Vast Renewables Limited has secured $30 million from its $65 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to accelerate the deployment of its next-generation concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) technology. This funding will advance Vast’s flagship project, Vast Solar 1 (VS1), in South Australia and scale its green technology manufacturing operations.
The 30MW VS1 project, located at the Port Augusta Green Energy Hub, will feature eight hours of energy storage to supply clean, dispatchable electricity to the National Electricity Market. It will also power Solar Methanol 1 (SM1), a co-located facility dedicated to producing green methanol—a renewable fuel with significant potential to decarbonise the shipping industry.
Vast’s CSP technology, which captures and stores solar energy as heat, is designed to complement intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar PV and wind. Proven at a 1.1MW demonstration project in Forbes, New South Wales, the technology offers superior performance at reduced costs and risks.
The $30 million grant will support Vast’s Queensland-based manufacturing operations, enabling the production of components for VS1 and other future projects. Additionally, the funding will facilitate final project development activities ahead of the Final Investment Decision (FID) for VS1, expected in early 2025. Construction is slated to begin in Q2 2025, with capital expenditures estimated between AUD360 million and AUD390 million. These efforts are projected to generate green manufacturing, construction, and long-term operational jobs.
“Unlocking this funding helps accelerate our Australian green technology manufacturing and the final stages of development for our first utility-scale project. ARENA’s backing has been pivotal, getting us to a point where we are garnering significant interest from investors, industry, and international governments keen to explore how our technology can decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, including electricity, industry, and fuels. With the continued support of the Australian Government and our investors, we are looking forward to building our next projects, and to helping Australia become an export powerhouse for this next generation of green technology,” said Craig Wood, CEO of Vast Renewables.
