Labor targets wind towers, batteries and electrolysers in $500 million local content support

The Australian Labor government has promised to invest $500 million into local manufacturing to ensure that locally made steel and aluminium are used in the production of renewable energy projects, and particularly in wind towers, hydrogen electrolysers and big batteries.

The $500 million investment through its Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund was announced by prime minister Anthony Albanese in a speech on Friday evening following the $2.4 billion commitment to the Whyalla steel works and the state and federal government’s green steel ambitions.

The new fund will target wind tower steel fabrication, but could also be directed to other clean energy technology manufacturing such as battery and storage technologies, hydrogen electrolysers, energy efficiency and electrification technologies, and other components that are deemed critical to the clean energy transition.

The $500 million is the first allocation from the $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund and will be paired with the promise of “ambitious” local content requirements.

“Every new wind tower needs hundreds of tonnes of steel,” Albanese said in his Friday night speech. “Why should that steel come from anywhere but here?

“We want local content to become the national standard, and we’ll lead by example.”

The announcement also comes after the Labor government announced its new Green Iron Investment Fund; a $1 billion fund designed to boost green iron manufacturing in Australia.

“The energy transition is driving a manufacturing jobs boom,” added Chris Bowen, the federal minister for climate change and energy.

“Australian manufacturing workers today – from the software lab to the steelworks and smelters– have so much to gain from the transformation underway.

“We’re ensuring Australian manufacturers directly benefit from the renewable energy investment boom Labor is delivering, by investing in local industry to manufacture the technology we need for the transition, right here.

“This is what a Future made in Australia is all about – securing our place in the world, from our critical minerals in the ground, to harnessing the sun in the sky – and building the infrastructure we need to unlock it all here on our shores.”