The first Indigenous owned utility scale renewable energy project to be built in Borroloola

In the Northern Territory remote First Nations communities have to battle power outages, a reliance on diesel, and mandatory prepaid metres for their electricity that are regularly disconnected when residents don't have the money to top up their power cards.

Without access to functional, reliable and affordable power, the basics for a healthy home and community just don't exist.

Now, a small, grassroots, indigenous led community development and capacity building organisation, Original Power, is working with First Nations communities to solve long standing energy security problems by helping them move towards lower cost, clean energy. Their latest project will install the first Indigenous owned utility scale renewable energy project in Borroloola.

Lauren Mellor, Chantelle Johns, and Madison Sturgess, from Original Power, spoke to the SwitchedOn podcast.