Why we have partners
Our partners
Clean Energy Finance Corporation
In 2016 the Australian Government enacted a regulation to enable ARENA to assist the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) in the governance, management and administration of the Clean Energy Innovation Fund.
ARENA and the CEFC jointly manage the Innovation Fund, which makes debt and equity investment in emerging clean energy projects and businesses, using CEFC financing.
This investment is designed to deliver a financial return to taxpayers from projects at the later end of the innovation chain and boost the competitiveness of renewable energy and related technologies.
Australian Energy Market Commission
We signed an MOU with the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) in January 2019 to formalise cooperation on the broad program of work currently underway to facilitate innovation in Australia’s energy markets.
This MOU sets out a framework for coordination and information sharing to underpin collaborative projects such as the Distributed Energy Integration Program, which aims to maximise the value of customer investments in distributed resources such as solar PV and battery storage.
South Australia Government
In November 2018 we announced an MOU with the South Australia Government to help deliver energy storage projects in the state.
The South Australian Government $50 million Grid Scale Storage Fund (GSSF) offers funding to help accelerate the deployment of new grid-scale energy storage infrastructure assets capable of addressing the intermittency of South Australia’s electricity system.
We will help to coordinate the assessment of projects that may be eligible for joint funding. Applications shortlisted for the GSSF may also be eligible for ARENA funding under the Advancing Renewables Program (ARP).
Australian Energy Market Operator
We signed an MOU with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in May 2017 to collaborate on improving electricity system security and reliability.
Through this we are working with AEMO to deliver on the COAG Energy Council commitment in December 2016 to accelerate ‘proof of concept’ projects for grid security technologies.
Projects under the shared work program include:
Distributed Energy Integration Program
We are a key member of the Distributed Energy Integration Program (DEIP), established in 2018. This is a collaboration of government agencies, market authorities, industry and consumer associations aimed at maximising the value of customers’ distributed energy resources (DER) for all energy users.
Led by a steering group (including ARENA), the forum is underpinned by the premise that information exchange and collaboration on DER issues will enable more efficient identification of knowledge gaps and priorities and accelerate reforms in the interest of customers.