Hybrid project community fund unlocks apprenticeships for First Nations students

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Australian gen-retailer Flow Power has partnered with Adelaide-based Tauondi Aboriginal College (TAC) to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students build skills and gain qualifications to help them participate in South Australia’s energy transition.

The introduction of the four-year technical apprenticeship at the college is called Pathway to Electrotechnology and will give eight First Nations students qualifications to work in the clean energy sector.

The program is supported by Flow Power and Westpac through a community fund associated with its DC-coupled hybrid 5.8 MW solar farm / 7 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) Berri Energy Project (BEP), 240 kilometres northeast of Adelaide.

The BEP community fund was established to support environmental, renewable energy and STEM initiatives for the local community in Berri and throughout South Australia, with over $190,000 (USD 126,000) to be donated over the project’s lifetime.

Westpac has a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Flow Power to source anchor off-take for the BEP.

The BEP is built on a disused horse racecourse in Berri and has been operational since in 2023, saving 7,800 tons of carbon annually and powering the equivalent of 4,000 homes.

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