Announced in the 2020-21 Federal Budget and administered by ARENA, the Regional Australia Microgrid Pilots Program, or RAMPP, is designed to support pilot projects for microgrids in regional Australia.
Running until FY2025-26 or until allocated funds are exhausted, the program builds upon the Australian Government’s $50.4 million Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund (RRCRF), which funded feasibility studies for regional and remote communities that explored the ramifications of deploying local microgrid technologies.
It is expected that RAMPP will provide grants of between $1 and $5 million per project. Applicants seeking more than $5 million will need to demonstrate exemplary merit and ‘very broad’ industry benefit, states ARENA.
How RAMPP works
The aim of RAMPP is twofold:
- to improve the resilience and reliability of electricity supply in regional communities Australia-wide; and
- to demonstrate solutions to technical, regulatory or commercial barriers to the deployment of microgrid technologies in Australia.
Funding is available to projects that have successfully completed feasibility studies.
After an open, non-competitive funding round, RAMPP funding will be made available in two stages:
- Stage 1: $30 million in funding, available from the launch of the program right through calendar year 2022;
- Stage 2: $20 million in funding, available from CY2023.
Funding guidelines
ARENA encourages prospective applicants to read the following documents prior to applying for RAMPP funding:
Information session
Austrade’s free. hour-long information session provides an overview of the Program as well as information on submitting applications and assessment procedures and a Q&A session with the ARENA team answering attendees’ questions.
To watch a recording of the RAMPP infosession, click here. For more information, email ARENA on microgrids@arena.gov.au.
Lead image: The solar array that forms part of the Coober Pedy Hybrid Renewable Microgrid. Credit: Christian Sprogoe. Reproduced here courtesy of ARENA & NSW Farmers.