The Australian government has announced AUD 50 million ($33.8 million) plan to develop and support the development of diversified clean energy supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region, including for solar PV components as ingots and wafers, energy storage and hydrogen electrolyzers.
It will support funding research and development, along with feasibility studies for the purpose under the Quad Clean Energy Supply Chain Diversification Program. The quad here is the consortium Australia is part of with Japan, India and the US.
The government explained, "Australia's contribution will support an initial round of studies to accelerate the development of investment-ready projects in the region, which could include products and activities like solar ingots, wafer production or battery cell component manufacturing."
A diversified and secure clean energy supply chain is integral for the Indo-Pacific region's collective energy security, meet its emissions reduction goals and achieve transition to a net zero future, it added.
"The world's climate emergency presents economic opportunities to harness a growing global demand for clean energy," said the Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen. "Australia is proud to be providing AUD 50 million to support Indo-Pacific nations to play a major role in meeting global demand across the clean energy supply chain."
Australia will develop the program in close consultation with Indo-Pacific countries to ensure it complements domestic efforts and delivers tangible outcomes.
Among other members of the quad, the US is currently enticing investment in solar manufacturing through its Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), while India is also incentivizing vertically integrated domestic PV production efforts through its Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
In March 2023, Australia announced its AUD 15 billion National Reconstruction Fund to support local development of solar PV manufacturing capabilities as its own version of the IRA (see Australia's Response To Inflation Reduction Act).
During the Quad Leaders' Summit in May 2023, the 4 member states jointly announced that diversifying clean energy supply chains in the Indo-Pacific is 'urgent and critical' for the region's economic and energy security. Together, they aim to expand manufacturing of clean energy technologies in parallel with increasing demand and enable commercial-scale production capabilities for critical devices, components and systems.