PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The federal government on Wednesday launched A$14-million worth of grants under its broader A$3.5-billion Climate Solutions Package to help lower power bills for high energy-using businesses.
Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor announced that 48 businesses that consume more than 0.05 petajoules of energy annually have been awarded grants of up to A$25 000 to implement energy efficiency opportunities that will help lower their power bills.
An A$11 485 000 grant was awarded to major Rio Tinto at its Bell Bay aluminium smelter, in Tasmania, to purchase sonic imaging cameras to reduce air leaks and power use, with a further A$24 400 awarded to the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group for plant LED lighting upgrades.
Taylor said on Wednesday that bringing down the cost of energy for businesses is a priority of the federal government.
“For these businesses in particular, energy costs are a high proportion of their operating expenses,” Taylor said.
“This programme was targeted and designed to help large businesses such as manufacturers, smelters and food producers to reduce these costs and support jobs and communities across the country that rely on their operations.
“Supporting industry to reinvest in their businesses, grow, thrive and employ more Australians has never been more important as we emerge from the Covid-19 recession.”