Low Carbon Liquid Fuels Project Development Grant
Grants for independent development studies for commercial-scale low carbon liquid fuel facilities in New South Wales that entered the May 2026 fuel-security process.
Αυτή η ευκαιρία είναι προς το παρόν διαθέσιμη στα Αγγλικά.
Fund an independent study of whether a proposed low carbon liquid fuel production or refining facility is technically, commercially, financially and environmentally viable. Eligible stages include pre-feasibility, feasibility and front-end engineering design, the detailed engineering work before a decision to invest in construction. Work can include site and feedstock assessment, technology selection, cost estimates, lifecycle emissions analysis, and market and financial analysis. The study must be needed to reach a final investment decision: the point when the project proponent commits capital to construction.
The grant offers A$500,000 to A$2 million per grantee and covers up to 50% of eligible study expenditure. Your organisation or partners not affiliated with the NSW Government must provide at least the other 50%; higher contributions are preferred. Other government contributions can affect the award, and their milestones and obligations must align with this proposal. The A$100 million minimum concerns the estimated cost of deploying the facility, rather than the study budget.
Eligible spending includes an independent external lead consultant who conducts and signs off the study, specialist consultants, study contracts, staff managing or overseeing the study, directly related disbursements, legal/audit/accounting costs, knowledge sharing and necessary technology or modelling licences. Include GST only where you cannot recover it from the Australian Taxation Office. Non-cash contributions do not count as eligible expenditure, and shared resources must be allocated in proportion to their use on the study. Related-party transactions must be at cost without markup unless you can reasonably demonstrate arm’s-length terms, meaning normal market prices and commonly negotiated conditions. Keep auditable accounting records and evidence of staff time. Contracted work needs a written contract consistent with the funding deed, signed before work begins; non-arm’s-length contract costs cannot contain unacceptable overheads or profit within the corporate group. Any unlisted expenditure needs the Department’s prior consent before you incur it.
The grant excludes research and development, pilot or demonstration plants, studies already completed or substantially underway before grant execution, construction, capital works, land acquisition and scoping work that does not lead to an investment decision. It also excludes costs incurred, undertaken or contracted before the funding deed is signed; planning-approval studies and government fees; work government agencies are responsible for; lost opportunities, ordinary business administration, sales/promotional activities, loan interest, membership fees and donations, obtaining approvals or authorisations, and application preparation. Funding-deed and application documentation costs are excluded from the otherwise eligible legal and study-contract costs.
Successful applicants must sign a funding deed and meet its reporting requirements. The indicative two-stage payment schedule first requires an executed consultant agreement, updated schedule, knowledge-sharing plan and executed deed; the completion stage requires the consultant to certify that the study is fully complete and delivered, plus payment evidence and final eligible-cost accounts. Payment proportions are agreed before signing. The Department can visit sites or workshops, re-examine claims, seek information and request an independent audit. Keep a conditional offer confidential until both parties sign the deed, obtain approval before public communication, and obtain approval for statements after the Department announces the award, including acknowledgement of NSW Government support.
Eligibility
- This is a targeted competitive round. Your project must have been submitted to the NSW Investment Delivery Authority’s Fuel Security market sounding and/or expression-of-interest round in May 2026.
- The lead applicant must have an Australian Business Number, be an Australian entity incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001, and hold and comply with all necessary business authorisations. It must own or intend to own the facility, or have or intend to have operational control. Disclose the corporate structure, joint-venture partners and their commitment. The applicant named in the funding deed must have operational control.
- Operational control has the meaning in the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007. It concerns authority to introduce and implement the facility’s operating, health and safety or environmental policies. Where several corporations have that authority, the one with greatest authority over both operating and environmental policies has control. Where no corporation has greatest authority, the Act allows a nomination route; the Clean Energy Regulator can also declare which corporation has control.
- You must materially comply with employment contracts, industrial agreements and awards, codes of conduct and workplace health and safety law. Hold all legally required insurance, including public liability, workers compensation and professional indemnity. You must not be subject to an insolvency event, including winding up or dissolution, or the appointment of a receiver, liquidator or administrator. The winding-up or dissolution exclusion does not apply when it is for reconstruction or amalgamation of the company. You must not appear on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade sanctions consolidated list. Disclose, to the best of your knowledge, proceedings or investigations involving you or a related body corporate that could affect NSW Government reputation, conflict with the funding or affect compliance.
- Agree to further information requests, disclose all Australian government grant applications relating to the project, whether successful or unsuccessful, and own or hold the rights to use and license the intellectual property needed for the work.
- The facility must produce or refine sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, biodiesel or intermediates used to produce them in New South Wales. Low carbon liquid fuel must achieve a material reduction in lifecycle greenhouse-gas emissions compared with the fossil fuel it replaces. Biomethane is excluded. The project must comply with local, state and federal rules, use technically mature technology tested at commercial scale in Australia or overseas, and have estimated deployment capital costs of at least A$100 million.
- Complete the funded development work within 18 months of contract execution and show a credible, time-defined route to a final investment decision after the study. Request funding within the grant range and provide at least 50% of eligible study expenditure from your organisation or eligible partners. Earlier-stage projects remain eligible, although later-stage development may score more highly.
How to apply
- Κατάσταση
- κλείνει 6 Νοε 2026
- Ανοίγει
- Κλείνει
- Όροι του κύκλου αιτήσεων
- Only projects submitted to the May 2026 IDA fuel-security market sounding and/or expression-of-interest round are invited to apply.
Read the funding guidelines and apply through the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s SmartyGrants portal before the deadline. New users must register. Submit a separate application for each project and complete all required information; applications cannot be altered after submission.
Address both eligibility and merit criteria. Appendix B lists evidence such as an asset-owner support letter where the lead applicant operates without owning the facility, consortium evidence, current insurance certificates, three years of audited financial statements for the entity funding the project, a detailed study workplan, capital-cost threshold evidence and the intended cost-estimate standard. Provide the project’s production/emissions case, development and financing pathway, delivery capability, procurement plan and risks.
Assessment compares strategic fuel-security and decarbonisation fit, project maturity, financial feasibility and value for money, and applicant/consortium capability. Sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel may receive preference, and intermediate products can be considered with evidence of their use for these fuels. Earlier-stage proposals are assessed on the credibility of their work to date.
The Department notifies applicants of the outcome and sends successful applicants a conditional offer. It may require security such as a parent-company guarantee. Sign the funding deed within the period stipulated in the offer or it may be withdrawn; requests to change the deed template must be made before applications close, with reasons, and need not be accepted.