$180 Million in Grants Available for Clean Energy Projects in Regional Australia

A new funding round of $180 million is now open for regional industrial businesses in Australia to help them reduce their carbon footprint and adopt cleaner energy technologies. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced the launch of the third round of its Industrial Transformation Stream (ITS) Program.

The program targets significant energy users located in regional Australia, supporting projects that align with the national goals of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA, stated that the funding is designed to help businesses overcome the initial hurdles of decarbonization. “We know many businesses want to reduce emissions but aren’t sure where to start. This funding is designed to help them take that step,” Miller said. He encouraged applications from businesses implementing innovative solutions, whether “electrifying cold storage at a meat processing facility, implementing thermal energy storage technologies, or recovering biogas from dairy waste.”

The funding is divided into two key focus areas. The first is for pioneering technologies that have not yet been tried but could have a major impact, such as new methods to replace fossil fuels in high-temperature processes like chemical manufacturing. The second area aims to accelerate the uptake of proven but underutilized technologies, like industrial-scale electric heat pumps, by addressing cost and risk barriers.

To be eligible, businesses must be located in a regional area, be significant energy users that produce direct (Scope 1) or electricity-related (Scope 2) emissions and be qualified to report under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme. A key requirement is that projects must be scalable or replicable, offering benefits to the wider industry.

The ITS program is part of the broader $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund, which supports Australia’s ambition to become a renewable energy superpower. The first two rounds of the ITS have already allocated approximately $220 million to projects since its launch in late 2023.

Interested businesses can find program guidelines and submit applications via ARENA’s ITS funding webpage. The application window will remain open until all grant funds are awarded.

Source: arena.gov.au