“Heavy hitter” industrial decarbonisation project awarded $3 million funding from ARENA

Roughly a year after its announcement, the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (ETI) has received $3 million in support from ARENA

The ETI was announced in late-July 2020 as a two-year project involving industrial “heavy hitter” companies to decarbonise supply chains in five “hard-to-abate” sectors: iron and steel, alumina and aluminium, liquefied natural gas, other metals, and chemicals. 

Taken together, these produce over a quarter of the country’s greenhouse gases.

“The initiative will now identify and model credible pathways for industry to transition to net zero emissions and support participating companies to identify and implement pilot projects demonstrating these pathways,” said ARENA on Wednesday.

“The initiative will include rigorous technological and economic analysis of opportunities in each supply chain, and an analysis of systems capable of providing low-cost, reliable, net zero emissions energy. ARENA’s funding will go towards a program of works covering engagement, research, analysis and implementation.”

A hub approach for energy in existing industrial hubs such as Gladstone in Queensland and Kwinana in WA was being investigated.

ETI is run by not-for-profits ClimateWorks and Climate-KIC, and received $300,000 in establishment funding from ARENA.

Its current membership of 16 accounts for an estimated 21 per cent of the country’s industrial emissions, and 24 per cent of the ASX’s market value. 

Its members are Rio Tinto, HSBC, BHP, Woodside, BlueScope Steel, BP Australia, Fortescue Metals Group, Orica, APA Group, Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers, Aurecon, AustralianSuper, Cbus, National Australia Bank and Schneider Electric.