

We understand the last few years have been challenging for many regional and rural communities around NSW. Bushfires and storms along with peak holiday periods have put the local electricity network under pressure, resulting in power outages.

We're planning to design a community microgrid made up of a grid connected battery and solar and home batteries to generate a renewable and reliable electricity supply which will reduce the frequency of outages dramatically.

Endeavour Energy has been exploring ways to meet electricity demand in a more resilient, reliable and sustainable way at Bawley Point and Kioloa. 

The area is uniquely positioned to receive the maximum benefit from this type of initiative because: 

• The community is at the end of a long electricity line.
• The population spike during the holiday season places significant strain on the electricity network. 
• Rather than continuing to build new substations and additional poles and wires, we have been investigating ways to build a more resilient and reliable regional energy zone with the community.

A microgrid is a small, local network of electricity users with a local source of power made up of solar and batteries. 

The microgrid will be connected to Endeavour Energy's network but will switch to its local 'power island' if the main electricity grid goes down. This will give Bawley Point and Kioloa communities added security for their power supply. 

To assist in managing the energy through the microgrid, state-of-the-art software will forecast the renewable energy load and manage it across all solar panels and batteries, in real time. 

Microgrids exist all around the world. They are not a new technology, but as locally generated renewable power has increased, these mini grids are becoming a viable way for modern grids to better harness power.

Households who participate in the program will be able to generate solar power for their own immediate use, store it for later use and share it back with the grid when the electricity network needs it. 

This program presents a great opportunity for the Bawley Point and Kioloa communities to demonstrate how microgrids work and how solar and batteries can be best used in the future.

We will soon be starting a program of community consultation that includes meetings and opportunities to learn more about the project and give feedback.

As part of the community consultation, we'll be talking to the community to help us design how the batteries will be distributed, as part of a fair and equitable process.

No, while those who want to have solar panels and batteries (and those who already do) may participate in the community microgrid project if they choose to, you also have the option to not take part.

This is a new approach for everyone, so the first step is to start the conversation. We hope that if the community is interested, the Bawley Point and Kioloa Community Microgrid will serve as a blueprint for a resilient, reliable and renewable energy community in NSW and beyond.

You can register your interest through this website where we will be sharing updates and opportunities to attend meetings or ask questions.