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After community members started installing solar panels on street lights around Djarindjin in remote north-west Australia last year, local leader Nathan McIvor says they began to see the possibilities of taking ownership of their own electricity generation.

Now, this community 200km north of Broome and home to nearly 400 Bardi and Jawi people, is planning to install a multimillion dollar solar and battery farm that would generate enough renewable energy to meet 80% of their power needs, reducing reliance on government-owned diesel generators.

The project – called Aalga Goorlil which means ‘sun turtle’ in the local language – comes as Australia grapples with rising fuel costs and limited supply due to the US-Israel war with Iran.

McIvor, the chief executive of the Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation (DAC), said that people in the community are suffering from power outages, and that it was time for energy self-determination.

“We’re investing in an idea,” he says. “Ownership of everything. The time has passed where communities rely on a broken system, and we out at Djarindjin don’t believe the system works for us.”

Under their proposal, Djarindjin would significantly reduce it reliance on fossil fuels – and, crucially, on externally owned and produced power sources.

“We believe that if there is an issue, it doesn’t matter whether it was created by white, black, brown or brindle, we need to take ownership of those issues, we take ownership of the risks, and we take ownership of the rewards,” he says.

Currently, Djarindjin is powered by diesel generators provided by Horizon Power, an energy retailer owned by the Western Australian government. Horizon provides power to 117 Aboriginal communities in WA.

McIvor said DAC had already paid $2m for feasibility studies for the project and had submitted a business case to the WA government. A spokesperson for the government said they “acknowledge the significant work undertaken” by DAC, and were still considering the proposal.

“As with all proposals of this nature, decisions are subject to appropriate assessment and budget processes, and it would not be appropriate to comment on timing or outcomes while these are under way,” they said.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, two renewable energy projects in the Northern Territory received full funding from the federal government.

The Ngardara Solar Microgrid (NSM) project in the remote community of Borroloola, 1,000km south-east of Darwin near the Gulf of Carpentaria, was awarded $8.3m. That will fund a 2.1MW solar array and 1.8MW/6.6MWh battery, which – similar to the aspirations of those in Djarindjin– will meet 80% of the community’s energy needs. It is estimated that it will save the NT government about 1.2m litres of diesel every year over its 25-year lifespan.

The project, funded by the First Nations stream of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s regional microgrid program, would also save Borroloola households up to 50%on their electricity bills. It is also coupled with a local workforce development program that will provide 10 people with the opportunity to complete a certificate II in construction and renewable energy pathways, and two electrical apprenticeships.

Karrina Nolan is the founder and director of Original Power, an Indigenous-owned and led organisation which helped design and develop the project alongside the Ngardara Cooperative. She says renewable energy projects are “absolutely critical” in remote communities.

“We’ve been saying for a long time, before there was a conflict in the Middle East and the diesel crisis – communities should and can be self-reliant and also climate resilient,” Nolan says. “That also means if people are cut off due to cyclones, floods – all which have happened up here in the last eight weeks – that people can have their own power generation.

“From that perspective in terms of energy security it’s really critical, but also, lots of our communities are still living in substandard housing and it’s really expensive to cool and heat.

“Once you offset some of those bills with renewables, it also means that people can invest that moment back into their households or back into the local economy.”

The remote community of Ltyentye Apurte, also known as Santa Teresa, 80km south-east Alice Springs, also received Arena funding to take small steps to achieve more reliable and affordable energy. The CEO of Atyenhenge-Atherre Aboriginal Corporation, Ellie Kamara, says the community plans to start construction in March 2027 of a microgrid to shore up power reliability in an area beset by frequent power outages.

Kamara says the way the project would not allow the community to transition completely to renewable energy but would make a small difference – about $30 per household – in people’s electricity bills each month.

“We’ll be able to sell the electricity generated back into the power grid,” she says. “Through the sale of that electricity we’ll be able to create an income for the community that will then be able to help us provide economic security to the community.

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, says the projects in Borroloola and Ltyentye Apurte show what is possible when energy developments are community-led and designed.

“Reducing the reliance on diesel for power and electricity in places like Borroloola and Santa Teresa is critical to improving energy security and affordability in remote communities,” McCarthy said in a statement this week. “Community-led microgrid projects mean more reliable, clean energy while at the same time supporting local training and job opportunities.”