Canberra/Melbourne – The Australian government has announced a 1,9 billion Australian dollar (1,17 billion euro) investment program to support new energy technologies. This also secures the long-term financing of the Agency for Renewable Energy (ARENA). The total funding package for the parastatal is $1,62 billion, including guaranteed base funding of $1,43 billion over the next ten years.
The main focus of tasks so far has been support and financial support for the construction of new solar and wind farms. Funding beyond 2022 and an expansion of focus work to include low-emission technologies across the innovation chain will enable ARENA to continue the work together with industry, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, research institutions and other authorities.
In recent years, ARENA has contributed to improving the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies such as industrial-scale solar energy, energy storage, and the use of hydropower, bioenergy and distributed energy generation technologies. Since 2012, the agency had supported 543 projects with $1,58 billion in funding, leveraging nearly $XNUMX billion in additional private and public sector investment.
The Australian Hydrogen Council (AHC) welcomed the new funding commitment. This would expand the work focus of ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to include promoting new technologies to reduce emissions in agriculture, manufacturing, industry and transport.
The funding would also accelerate the development of hydrogen in Australia's future energy mix. This includes supporting businesses and communities to use hydrogen and electric vehicles through a new $74,5 million Future Fuels Fund, as well as establishing a hydrogen center as an “export hub,” costing $70,2 million become.
AHC chief executive Fiona Simon said the industry body had pushed for expanding funding for ARENA because the authority was “vital to the hydrogen sector”.
deep link
https://h2council.com.au/news/article/australian-hydrogen-council-welcomes-federal-governments-1-9b-investment-in-new-energy-technologies
https://arena.gov.au/news/arena-welcomes-new-funding/
Photos
The development of hydrogen technology will be a focus of work for ARENA in the future / © ARENA
