About Ghan NT
Ghan is one of the most remote localities in Australia: a vast area of roughly 55,000 square kilometres in the MacDonnell Region of the Northern Territory, about 1,470 kilometres south of Darwin. It sits at the intersection of the Lasseter Highway and the Stuart Highway, and contains the Lambert Centre, the geographic centre of Australia. The 2016 census recorded a population of 124 people.
The locality is named in recognition of the Afghan cameleers who played a central role in opening up Central Australia to European settlement. It fully surrounds the localities of Finke and the community of Imanpa. Heritage-listed sites within Ghan include the Charlotte Waters Telegraph Station, the Henbury Meteorite Craters, and Old Andado Station.
Read more about Ghan on Wikipedia.
Electricity in Ghan
Electricity supply in Ghan and surrounding communities is managed by the Power and Water Corporation, which operates both the network infrastructure and retail services in the Northern Territory. Unlike the competitive markets in eastern Australia, there is no retailer choice in the NT. Prices are regulated by the Utilities Commission of the Northern Territory.
Most properties in the Ghan locality are off-grid or supplied by community-scale microgrids, typically powered by diesel generators with increasing solar integration. The NT Government has invested in solar and battery hybrid systems across remote communities to reduce diesel dependency and lower costs. The cost of supplying electricity to remote NT communities can exceed $1 per kWh at the point of generation, though regulated tariffs subsidise the price residents actually pay to keep it comparable to urban Darwin rates.
Our take on electricity in Ghan
Ghan is the most extreme example of a challenge that affects communities across remote Australia: the physical cost of generating and distributing electricity in locations hundreds of kilometres from the nearest grid connection. The NT Government subsidises these costs through the Uniform Tariff Policy, so residents pay tariffs comparable to Darwin despite the true cost being multiples higher.
For the small number of permanent residents and station properties in Ghan, solar with battery storage is the most practical way to reduce electricity costs. The region receives exceptional solar irradiance (among the highest in Australia) and solar systems can significantly offset diesel generator fuel costs for off-grid properties. However, the remoteness creates additional challenges: installation costs are higher, maintenance support is limited, and extreme heat can reduce battery performance.
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Compare plans nowInternet in Ghan
Fixed-line internet services are not available in Ghan. The area is served by the NBN Sky Muster satellite service, which provides download speeds of up to 25 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps on the Plus plan. Sky Muster has data allowances rather than unlimited data, though the limits have increased significantly since the service launched.
Starlink has become an increasingly popular alternative for remote NT properties. Starlink offers faster speeds (typically 50 to 200 Mbps download) and lower latency than Sky Muster, though the monthly cost is higher (approximately $139 per month compared to $45 to $70 for Sky Muster plans from NBN retailers). For properties that rely on internet for business operations, remote education, or telehealth, Starlink can be a significant upgrade in practical usability.
Mobile coverage in Ghan is extremely limited. Telstra provides some coverage along the Stuart Highway corridor, but coverage drops away quickly once you leave the highway. Optus and Vodafone have no coverage in the area.
Our take on internet in Ghan
For properties in Ghan, the practical choice is between NBN Sky Muster (cheaper, slower, data-limited) and Starlink (more expensive, faster, more usable for video calls and streaming). If you need reliable video conferencing for work or education, Starlink is the better option despite the higher cost. If your internet use is limited to email, basic browsing, and occasional streaming, Sky Muster is adequate and significantly cheaper.
Mobile broadband is not a viable alternative in most of the Ghan area due to the near-complete absence of tower coverage outside the highway corridor.
Gas in Ghan
Mains natural gas is not available in Ghan or anywhere in the Northern Territory outside of industrial applications. Residential properties in remote NT use bottled LPG gas for cooking and, in some cases, hot water. LPG costs are higher in remote areas due to transport distances. Most properties rely on electric or solar hot water systems rather than gas.