The emerging First Nations clean energy industry and government stakeholders will gather in the Northern Territory next Thursday to celebrate the competition of the first community-owned renewable energy project.

Clean energy proponents hope the historic Marlinja Microgrid, 25kms north of Elliott - almost halfway between Darwin and Alice Springs - would inspire many more Indigenous groups to lead the plethora of clean energy transition projects required for Australia to reach its emissions targets.

The landmark, First Nations-led development will hearten climate and sustainability groups after the federal government's lack of Indigenous economic engagement in its $23 billion clean energy transition funding over 10 years in the recent federal Budget.

Final installation of the First Nations-owned solar microgrid ahead of a June 6 launch comes after five years of collaboration between the Marlinja community and Original Power, an Indigenous community-focused renewable energy project developer, and the First Nations Clean Energy Network.

The system, featuring modular solar technology provided by Australian company 5B and to be commissioned next month, was designed specifically to meet strict load hosting limits on solar, with government regulations impeding the ability for rooftop solar on individual homes.

A community which had relied on NT government-owned Power and Water Corporation's diesel and gas-fuelled power plant at Elliot, about 25 km away, for power supply, now has a new, clean source.

"We were able to do this through a collaborative approach to system design, the introduction of a battery for smoothing, islanding capabilities at the solar farm and comms upgrades for forecasting," Original Power clean energy communities coordinator Lauren Mellor said.

Project leaders hope the Marlinja grid - which includes a fast-deploy, 100kw solar array from technology partner 5B and a 136Kwh battery - would provide a blueprint and inspire the NT and other state governments to partner with First Nations communities and achieve co-owned projects that provide a faster, fairer transition to renewable energy.

Marlinja Elder and one of the drivers of the microgrid development, Ray Dixon, said the community currently relied on government-run, diesel-gas hybrid power station for energy.

"We struggle with the rising costs of energy and high disconnection rates from household pre-paid meters, which disconnect as soon as a family's credit runs out," he said.

"With this microgrid, we're looking at a much brighter, solar-powered future for our community."

Marlinja Traditional Owner and community leader Ethan Godrey, another person pivotal to the historic project, said local proponents wanted a solar-powered future with cheaper, cleaner power to help make life easier.

"Life in remote communities is hard ... many times our whole community has lost power and water for weeks due to failures in the power network," he said.

"Our families are being disconnected for hours and days at a time when our pre-paid meter credit runs out.

"We knew there was a better way to live and that's why we started this journey ... five years later the future of Marlinja is looking bright thanks to solar power."

With a community energy plan in hand, Marlinja residents began their renewable energy journey by repowering their community centre with solar and batteries in 2020, despite their owns homes continuing to suffer disruptions.

Ms Mellor said low-cost, clean energy should be available to all, yet First Nations communities were not being consulted or considered.

"Our aim in partnering with Marlinja was to demonstrate how structural, policy and technical barriers to renewable energy in a First Nations community could be overcome," she said.

5B chief strategy officer Nicole Kuepper-Russell said community-owned power projects like Marlinja should be essential to the NT's energy transition.

"This is an incredible milestone for the Marlinja community ... our 5B Maverick solar array is perfect for these remote projects and environments," she said.

The microgrid solar project opening comes after last month's First Nations Clean Energy Symposium in Adelaide was told that tenders focused on First Nations engagement would be preferenced for funding grants under the Federal Government's $70 billion Capacity Investment Scheme.

Karrina Nolan, co-chair of the First Nations Clean Energy Network, which co-hosted the symposium, said two significant pieces missing from the Federal Government's 2024 Budget would 'shift the jigsaw puzzle into an uncertain, unsightly, unmanageable array of confusion, delay and significant expense'.

"The first is certainty - investors need certainty to invest. Financiers need certainty to lend. Project proponents need certainty to develop. Communities need certainty to consent," Ms Nolan said.

"Well-designed government legislation, policy and frameworks can deliver the necessary certainty for clean energy projects to proceed."

The second element was that First Nations people had been stripped from the renewables energy equation, with funding geared to industry subsidies and incentives, and building more layers of government.

"The government knows the road to a rapid and just transition runs through First Nations land and waters," Ms Nolan said.

More than half of Australia's critical minerals and hydrogen projects - and the vast swathes of land needed for solar and wind to run those projects - were on land and sea where First Nations people had legal rights and interests.