New South Wales launches A$275 million initiative for renewables manufacturing

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The Net Zero Manufacturing Initiative will have three programmes, including one for manufacturing and one for innovation. Image: Australian National University.

The Australian government of New South Wales (NSW) has launched an A$275 million (US$178.7 million) initiative aimed at renewables manufacturing.

The Net Zero Manufacturing Initiative is divided into three programmes, covering renewables manufacturing, clean technology innovation and low-carbon product manufacturing. The scheme will allocate up to A$150 million for renewables manufacturing.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The goal of the renewable manufacturing programme is to increase the domestic capacity to make the components for renewable energy projects, such as solar cells, or the supply chain parts for the renewable energy transmission. Projects under the scheme could include the construction of new plants.

The clean technology innovation programme also aims to accelerate the research, development and commercialisation of emerging clean technologies, such as prototypes of next-generation residential batteries.

Chris Minns, NSW’s Premier, said: “The Net Zero Manufacturing Initiative offers funding for small and medium businesses wanting to pilot new technology within their premises.

“These grants will bolster local manufacturing in the renewables and clean-technology industries, ultimately delivering more local, secure jobs.”

Successful applicants – for renewable manufacturing – will be required to have the projects operational within four years of contract execution and no later than 30 June 2030. Each application can be awarded between A$5-50 million.

Expressions of interest are already open and will remain until 19 April 2024 for renewable manufacturing and 5 April 2024 for clean technology innovation. More details regarding the grants and how to apply can be read here.

Australia’s upstream investment

Over a year ago, the Clean Energy Council called on the Australian government to respond to the US Inflation Reduction Act, to avoid damaging Australia’s competitiveness across all industries, with particular attention for the renewables sector.

More recently, and in the neighbouring state of Queensland, investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners acquired a 200-hectare site to build a polysilicon production plant in Townsville. The company did not disclose the manufacturing capacity of the plant at the time of the announcement.

A report from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) earlier this month outlined Australia’s potential to establish a domestic solar PV manufacturing industry. By 2030, ARENA expects the country will be able to establish 10GW of annual polysilicon purification capacity and 5GW of ingot, wafer, solar cells and modules annual nameplate capacity.

At the downstream level, private investment in solar PV tumbled in 2023, with only six renewable projects reaching financial close in the first nine months of last year, amounting to nearly A$375 million and 509MW of planned capacity.

In an attempt to stimulate investment into the country’s energy transition, the Australian government announced the backing of 32GW of renewable energy generation and energy storage capacity last November. This capacity would represent nearly half of the demand on Australia’s national energy market (NEM).

Read Next

September 5, 2025
Research firm Rystad Energy has found that Queensland’s utility-scale solar PV power plants have dominated the best-performing assets, in terms of AC capacity factor, rankings for August 2025.
Premium
September 4, 2025
PV Talk: Highland Materials' CEO Richard Rast explains how the company aims to compete in the polysilicon landscape through US innovation.
September 4, 2025
ARENA has launched the second funding round of its AU$1 billion Solar Sunshot programme, making AU$150 million available.
September 2, 2025
Spanish construction firm GES (Global Energy Services) has secured a contract to build a roughly 700MW solar-wind-storage hybrid project in Chile.
September 1, 2025
Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) hit a record high for the combined utility-scale solar PV and wind share in the electricity mix on 30 August.
August 31, 2025
Renewables developer and independent power producer (IPP) TagEnergy has acquired Australian developer ACE Power, adding 6GW of renewable energy and storage projects to its portfolio.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines