ARENA needs AU$460m federal funding lifeline, says Australia Institute

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The aftermath of a bushfire in New South Wales, Australia. Credit: Tatters, Flickr

Think tank the Australia Institute has urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s federal government to carve out fresh funding for the Australia Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) in its 2022-23 and 2023-24 budgets.

The agency has no funding beyond 2021-22 and will not be able to sponsor new clean energy projects from August 2020 onwards, the Canberra-based group warned in a pre-budget submission paper on Tuesday.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Funding of AU$230 million (US$155 million) for the two financial years would sustain ARENA and its projects while a longer-term funding plan is devised, according to the Australia Institute.

ARENA has invested AU$1.44 billion (US$970 million) in 478 projects since it was established in 2011 by a Labor government. Those projects have yielded a total value of AU$5.49 billion (US$3.70 billion).

Solar PV has benefited from the largest chunk of grants, at AU$654 million (US$441 million), or 46% of total investment.

The think tank's report notes that investments in solar PV “have driven deployment innovation in large-scale solar farms, reduced costs in Australia and also gone to ‘pure’ R&D designed to improve the efficiency of PV cells, which has global benefits.”

The act that brought ARENA into existence set out an allocation of AU$2.5 billion (US$1.7 billion) in funding until 2020, but funding was slashed by Liberal-led governments in 2014 and 2016.

“While a 10-year funding commitment of at least $2.5 billion is ultimately needed to guarantee the long-term future of ARENA, a two-year fully funded extension for the agency will keep clean energy innovation in Australia thriving in the short-term,” Dan Cass, energy policy and regulatory lead at The Australia Institute said in a statement.

“Australia needs ARENA, if we are to do our fair share of global emissions reductions,” he added.

The full report, Fighting for the ARENA, is available here.

Read Next

June 10, 2025
Australia’s Queensland government has confirmed an AU$2.4 billion investment in the CopperString transmission project, aiming to extend the National Electricity Market (NEM) to the North West Minerals Province.
June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 6, 2025
Australia’s Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has called on Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, to “urgently intervene” on a rule change that could threaten to derail the uptake of rooftop solar PV.
June 6, 2025
ElectraNet has revealed that renewables supplied 100% of South Australia's electricity demand for 27% of 2024, roughly 99 days.
June 5, 2025
Policy uncertainty in the US is likely to disrupt investment in clean energy, according to a recent report from Crux.
June 5, 2025
Investment in clean energy and grids will reach US$2.2 trillion in 2025, double the expected investment into fossil fuels this year, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece