The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has launched the third round of its Industrial Transformation Stream (ITS) Program, opening $180 million in funding to support emissions reduction projects at regional industrial facilities across Australia.
Under this latest round of the $400 million ITS Program, ARENA is seeking proposals from regional industrial businesses looking to transform their operations to align with Australia’s net-zero targets.
“The ITS Program is aimed at businesses that are significant energy users in regional Australia that are looking for cleaner, more energy-efficient ways to operate,” said Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA.
“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 the program is open to a wide range of projects addressing emissions reduction across sectors.
“Whether you’re electrifying cold storage at a meat processing facility, implementing thermal energy storage technologies, or recovering biogas from dairy waste — if you are tackling emissions and energy use in an innovative and scalable way, we want to hear from you.”
ARENA said the focus areas for this funding round aim to encourage both innovation and practical deployment.
The first focus area targets innovative technologies that are yet to be tested but could deliver significant impact — for example, new methods to replace fossil fuels in high-temperature industrial processes such as chemical manufacturing.
The second focus area seeks to accelerate the uptake of proven technologies that have yet to be widely adopted due to cost or risk barriers, such as electric heat pumps used in food processing and paper manufacturing to provide industrial-grade heat without emissions.
To qualify for funding under the ITS Program, applicants must operate in a regional area, be significant energy users, and produce Scope 1 or Scope 2 emissions.
Scope 1 covers direct emissions from on-site fuel combustion, while Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from electricity purchased from the grid.
Businesses must also qualify for reporting under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme and demonstrate that their projects can be scaled or replicated across the industry to deliver broader benefits.
The ITS Program is part of a broader effort to decarbonise Australia’s industrial sector.
Established as a $400 million initiative under the $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund (PRF), it forms a key component of the federal government’s Powering Australia plan.
The PRF supports Australia’s ambition to become a renewable energy superpower and to meet emission reduction targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Since its launch in November 2023, the first two rounds of the ITS Program have established a growing portfolio of projects, with approximately $220 million already allocated to initiatives either announced or under assessment.
