Vast Renewables Limited announced that the Australian Renewable Energy Agency has granted up to AUD180 million in conditional funding for the building of Vast Solar 1, a utility-scale sustainable energy project near Port Augusta.

VS1, which will use Vast's next-generation concentrated solar thermal power technology, is expected to be among Australia's first projects to deliver long-duration renewable energy generation and storage, which is desperately required. The project provides South Australia's grid with dependable, on-demand clean electricity by taking advantage of peak pricing times after sunset when intermittent renewables like solar PV are unavailable.

The world's energy transformation might be significantly fueled by Vast's award-winning technology. In addition to providing the 24/7, reasonably priced, carbon-free electricity and heat required to decarbonize the grid, the technology powers the production of fuel for shipping, aviation, specialized businesses like data centers, and hard-to-reduce industries like mining and refining. Vast has received significant funding from the Australian Government through ARENA, as well as from key investors Nabors Industries and EDF.

The ARENA funding announcement is a significant step in completing VS1's financing. It is now expected that VS1 will require capital expenditures between AUD360 million and AUD390 million to finish development. Vast is working to provide the extra investment in VS1 and Vast (for the building and commissioning period) required to enable a final investment decision and construction to start in 2025. Vast has finished front-end engineering design and commercial development.

Currently, Vast's Queensland factory produces its Australian-made technologies. Numerous green manufacturing and construction employment in Australia, as well as long-term plant operations positions, are expected to be created by Vast's projects and manufacturing activities.