Low Emissions Industry Program
Grants for emissions-reduction upgrades at NSW mining and manufacturing facilities that reported under the NGER Scheme in 2024–25.
Ta możliwość jest obecnie dostępna po angielsku.
The program co-funds projects such as fuel switching, kiln and boiler upgrades, waste heat recovery, heat pumps and facility retrofits. It supports detailed design, procurement, construction and commissioning, provided the project becomes fully operational by 30 June 2030. Feasibility studies, pilots and technology-development or commercialisation activities are excluded.
The 2026 round offered A$500,000 to A$10 million per application, covering up to 50% of eligible project costs. The Department can consider requests above A$10 million in exceptional circumstances. You must provide at least 50% through continuous, evidenced co-investment; total funding from all NSW Government departments cannot exceed 50% of eligible costs. Only new monetary contributions count. Confirm contributions when applying, or advise the Department early about delays; confirmed, compatible funding is required before an agreement is signed. Other grants must be disclosed and may not be compatible with this funding.
Eligible costs include directly related equipment, construction equipment hire and running costs, staff, consultants, administration, legal and accounting work, technology licences and knowledge sharing. Costs are calculated including GST, less recoverable GST credits. Shared resources must be apportioned, and related-party transactions must be at cost unless accepted as being on independent commercial terms. Excluded costs include post-commissioning operations, application preparation, government approvals and planning-assessment studies, land purchase or operational land leases, loan interest, ordinary business overheads and costs incurred before the funding deed is signed or after its project completion date.
Funding is paid against agreed milestones and proven expenditure after a deed is executed. The indicative final payment follows emissions reporting and knowledge sharing about 12 months after commissioning; the final number of milestones and percentages are agreed before signing. Keep accounting records that separately identify contributions and eligible expenditure, with an audit trail available on request. Submit the reports required by the deed; the Department may visit the site, re-examine claims, request more information or require an independent audit.
Projects may generate carbon credits or energy certificates, but disclose the revenue and report certificates generated. The Department may recover sales revenue through the deed or require a choice between this grant and generating and selling Energy Saving Certificates or Peak Reduction Certificates. Grant-funded projects cannot also receive funding for those certificates under the Safeguard Acceleration Program.
Eligibility
These conditions applied to the closed 2026 intake.
- The applicant must be an Australian entity incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 with an active Australian Business Number. Its business must be classified as mining or manufacturing under the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), excluding group 070 Oil and Gas Extraction. It must hold necessary business authorisations and insurance, comply materially with employment and workplace-safety obligations, be solvent and not appear on the DFAT sanctions consolidated list. Disclose material legal proceedings or investigations and all state, territory and Commonwealth grant applications for the project over the previous five years, including unsuccessful ones.
- The applicant must have the intellectual-property rights needed for the project and Operational Control of the facility. Joint applications are allowed, including international or non-emitting partners, but an eligible lead applicant with Operational Control must apply, sign the deed and bear responsibility for funds and delivery. Individuals and sole traders, unincorporated associations, joint applicants without a lead, NSW state-owned corporations and statutory authorities are excluded.
- The facility must be in NSW, be classified as mining or manufacturing, and have been reported under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme in 2024–25. Oil and gas extraction facilities in ANZSIC group 070 and Safeguard Facilities are excluded. Aggregated NGER reporting is acceptable if the specific facility lies within the reporting boundary and you provide facility-level emissions and abatement information; a facility not reported in that year is ineligible.
- Reduce net emissions by at least 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year of operation. Scope 1 means direct facility emissions; Scope 2 means indirect emissions from consumed energy such as electricity or heat. An increase in Scope 2 must be deducted from Scope 1 savings. Reductions must exceed legal requirements and cannot result from lower production or reduced safety. The facility must plan to operate at or above current capacity beyond 2030. Government funding must be needed to proceed, accelerate delivery or increase the scale of emissions reductions.
- A project may have several components, but must reduce emissions at one eligible facility. Apply separately for different facilities. Offsite projects can qualify case by case if they directly and verifiably reduce that facility’s emissions, are built specifically for its decarbonisation and would not proceed without the grant; deduct emissions from an offsite biogas plant when calculating net savings.
- Solar and batteries can qualify when they serve the facility behind its electricity meter. Transport reductions are excluded unless already counted as that facility’s NGER Scope 1 emissions, such as on-site mining equipment. A project must make a permanent physical or operational change that directly reduces emissions. Renewable electricity purchase agreements or voluntary surrender of generation certificates can justify offsetting an increase in Scope 2, but the entire reduction cannot come from purchasing those certificates. Grant money cannot buy electricity purchase agreements, generation certificates, carbon credits or other offsets.
- Measure, verify and report emissions within the project boundary using an internationally recognised framework, such as ISO 14064-2 or the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Calculate annual savings against baseline emissions and identify the standard in the application. Monitoring and verification must be done by a qualified professional or independently reviewed by one. An independently verified emissions baseline is required before the second indicative milestone payment.
Commercially proven, mature technologies are preferred; there is no fixed technology-readiness threshold. Projects must be fully commissioned and operational by 30 June 2030.
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- Applications are closed. This window records the 2026 intake.[^c12][^c18]
Applications are closed. The 2026 round used the NSW Government online grant management system and compared eligible applications after the deadline. Check the official program page for updates; additional rounds are only being considered, rather than confirmed. Existing applicants are expected to receive outcomes from 30 November 2026 or as soon as possible after a decision.
The closed round required a complete application, the merit-criteria template and supporting evidence. Required applicant evidence included insurance certificates, a signed workplace-safety legality statement and unqualified audit reports for company financial statements for 2022–23, 2023–24 and 2024–25. Applications addressed emissions savings, technical and financial feasibility, delivery capability, strategic alignment and a knowledge-sharing plan. Applicants had to read the template funding deed and accept it or submit requested departures with their application.
Successful applicants must sign the funding deed before starting the project; earlier expenditure is ineligible. The Department may require additional terms or performance security, such as a parent-company guarantee. Keep an offer confidential until the deed is signed and the Department authorises an announcement. Applications cannot change once assessment begins; changes to a successful project must be discussed with the Department and may require reassessment. For program queries, contact the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water at emissionsreduction@environment.nsw.gov.au.