The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has opened a third round of its $400 million Industrial Transformation Stream (ITS) Program.
The third and latest round of funding, totalling $180 million, is targeted to support emissions reduction at regional industrial businesses across Australia that will transform their operations to support Australia’s net zero goals.
The $400 million Industrial Transformation Stream program (ITS) is a 2023 budget measure under the $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund (PRF), which forms part of Powering Australia.
Powering Australia supports a national ambition to become a renewable energy superpower and meet emission reduction targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2050.
“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 ARENA CEO, Darren Miller.
“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.
“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.”
The two focus areas of this ITS funding round are designed to support both innovation and practical deployment, with Focus Area 1 covering innovative technologies that haven’t been tried before but have the potential to deliver major impacts.
Appropriate projects could include developing new methods to replace fossil fuels in high-temperature industrial processes, such as chemical manufacturing.
Focus Area 2 of the funding tranche relates to proven accelerating technologies that are not yet widely used due to cost or risk barriers.
This section can include supporting the uptake of electric heat pumps, which are already used in industries, such as food processing and paper manufacturing, to deliver industrial-grade heat without emissions.
To qualify for funding under ITS, businesses must:
- Be located in a regional area.
- Use a significant amount of energy and produce Scope 1 or Scope 2 emissions:
- Scope 1: Direct emissions from on-site fuel combustion.
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from electricity purchased from the grid.
- Qualify for reporting under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme.
- Have a project that can be scaled or replicated across the industry, offering broader benefits beyond one business.
The ITS program was launched in November 2023 and to date the first two rounds of the program have resulted in about $220 million allocated to projects either announced or under assessment.
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