Bowen launches $150 million funding round to decarbonise, electrify regional industry

Federal Labor has launched the first round of funding through its $400 million Industrial Transformation Stream to support emissions reduction at existing industrial facilities in regional Australia.

Federal energy minister Chris Bowen says an initial sum of $150 million will be made available through a process run by Arena, with a focus on the decarbonisation of industrial heat and off-road transport.

Bowen says an estimated 35 million tonnes of emissions each year comes from industrial heat in medium and large facilities, representing around 20 per cent of all corporate reported emissions.

The decarbonisation potential for off-road transport was “also substantial,” the minister told an Australia Industry Group dinner in Canberra on Monday night – representing up to 10 million tonnes of emissions each year.

“Critically, this stream is not limited to safeguard facilities, but includes smaller facilities in regional Australia,” Bowen said.

“Particularly where electrification is involved, projects will be encouraged to enhance their energy performance, with opportunities for demand response and shaping their load to maximise their use of our great, cheap renewable resources.”

For the decarbonisation of industrial heat, Bowen says funds could be sought by companies to use heat pumps in food processing and manufacturing, electric boilers in a brewing processes and thermal energy storage.

In off-road transport decarbonisation, which he said was expected to be of interest to the mining and rail industries in particular, projects might include electric locomotives in rail freight or electric vehicles in mine sites.

Bowen told the event he had personally seen some of the world’s first fully-electric mining vehicles – a Sandvik Battery Electric Loader and a Rokion R400 crew carrier – in action at Agnico Eagle’s Fosterville Gold Mine, east of Bendigo.

“These vehicles have the potential to be a gamechanger not just for Agnico Eagle, but for mining in Australia. 100 per cent electric – so no carbon emissions.

“They involve far less heat produced underground than diesel-powered mining vehicles, better for workers and reducing energy-consumptive ventilation.

“And far less noise and vibration, improving working conditions for drivers and miners – an important consideration, given hearing loss is one of the biggest occupational hazards for long-time mine workers.

“And I want to see more of them at other mine sites around the country.”

Round one of the Industrial Transformation Scheme opens to submissions via Arena’s website at the end of the month and stays open until December 2024, or until funds are exhausted.