Manufacturers could be missing out on govt energy funding

Australian manufacturers could be missing out on millions of dollars in available government energy funding — said energy advisory firm DETA Consulting — not because the programs don’t exist, but because most businesses haven’t done the groundwork to access them.

The energy advisory firm said the pattern is consistent across manufacturing: funding rounds open, businesses scramble to respond, and most aren’t ready in time.

Managing Director Jonathan Pooch said the manufacturers securing grants aren’t necessarily running more sophisticated projects — they’re simply better prepared.

“Government energy-funding programs can open and close in weeks,” Pooch said. “If you haven’t already mapped your energy baseline, identified your projects and understood your eligibility, you’re not applying. Someone else is.”

Australian manufacturers are now paying nearly 50% more for gas than they were in 2019, according to a 2025 report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis — yet many are not adequately positioned to access the government support designed to help them respond.

“Every manufacturer wants a grant,” Pooch said. “But when a round opens, you typically have a short window. You need a current energy audit, a costed project, and baseline data already in place. Most manufacturers have none of that ready to go.”

Pooch said the preparation required to be funding-ready is the same preparation that makes energy projects financially viable in the first place.

“It’s imperative to understand where energy is actually being used across a site, identify which projects stack up now versus those that need different conditions to work, and to have a staged plan that allows fast execution when the timing is right,” he said. “The manufacturers that keep missing funding windows aren’t unlucky. They’re unready.

“And the fix isn’t complicated — it’s groundwork that most organisations simply haven’t prioritised.”

DETA’s work with Alsco, an industrial laundry operator, illustrates what a structured approach can deliver.

Rather than chasing one-off projects, the work focused on building a pipeline of opportunities, including:

• heat recovery systems
• baseline efficiency improvements
• electrification and alternative fuel initiatives across multiple sites.
   

And then executing them as economic and operational conditions aligned.

Alsco Energy and Utilities Manager Haris Murtaza said the approach had helped support significant emissions reductions while also improving long-term planning capability.

“We have reduced emissions by 31% in Australia and 60% in New Zealand relative to production,” Murtaza said. “The staged approach has also helped us secure more than $1.5 million in government grants and identify over $500,000 in energy cost savings.”

Pooch said the $1.5m in grants was the result of being consistently ready, not opportunistic applications.

“When a funding round opened that matched a project they’d already scoped and costed, they could move immediately,” he said. “That’s the difference.”

Becoming funding-ready doesn’t require a large upfront investment, Pooch said, but it does require the right sequencing:

• Conduct a current energy audit to establish a baseline and understand where consumption actually sits across the site.
• Identify and cost a pipeline of projects, not just a single initiative.
• Understand funding eligibility before rounds open, not after.
• Stage projects so they can be executed quickly when conditions — cost, technology or policy — align.
• Track trigger points such as equipment reaching end of life, energy price movements, or new program announcements.
   

“Energy is an area where most manufacturers have more control than they realise,” Pooch said. “The funding is there. The projects make sense. What’s missing for most businesses is simply the preparation to act when the window opens.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Juan_Gomez