Energy transition in Cobargo

This case study was undertaken as part of the ‘Resilience Investment Assessment’ project to use a new renewable energy facility in a disaster recovery context as an example to test energy transition concepts. It can inform what is required to support an enabling policy environment to generate benefits for a community and resilience in energy infrastructure.

Cobargo and the surrounding district in the Bega Valley of NSW were severely impacted by bushfires in 2019–2020. Local volunteers created the Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund Inc to support community recovery projects. Several projects and proposals have since been funded. One of these is a proposed 5MW renewable microgrid array facility, which the community and local business leaders see as foundational to the future resilience and prosperity of the region.

It cannot, however, be taken for granted that the delivery of this renewable energy facility will also deliver the desired disaster resilience and community benefits. This project therefore developed four ‘stacked’ scenarios for the energy transition  that demonstrate stacking of objectives, risks, opportunities, values, beneficiaries and benefits associated with different models of micro-energy grid design.

The scenarios underpin the development of investment cases and describe what is needed to create an enabling policy environment to ensure energy transitions contribute to equitable, sustainable and resilient regions. The framing supports evidence-based assessments of the resilience and sustainability outcomes to regional energy transitions.

This project was undertaken in collaboration with Value Advisory Partners, Cobargo Disaster Recovery and Energy Transition (CaDET) and other community members and was funded by the Australian Climate Service.

You can find more information in the project report and dimensions of community resilience report.