Abstract
Community renewable energy projects are contributing diverse sustainability benefits in a transforming energy landscape, but in Western Australia, projects are few and far between, and the state is being left behind in national policy discussions. Drawing upon a socio-technical framework which conceptualises the context of innovation journeys according to patterns in the context, we investigate Western Australia and its major electricity network as a site for community-driven renewable energy development. Our case study analysis suggests that project development in Western Australia to date has survived in niche pockets, which have been unusually conducive to community energy development, in a context otherwise riddled with political, technical and regulatory hurdles.