New South Wales (NSW)-headquartered not-for-profit renewable energy advocacy group, the Community Power Agency (CPA), has launched a mentorship and investment program called the Community Energy Incubator to help communities develop mid-scale solar and battery projects.
Offering tailored training, mentoring and starter funding, the Incubator is designed to also aggregate projects into a shared portfolio to demonstrate scalable, blended finance models through community, government and private capital collaboration.
Each group will be eligible for up to $10,000 in seed funding to progress early-stage feasibility and concept development activities and the program facilitates connection with investors, corporate offtakers, and funding bodies interested in community energy projects.
Co-lead on the Grong Grong NSW-based Haystacks Solar Garden and CPA Director Kim Mallee said mid-scale community energy projects are a triple win.
“They unlock the ‘missing middle’ of the distribution network, making use of existing, underutilised infrastructure,” Mallee said.
“They put locals in the driver’s seat, giving communities the ownership and agency they’ve been calling for. And by centering community benefits and creating real opportunities for locals, these projects foster social licence.”
The CPA is looking to collaborate with investors, corporate offtakers, developers and technical partners, policymakers and government agencies.
Expressions of interest from communities close 16 January 2026, with final selection announced at the end of February 2026 with the aim to have the projects.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.