$91m injection to power 6 new Australian projects

The previous $330m grants included $94m to Queensland Alumina to reduce energy use, $52.9m to Cement Australia to reduce coal consumption, $50m to Adbri to reduce emissions intensity and reliance on imports, as well as $134m to six decarbonisation projects under the Safeguard Mechanism (which applies to companies that emit more than 100ktpa of CO2).
The previous $330m grants included $94m to Queensland Alumina to reduce energy use, $52.9m to Cement Australia to reduce coal consumption, $50m to Adbri to reduce emissions intensity and reliance on imports, as well as $134m to six decarbonisation projects under the Safeguard Mechanism (which applies to companies that emit more than 100ktpa of CO2).

The Federal Government’s Powering the Regions Fund is injecting $91m into six new projects to help cut heavy industry emissions, after its $330m investment into nine projects in April this year.

The projects will lower energy use, swap out fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives and cut more than 1mtpa climate pollution, equivalent to removing over 240,000 cars off the roads.

These include projects in the aluminium, mining, fuel refining and chemical production industries, which will create new jobs and support existing jobs in regional communities across Australia.

Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the grants will support technologies that have not been deployed at scale in Australia, including cutting methane from the ventilation air shafts of underground coal mines.

“A number of the projects cut nitrous oxide, which has 265 times more warming potential than CO2,” he said.

“By demonstrating these technologies, they can more quickly be rolled out across Australian industry.”

Federal Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic says Australian industry is critical to delivering a Future Made in Australia, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs while the country transitions to a low-carbon future.

“We’re ensuring [the grant recipients] have the right support in place to make the most of new technologies and seize opportunities in a shifting global economy,” he said.

“Through these investments we’re continuing to back Australian industry and help them transition to net-zero, because a country that makes things creates strong businesses and more high-paid jobs.”

The six grants include:

  • $37.2m to reduce ventilation methane emissions at Kestrel Coal in the Bowen Basin, Queensland;
  • $28m for a solar and battery storage system at Incitec Pivot Fertilisers in Phosphate Hill, Queensland;
  • $9.8m to deploy emissions capture technologies at the Dyno Nobel ammonium nitrate facility in the Bowen Basin, Queensland;
  • $7.5m to install a low emission waste gas incinerator at CSBP Limited’s sodium cyanide plant in Kwinana, WA;
  • $5.4m for energy efficiency upgrades at the Boyne Aluminium Smelter in Gladstone, Queensland; and
  • $3m for electrification at the Viva Energy Refinery in Geelong, Victoria.

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