The Australian Government has introduced the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Amendment (Powering Australia) Regulations 2022 which will expand the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENAA) mandate to allow the agency to support energy efficiency and electrification technologies that can reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The transition to net zero will require technological changes across the whole of the Australian economy. Electrification of industrial processes and increasing energy efficiency are two approaches that will reduce emissions, when supported with increases in renewable generation.

These new regulations replace the previous regulations, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Amendment (Clean Energy Technologies) Regulations 2022 which were introduced by the previous government and commenced on 2 April 2022.

The earlier regulations broadened ARENA’s power to support clean energy technologies including carbon capture and soil carbon, as well as blue hydrogen.

ARENA is no longer able to support these negative emission technologies as a consequence of the new regulations.

Electrification technologies include technologies such as electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps and mining applications.

Energy efficiency technologies can reduce and manage demand, reduce energy costs and emissions, as well as support a flexible and renewable grid.

“This expansion of our mandate will allow ARENA to support emissions reduction across a broader range of sectors and emerging technologies,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said.

“ARENA will also continue to support renewable energy projects, where we are working on innovation in ultra low cost solar, large scale storage, demand flexibility, hydrogen and low emission metals,” he said.

Since 2012, ARENA has supported 628 projects with $1.86 billion in grant funding, unlocking $8.05 billion of total investment in renewable energy.