Shared solar rollout delivers energy credits to six Kimberley communities

The Australian and Western Australian governments said on 22 October that rollout of the Kimberley Communities Solar Saver program was complete. The release reports more than A$240,000 in energy-saving credits for households across six remote communities in Western Australia.

The program provides shared access to rooftop solar for households that may not be able to install their own systems. Solar panels are installed on selected homes, and participating households receive energy-saving credits through their regular bills. Horizon Power delivered the program.

About 480 households in Warmun, Bidyadanga, Ardyaloon, Yungngora, Beagle Bay and Mowanjum were receiving credits, according to the joint release. The governments said installations in Mowanjum were completed in August 2026, bringing all six participating communities into the scheme.

Approximately 1.5 megawatts of rooftop solar capacity had been installed across those communities. The release said the generation helps reduce reliance on high-cost diesel generation while increasing locally produced renewable electricity. It did not provide a measured reduction in diesel use or emissions.

The reported A$240,000-plus is the total energy-saving credits delivered through the program, not a per-household average. The release does not break down credits by community, household or time period, so no average saving can be calculated from the published figure alone.

The Commonwealth and Western Australian governments jointly funded the scheme through the Community Solar Banks Program. The announcement documents a completed rollout and credits reported to date; it does not say that every household in the Kimberley participates or give a continuing annual savings estimate.

The scheme’s household benefit is delivered as an electricity-bill credit, rather than as a cash grant to residents. The government release reports the total value credited across participating households and the capacity of the solar systems. It does not provide a household-by-household distribution, a typical credit amount or a measurement of savings against a counterfactual tariff, so the aggregate should not be divided into a promised individual saving.

The rollout involves six communities across the Kimberley and uses Horizon Power’s local network and customer accounts to deliver the credits. The release presents the installations as part of a broader effort to lower energy costs and increase renewable generation in remote communities. It does not report the systems’ generation over a full year, storage capacity or the share of community demand supplied by solar, so those outcomes remain unquantified.

The 1.5-megawatt figure describes installed system capacity, not electricity delivered to households over the period.