ARENA was established in 2012 as an independent statutory authority to manage the government's renewable energy programs. Legal establishment came with the passing of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011. The legislation passed parliament in November 2011 with the support of the Australian Greens and the Liberal and National coalition opposition as well as the governing Labor Party. ARENA commenced operations on 1 July 2012. The agency resulted from negotiations within the Australian parliament under the Gillard Government, with the intention of providing more secure funding for renewable energy programs in the context of political changes. While ARENA was created as part of the Clean Energy Future package together with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, these are separate institutions. ARENA has consolidated various earlier renewable programs and research and development projects from the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, the Australian Solar Institute and the former Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.
Responsibilities
ARENA was established with a total funding allocation of $3.2 billion out to 2020. In the 2013 budget the Labor government deferred $370 million of the agency's funding, extending the timeline to 2022. The subsequent Abbott Government proposed to cut $435 million from ARENA's budget, followed by an additional $40 million, but has affirmed its support for the agency.
Operational activities
Investment priorities
ARENA supports the companies and institutions that are building Australia's future energy system. ARENA's lists its three investment priorities and addresses key areas that can help create a smooth transition to renewable energy. -
Renewable Energy Venture Capital Fund - REVC fosters skills and management capability. It encourages investment in innovative Australian renewable energy companies to strengthen their chance of success;
Innovation Fund - Emerging Australian technologies & businesses that can accelerate Australia's transition to a renewable energy economy.;
Projects
ARENA has committed to investing $1.46 billion. Some of the projects include:
Battery storage: Australia's first grid scale batteries in South Australia and Victoria
Bioenergy and Waste-to-energy: An assessment by the company Licella of the feasibility of constructing its first pre-commercial biofuel plant and James Cook University developing a macroalgae to biofuels project to provide a blueprint for the development and production of high energy algal fuels.
Demand response: A three-year trial of ten pilot demand response projects to curb energy use during extreme peak demand periods, in partnership with AEMO and the NSW Government
Distributed generation: Australia's first trials of virtual power plants
Electric vehicle: Australia's first fast charging networks for electric vehicles
Photovoltaic power station: Australia's first large scale off grid renewable projects including microgrids, solar farms and hybrid projects to power mines and remote communities
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity: Feasibility studies into pumped hydro projects across Australia including Snowy 2.0, Hydro Tasmania's Battery of the Nation initiatives and a proposed seawater pumped hydro plant at Cultana, South Australia
