Inviting locals in to own a slice of nearby wind farm or battery projects in order to share in their successes is no novel idea, especially in parts of Europe.

Community co-ownership and co-investment in renewables has been attempted with some success on Australian soil too.

Sapphire Wind Farm in the NSW New England region attracted $1.8 million from more than 100 investors in 2018, few of them out-of-towners.

Yet direct community involvement in clean energy is still far from mainstream, particularly when it comes to big commercial endeavours rather than those small and mid-sized.

Barriers to co-investment include poor awareness, lacklustre returns, an absence of incentives and a host of real and perceived risks for both communities and industry.

But at a time when local buy-in has ne

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