ARENA to fund 1st centre facilitating renewables procurement

October 16 (Solar) – A project for the first Business Renewables Centre in Australia, aimed at facilitating renewable energy procurement, will receive AUD 500,000 (USD 355,900/EUR 307,400) in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

The government-controlled agency said on Tuesday that the financing for the project will be extended in support of a national goal for the deployment of 1 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and 5 GW by 2030. Its main objective will be to provide information and advice on power purchase agreements in the renewables sector. It will serve as an online marketplace platform for clean energy off-take deals and also organise face-to-face events for local businesses, councils and organisations.

The ARENA funds for the Business Renewables Centre initiative, worth a total of AUD 1.74 million, will be provided to Climate-KIC Australia, WWF-Australia and UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures. The partners have already received backing from the New South Wales and Victorian governments, with each of them providing AUD 150,000.

ARENA’s CEO Darren Miller said that the Business Renewables Centre will offer “vast expertise in running programs, entrepreneurship, innovation, education and other sustainability objectives to make it easier for companies and councils to enter into the renewables market.”

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.712/EUR 0.615)