Carbon Innovation Grants Program
Grants for feasibility studies, pilot projects and capital works that develop innovative ways to cut or capture emissions from heavy industry in Western Australia.
Această oportunitate este disponibilă momentan în limba engleză.
You can test whether a new emissions-reduction technology will work, trial it at an industrial site or move it toward full-scale use. The programme also supports carbon sequestration: capturing and storing carbon. Creating carbon credits is optional.
Feasibility studies can receive A$50,000–A$500,000, covering at most 50% of eligible project costs. Pilot projects and capital works can receive A$100,000–A$1.5 million, covering at most 25%. These limits exclude GST. Across WA Government grant sources, the combined contribution cannot exceed the applicable 50% or 25% limit; declare Australian Government and other State Government funding in your application and business case.
Eligible costs are agreed in the funding agreement. They can include carbon-abatement equipment, essential enabling equipment, design and other professional services, installation, commissioning, testing, sampling, project management and grant administration. Cash and reasonably valued in-kind contributions can help cover project costs; explain any non-monetary goods or services in the financial model.
Payments reimburse approved milestones after you complete them and show actual eligible expenditure, including invoices, proof of payment and evidence of in-kind expenditure. You therefore need to cover expenditure before reimbursement. Propose a milestone payment schedule when applying. Signing the agreement does not itself qualify for payment, and part of the grant must remain allocated to project closure and the final report.
Before funding starts, sign the agreement and meet its conditions, including securing the balance of project funding and access to necessary intellectual property. Complete a feasibility study within 24 months, or a pilot/capital-works project within 36 months, starting when the conditions precedent are met. Request written approval as soon as you identify changes to scope or milestones.
Grant recipients are liable for GST on the grant; the grant is increased by the GST payable and requires a tax invoice for the GST-inclusive amount. Funding may be taxable income. The indicative agreements exclude recoverable input GST from reimbursed costs or liabilities.
Provide the progress, milestone, financial, risk and final reports agreed for your project, with expenditure evidence and authorised certification. Missed milestones or failure to finish on time can lead to suspended payments or termination. Closure requires the department to approve the final report and make the final payment.
Both indicative agreements require detailed financial and project records for five years after the agreement term ends. They separately require reasonable efforts to participate in programme evaluation during the term and for at least four years afterward. At completion, expiry or earlier termination, return funding not used or committed in accordance with the agreement within 20 business days. Following termination for default or unlawful termination by the recipient, the templates also require return of unspent or uncommitted funding and related interest within 20 business days of termination. In specified serious cases, including fraud, insolvency, repudiation, knowingly false warranties, deliberate repeated breaches or unlawful termination by the recipient, the State can also request return of spent or committed funding and interest within 20 business days of its written request.
Acknowledge WA Government support in project publications, promotion and announcements. The government may publish your name, approved amount and a brief project description.
Eligibility
- Hold a current Australian Business Number and be registered for GST. Eligible applicants include Australian corporations, local government authorities, nonprofits, incorporated associations, universities, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander corporations, companies limited by guarantee, and partnerships or consortia of these entities.
- A feasibility study must concern specific sites or locations in Western Australia; a pilot or capital-works project must be located there. An industrial business must lead or partner in the project and contribute cash or eligible in-kind support.
- Develop work beyond your normal business activities toward commercial viability. Feasibility projects typically move a concept toward real-world trials; pilots and capital works move from testing in real conditions toward full deployment. Activities must be permitted by law.
- Your management team must be legally qualified to perform its roles, have no conflicts posing a material risk to proper management, and have the legal right to carry out and control the project.
Schools, trusts, government departments and government trading entities, sole traders and individuals, overseas organisations without Australian registration, and unincorporated associations cannot lead an application. Projects already underway, retrospective work, business-as-usual operations, closing a business to reduce emissions, and broad research unrelated to specific industrial facilities are excluded. Renewable generation must directly supply industrial businesses or processes on the same site. Carbon-credit projects cannot generate credits outside Western Australia or use/develop methods outside the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011.
Excluded costs include land acquisition, third-party venture capital expenditure, buying carbon credits, legal and statutory permit/licence costs, normal operating and administrative expenditure, existing staff’s usual work, preparing applications or reports, and ongoing maintenance already committed under a previous grant. Works or equipment contracts already in place when funding is announced can also be ineligible.
If you assess the feasibility of generating credits, demonstrate how the proposed project would meet the relevant method’s project rules and that you can meet its applicant rules. A project actually generating credits must meet the applicable project rules. A method sets the permitted activity and how you measure emissions reductions, monitor the project and keep records.
For Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) projects, register your project with the Clean Energy Regulator. The following rules apply unless the chosen method specifies otherwise. Activities must not have started, must go beyond normal business activities and must not be required by law. Your project must not involve activities excluded under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015 or receive financial support from specified government programmes. You need the right to conduct the activity on the project sites or assets and the exclusive right to the resulting units. The Clean Energy Regulator assesses fitness and propriety, considering offences and scheme breaches, competence, business practices, integrity and character.
Obtain applicable regulatory approvals before starting ACCU activities. Where consents or approvals are outstanding at registration, the project can only be conditionally declared: obtain all eligible interest-holder consents and applicable approvals before the first reporting period ends. Eligible interest-holder consent is required before ACCUs can be issued.
How to apply
- Statut
- se închide 11 dec. 2026
- Se deschide
- Se închide
- Condițiile sesiunii de finanțare
- Round 3; applications close at 5pm AWST.
Round 3 opened on 10 September 2026 and closes at 5pm AWST on 11 December 2026. Download the Round 3 guidelines and templates from the department’s programme documents page, then submit through the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s SmartyGrants portal.
Prepare your business case, financial model, risk register, quotations and partner commitments. Complete and upload both required Excel templates: Financial Model and Risk Register. Have the application signed by your CEO or an authorised officer. Submit before the deadline and retain the on-screen and email confirmation. Other submission methods are not accepted, although the department may consider an alternative in exceptional circumstances such as an extended portal outage. You cannot change a submitted application or add attachments afterward.
Use a separate application for each grant or project. You can apply to either or both streams for different eligible projects, but demonstrate capacity to deliver them, keep separate grant accounts and clearly distinguish projects at the same site.
Successful applicants must execute the funding agreement within six months of the Minister’s grant-allocation announcement. Funding remains conditional on the agreement and its preconditions.