Funding for trade exposed Safeguard facilities to reduce emissions
Powering the Regions Fund - Safeguard Transformation Stream Round 1
Closing date: Friday 1 November 2024 6:00pm AEDT Fri 1 Nov 2024 6:00pm AEDT
Applications will be assessed in batches.
- Batch 1: 9 August 2023 - 1 November 2023
- Batch 2: 2 November 2023 - 1 May 2024
- Batch 3: 2 May 2024 - 1 November 2024
What do you get?
A grant amount of $500,000 to $50,000,000 to cover up to 50% of eligible project expenditure.
Who is this for?
Owners or operators of a trade-exposed Safeguard Mechanism facility that is not a new or expanded coal or gas production facility.
Overview
This grant opportunity was announced in January 2023 as part of the Government’s Safeguard Mechanism Reforms to support the Government’s ambition for Australia to become a renewable energy superpower.
The Australian Government has announced a total of $600 million over the life of the program. For this first round of the Powering the Regions Fund - Safeguard Transformation Stream up to $300 million is available over 4 years.
The objectives of this grant opportunity are to:
- support trade-exposed facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism to reduce their emissions and contribute to meeting Australia’s 2030 (and 2050) emissions reduction targets
- reduce the risk of carbon leakage, which occurs when a business responds to emissions reduction policies by moving emissions-intensive production to a country with less stringent policies
- provide skills development to existing industrial workforce in new equipment or processes that contribute to the reduction of scope 1 emissions.
The intended outcome of this grant opportunity is a reduction of emissions at trade exposed Safeguard facilities consistent with their obligations under the Safeguard Mechanism.
Check if you can apply
You can apply if you meet the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria are a set of rules that describe who we can consider for this grant. You can apply if you:
- are an eligible entity
- have an eligible project
- have eligible expenditure.
The rules are in the grant opportunity guidelines.
You can apply if you:
- are an owner or operator of a trade-exposed safeguard mechanism facility that is not a new or expanded gas or coal facility
- have an Australian business number (ABN)
and are one of the following entities:
- an entity incorporated in Australia
- company limited by guarantee
- incorporated association
You can’t apply if you are:
- the owner of a trade-exposed Safeguard facility that is also a new or expanded coal or gas facility
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012).
Partner with other organisations
You can partner with one or more other organisations that also meet the eligibility criteria. But you must decide who the lead organisation is.
The lead organisation must fill out the application form.
If we give your group the grant, the lead organisation:
- signs the grant agreement
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement.
The maximum project period is 48 months.
Your project must:
- be aimed at contributing to Australia’s emissions reduction targets by 2030 and of net zero by 2050
- have at least $1,000,000 in eligible expenditure.
Your project must be delivered in one of the following locations:
- on-site at any eligible facility, or
- shared infrastructure, with practical connection to an eligible facility and the grantee, located in Regional Australia (defined as any area outside a Greater Capital City but including Kwinana).
You can apply for a grant between $500,000 and $50,000,000.
You can use this grant funding for:
- newly purchased or pre-existing plant and equipment.
- hired/leased plant
- constructed plant
- labour expenditure and on-costs
- contract expenditure
- staff training that directly supports the achievement of project outcomes
- decommissioning old equipment.
Please see the grant opportunity guidelines for more information.
To be eligible, expenditure must:
- be incurred by you within the project period
- be a direct cost of the project
- be incurred by you to undertake required project audit activities (where applicable)
- meet the eligible expenditure guidelines.
How to apply
Check if you’re ready to apply for a grant
Finding a suitable grant opportunity is just the start of the process to get funding. The application process can take time and effort. Understanding the entire process will help you be grant ready and may improve your chances of getting funding.
Use our checklist to find out what it takes to apply for a grant.
When you're ready to apply
Apply using our online portal:
- Create or log into your portal account.
- Follow the instructions to complete your application.
- Submit your application before the close date.
Make sure you include enough detail and supporting evidence in your application to help us decide whether to award you the grant.
Don’t submit the application until it’s complete. You can’t correct a mistake.
First we check that you meet the eligibility criteria. Then we assess your application against the assessment criteria.
The assessment criteria are a set of rules that describe how we must assess each application.
We give each criterion a certain number of points.
We’ll decide whether to award you the grant based on the total number of points we give your application.
- Assessment criterion 1: Describe how your project will contribute to Australia’s emissions reduction target to 2030 (and 2050) (50 points)
- Assessment criterion 2: Capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (10 points)
- Assessment criterion 3: Impact of the grant funding on your project (40 points)
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested.
The Minister makes the final decisionApply now
Apply for the Powering the Regions Fund - Safeguard Transformation Stream Round 1 now.
Before you apply, make sure you:
- read and understand the grant opportunity guidelines.
Sample applications
The best way to understand what information you need to provide is to start an application. We have also provided a version to download at the bottom of this page.
Technical help
See our customer portal's frequently asked questions to help with your queries. If you can't find your answer, contact us for assistance.
We can’t consider the application you submit after the close date under any circumstances.
If you submit your application before the close date you can retrieve it any time to make changes. But you must submit it again before the close date.
After submitting your application, we can contact you for clarification if we find an error or any missing information, including evidence that supports your eligibility/merit. The acceptance of any additional information provided after the submission of your application is at the discretion of the program delegate. Additional information should not materially change your application at the time it was submitted and therefore may be refused if deemed to be purely supplementary.
Contact
Need help?
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Key documents
Final public report template
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