The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has launched the $40 million National Industrial Transformation (NIT) Program to support industrial decarbonisation in Australia, reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions at existing or planned industrial facilities.
The NIT Program is an enhanced version of the Industrial Energy Transformation Studies Program (IETS), designed to provide comprehensive support for industrial decarbonisation.
The NIT Program has been restructured to integrate with the $400 million Industrial Transformation Stream, providing support for industrial emissions abatement across Australia. The program now includes applications from pre-feasibility, feasibility, and FEED stages to trial, demonstration, and deployment activities, reallocating former IETS funding to the NIT Program.
The NIT Program intends to:
- Support Australian industrial facilities in reducing emissions under Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction goals and transitioning to net zero emissions by 2050.
- Enhance the technology and commercial readiness of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency technologies, and electrification technologies, thereby reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency in industrial processes.
- Encourage cross-industry and cross-regional technology demonstration, collaboration, and information sharing.
- Support industrial workforce upskilling in new decarbonisation initiatives.
The NIT Program, unlike the recently launched ITS Program, is not limited to regional National Greenhouse Energy Reporting (NGER) facilities.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the National Industrial Transformation Program is set to broaden the range of applications it can accept, thereby enhancing our efforts towards industrial decarbonisation.
“With industry accounting for approximately 44% of Australian emissions, we need to target sectors such as agriculture, water, mining and manufacturing to assist them progress towards net zero. ARENA’s funding model is well placed to make a real impact,” Miller stated.
