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About

Welcome to ARENA, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Our purpose is to accelerate Australia’s shift to affordable and reliable renewable energy.

Our role is to support the development of local renewable energy technology by helping bring the best ideas to life.

Ideas need funding, networks and knowledge to flourish. We help with all three.

We provide funding to researchers, developers and businesses that have demonstrated the feasibility and potential commercialisation of their project. Our funding helps find a good renewable energy idea and get it to market.

We build and support networks, and share the knowledge, insights and data from our funded projects to help us all learn from each other’s experiences.

With ARENA’s project resources and team of experts, we help innovators to turn bright ideas into real world energy solutions. Our success can be measured by improved performance in renewable energy systems and technology, cost effectiveness, an invigorated economy and a reliable supply of renewable energy to all Australians.

 

  • Our Mission

    To enable more renewables and lower emissions by driving innovation and commercialisation.

    This means our job is to make it easier and quicker for Australians to access the benefits of renewable energy.

    We do this by providing funding to help scientists and businesses meet the high costs of discovering, developing and building renewable energy technologies.

    We also focus on technologies that increase the reliability of renewable energy, like those that strengthen the grid, deliver renewables at any time of the day or night, and provide clean energy to all Australians whether they live in rural or remote locations or our towns and cities.

    We help to bring down the cost of renewables by sharing what is learned through these projects so the task is easier and cheaper the second, third and tenth time around. This speeds up the process of making renewables more affordable.

    By supporting innovators and early-movers, we’re fast-tracking the development of substantial new Australian industries, creating new economic opportunities, and building on the nation’s rich history of invention by helping local companies develop world-leading renewable energy solutions.

  • History

    We were established on 1 July 2012 by The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011. At that time we took responsibility for a number of programs and projects managed by the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, and the Australian Solar Institute.

    Australian Centre for Renewable Energy

    The Australian Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE) was established to promote the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy and enabling technologies and to improve their competitiveness in Australia.

    ACRE commenced in 2009 and was incorporated into ARENA on 1 July 2012.

    ACRE managed over $690 million of funding committed to support renewable energy and enabling technology development. The following ACRE programs became the responsibility of ARENA:

     

    ARENA also inherited a number of projects that ACRE had managed under legacy programs including the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program, the Geothermal Drilling Program and the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund.

    Department of Resources, Energy & Tourism

    ARENA assumed responsibility for projects under the following three programs managed by the former Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.

    Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development (Gen 2) Program

    This was a competitive grants program that supported the research, development and demonstration of new biofuel technologies and feedstocks to help develop the biofuels industry in Australia. Applications for the Gen 2 Program closed on 30 January 2009.

    Solar Flagships Program

    The Solar Flagships Program was established in December 2009 to support the construction and demonstration of large-scale, grid-connected solar power stations in Australia.

    The program supported solar power playing a significant role in Australia’s electricity supply and operating within a competitive electricity market. This program is now closed.

    Australian Solar Institute

    The Australian Solar Institute (ASI) operated from August 2009 before being merged into ARENA on 31 December 2012.

    ASI developed a portfolio approaching $450 million in value from the initial $150 million, supporting over 350 solar researchers across more than 120 projects.