ARENA boosts funding support for industrial decarbonisation

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has opened a second round of its Powering the Regions Fund: Industrial Transformation Stream (ITS) program, with $70 million in funding available to support industry to decarbonise.

Following the $150 million first round, the second round is open until 15 July 2025 and is expanding its focus to support innovation and advancement in commercial deployment.

The expanded focus areas are:

• Focus area 1 — supporting technologies and solutions that have the potential to significantly reduce emissions. Funding will help in de-risking early-stage investments in solution development, encourage operational trials in new or unproven use cases, unlock funding and deployment opportunities by evidencing technical viability, and accelerate timelines to scale demonstration and deployment, advancing technical readiness.
• Focus area 2 — accelerating the commercial deployment of technologies and solutions that may be technically demonstrated but are not yet commercially viable or where widespread adoption remains limited.
   

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the second funding round is a natural progression for ARENA’s Industrial Transformation Stream and aims to accelerate progress.

“Heavy industry accounts for approximately 44% of Australia’s total emissions and 45% of our energy use. Decarbonising industry is critical in meeting Australia’s short- and long-term emissions reduction targets and reducing industrial environmental impact,” Miller said.

“The widened scope of round two highlights the need for innovation, impact and momentum in the industrial transformation space and seeks projects that will drive real, tangible and scalable benefits for industry.”

ARENA was allocated the $400 million Industrial Transformation Stream as a 2023 budget measure under the $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund (PRF). The PRF forms part of Powering Australia, supporting Australia’s ambition to become a renewable energy superpower and meet emission reduction targets of 43% below 2005 levels by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2050.

ARENA is also administering the $40 million National Industrial Transformation (NIT) program that will support the reduction of scope 1 and scope 2 emissions at existing or planned industrial facilities across Australia. With the NIT program funds nearly exhausted, the program is expected to close in April 2025.

Image credit: iStock.com/Bangon Pitipong