ARENA doles out record funding as Australia’s renewable schemes ramp up

Backed by funds from the federal government, ARENA provides capital to kickstart renewable projects and technologies in Australia. In financial year 2022-23, ARENA approved its biggest funding outlay as it rounded out a decade in existence. “We anticipate a continued elevated level of funding activity in the coming years,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller added.

The record year was driven by three funding rounds, ARENA said:

• The Large-Scale Battery Storage (LSBS) funding round – $176.4 million in funds approved to 8 projects, which included $60 million of additional funding provided by the Australian government to expand the funding round.
• The Ultra Low-Cost Solar Research & Development (ULCS) funding round – $41.5 million in funding approved to 13 projects.
• The HyGATE hydrogen funding round – $50 million in funding approved to 4 projects.

On top of the approved funding, ARENA also opened new funding rounds and federal budget measures, including:

• Community Batteries Round 1 – $120 million in funding
• The Hydrogen and Iron and Steel Research and Development Funding Rounds – $50 million in funding
• The 2023 Focus Areas of the Driving the Nation Program – $70 million in funding
• The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Funding Initiative – $30 million in funding
• The Industrial Energy Transformation Studies program – $43 million in funding

ARENA also recently opened applications for the government’s $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart Program, and is also slated to deliver the $400 million Powering the Regions Industrial Transformation Stream.

Since being established in 2012, ARENA has supported 663 projects with $2.25 billion in grant funding, unlocking a total investment of almost $9.75 billion in Australia’s renewable energy industry.