Australia Govt: ARENA mandate expands to include energy efficiency and electrification

The mandate of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has been expanded under new regulations introduced by the Australian Government.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Amendment (Powering Australia) Regulations 2022 will allow the agency to support energy efficiency and electrification technologies.

Electrification technologies include technologies such as electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps and mining applications. 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 Australian Renewable Energy Agency Amendment (Clean Energy Technologies) Regulations 2022 introduced by the previous government.

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.

‘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.’