The Carbon Innovation Grants Program – Round 3 is now open to support Western Australian heavy industry businesses and project partners investing in innovative technologies and methods that reduce carbon emissions.
With approximately $3.1 million available in Round 3, the program provides funding for feasibility studies, pilot projects and capital works that can help WA heavy industry progress towards net zero emissions. Projects may focus on avoiding or reducing emissions, carbon abatement and sequestration, and progressing innovative technologies towards commercial deployment.
Eligible projects may include carbon capture, use or storage, industrial process feedstock switching, and projects assessing or deploying Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) methods. Projects do not need to generate carbon credits to be eligible.
Applications close 11 December 2026 at 5:00pm AWST.
Who is this for?
State: Western Australia
Industry sector: Heavy industry, including businesses involved in industrial processing, mining and manufacturing. Examples identified in the guidelines include mineral extraction and refining, metals, machinery manufacturing, fuel production, chemicals and fertilisers, as well as stationary and mobile plant servicing heavy industry.
The Carbon Innovation Grants Program is designed for eligible organisations undertaking projects at specific sites or locations in Western Australia that can contribute to reducing emissions from heavy industry processes.
How much funding is available?
Approximately $3.1 million is available through Round 3 across two funding streams:
- Feasibility Studies: Grants from $50,000 to $500,000, covering up to 50% of eligible project costs.
- Pilot Projects and Capital Works: Grants from $100,000 to $1.5 million, covering up to 25% of eligible project costs.
Feasibility study projects must generally be completed within 24 months of meeting the relevant conditions precedent, while pilot projects and capital works must be completed within 36 months.
Eligibility: You can apply if you:
- Hold a current Australian Business Number (ABN) and are registered for GST.
- Are an Australian corporation, local government authority, not-for-profit organisation, incorporated association, university, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander corporation, company limited by guarantee, or a partnership or consortium comprising eligible entities.
- Have management team members who meet the program’s fit and proper person requirements.
- Have a project located in Western Australia, or, for a feasibility study, a project applying to specific sites or locations within Western Australia.
- Are seeking funding within the relevant funding limits and can provide the required contribution towards eligible project costs.
- Are undertaking a project that is additional to business-as-usual activities.
- Have a heavy industry business as the lead applicant or a project partner, providing a cash or eligible in-kind contribution.
- Are undertaking project activities that are currently permitted by law.
- Can complete the project within the applicable delivery timeframe.
- If the project involves assessing or generating carbon credit units, can meet the additional applicant and project eligibility requirements relevant to the applicable carbon crediting method.
What can the funding be used for?
Funding can support eligible expenditure directly associated with delivering a carbon emissions reduction project.
Depending on the project and funding stream, this may include:
- feasibility studies for technologies and methods progressing from concept towards real-world trials
- pilot testing and demonstration of innovative technologies
- capital equipment used for carbon abatement or sequestration
- energy storage and other essential enabling equipment
- system controls, pumps, tanks, pipework, monitoring and communications equipment
- design and professional services directly related to project delivery
- laboratory testing and field sampling
- installation and commissioning
- project management and grant administration costs.
Northmore Gordon may be able to assist businesses considering energy-related components of eligible projects, particularly where projects involve energy efficiency, energy storage, electrification or other technologies that reduce energy-related emissions from heavy industry processes.
What types of projects could be supported?
Examples provided for the program include feasibility work such as concept design, field or laboratory testing and economic analysis of industrial process technologies that reduce emissions, carbon capture/use/storage and industrial process feedstock switching.
Pilot Projects and Capital Works may include trials of new technologies or novel modifications to industrial processes, field trials of industrial process feedstock switching, and field testing of carbon capture, use or storage methods.
Projects must demonstrate alignment with the Carbon Innovation Grants Program objectives and progress relevant technologies or methods towards commercial viability.
What projects are not eligible?
Projects that are already underway, business-as-usual activities and projects seeking retrospective funding are not eligible.
Other exclusions include projects outside Western Australia, broad or generic research that is not specific to heavy industry facilities, and renewable energy generation that does not directly supply heavy industry processes on the same site.
Projects without an industrial business partner providing a cash or eligible in-kind contribution are also ineligible.
How will applications be assessed?
Eligible applications will be assessed for overall value for money and against five weighted merit criteria:
- Reducing emissions – 30%
- Business case – 20%
- Ability to deliver – 15%
- Innovation and potential for wider adoption – 20%
- Public good – 15%
Applicants will need to provide evidence supporting the expected emissions reduction, financial and technical viability of the project, capacity to deliver, level of innovation and potential wider benefits to Western Australia.
When do applications close?
Applications for the Carbon Innovation Grants Program – Round 3 opened on 10 September 2026 and close at 5:00pm AWST on Friday 11 December 2026. Successful projects are expected to be announced in 2027.
How Northmore Gordon can help
If you’re considering a carbon reduction, energy efficiency, electrification or energy storage project for a heavy industry operation in Western Australia, Northmore Gordon can help you assess your project against the Carbon Innovation Grants Program requirements and determine where our services may support an eligible project.
For projects with the potential to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), Northmore Gordon can also help assess the potential ACCUs that could be generated from the project and support the process of creating and registering eligible carbon credits. With expertise in the ACCU framework, our team can help identify opportunities to incorporate carbon credits into your project and understand their potential value.
Contact Northmore Gordon to discuss your project, its ACCU potential and how we can support your Carbon Innovation Grants Program – Round 3 application.
