These grants support early stage research and development of innovative technologies, services or processes that will help de-carbonise NSW industries.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: From $400,000 to $3,000,000
- Application opened: 31 October 2022
- Application closed: 9 December 2022, 5:00 pm
Program objective
The overarching objective of this program is to support early-stage clean technology research and development projects that help to foster a healthy research and development ecosystem within NSW.
In practical terms, this means supporting projects that
- are in the range of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2 to 6 (see Appendix 1: Technology readiness levels in the grant guidelines)
- seek to develop innovative solutions to de-carbonising high emitting or hard-toabate3 industries within the program priority areas
- have the potential to make a substantial contribution to the NSW Government goalof r educing emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050
- are likely to have net positive environmental impacts (for example, when considering other factors like embodied carbon and supply chain impacts)
- promote and actively engage in cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary partnerships and knowledge sharing.
This program is administered by Department of Planning and Environment.
Eligibility
Who can apply
As a part of the application, the lead applicant must indicate they are one of the following organisation types:
- an Australian entity duly incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) and hold and comply with all necessary authorisations that are material to the conduct of the business of the applicant(s)
- a public or private university duly established or recognised by or under the law of the Australian Government, an Australian state or territory government and/or registered with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
- an Australian Government entity under section 10 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth)
- an Australian state, territory or local government agency, or a subsidiary of an Australian state or territory.
Note: In some limited circumstances, a legal entity other than that listed above may be accepted as an eligible applicant. Any other entity that wants to apply for these grants should contact the Trust prior to the lodgement of applications.
Who can’t apply
- organisations without a valid ABN
- organisations whose operations are not based primarily in Australia
- organisations who are not one of the organisation types as listed in the 'who can apply' section
Types of projects funded under this grant
Early-stage clean technology research and development (Technology Readiness Level 2-6) of commercially viable technologies, services or processes that have the potential to significantly reduce emissions of high emitting or hard-to-abate sectors within the NSW economy up to, and beyond, 2030.
Round 2 priorities
The grants will be awarded via 4 annual funding rounds. Annual funding priorities will be guided by the NSW Office of Chief Scientist and Engineer Decarbonisation Innovation Study. Priorities for round 2 are:
- Electrification and Energy Systems – accelerating renewable energy solutions and supporting the uptake of electrification in other sectors
- Land and Primary Industries – coordinating and aligning efforts in the next wave of sustainable primary industry practices as the sector contributes significant proportions of NSW emissions
- Power Fuels including Hydrogen – growing an environmentally sustainable NSW powerfuels industry and unlocking decarbonisation opportunities for many hard-to-abate sectors beyond 2030.
Key information for 2022–23
- The application and assessment process consists of 2 stages: Stage 1 – Expressions of interest (EOI) and Stage 2 – Full Applications. Only shortlisted EOIs will be invited to submit a Full Application.
- Applications are required to have a minimum of 1:1 matched funding from other sources (i.e., one dollar from another source for every dollar of grant funds requested from this program). Matched funding must include a cash component and may include an in-kind component. Higher cash contributions will be viewed favourably during assessment.
- An organisation may submit a maximum of 3 EOIs.
- Successful projects are expected to commence within 3 months of signing a funding agreement.
- Intellectual property developed by funded projects will be retained by the grant recipient, or relevant third parties, where relevant. The Trust reserves the right to communicate to the public the general outcomes or progress of funded projects (e.g., as case studies in the Trust’s annual reports).
- Successful projects will be required to share outcomes or learnings from their project with relevant stakeholders in a minimum of 2 forums. A grant payment equal to 20% of the total grant amount will be linked to fulfillment of this requirement.
Examples of activities that are eligible for grant funding
| Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| Early-stage research and development | Research and development activities that fit within TRL range of 2 to 6 that support reductions to industry emissions. |
| Administration and accounting | Capped at 10% of the total grant. Administration expenses may include office-related overheads associated with project delivery (e.g., office supplies, accounting fees, including final audit costs). |
| Employment of project staff | Project staff may be employed using project funds. (See Part 5 of the guidelines: Program Governance for recruitment requirements.) |
| Consultancies/contractors | Appointment of external specialists to manage or deliver specific project components. Engagement of contractors and consultants is expected to align with NSW Government Procurement Standards (see Part 5 of the guidelines: Program Governance). |
| Knowledge sharing activities | Costs associated with fulfilling the program’s knowledge sharing requirement, including promotional activities, publications, facilities hire (e.g., for workshops). Note: general organisational website development costs, including ongoing maintenance, cannot be funded using grant money, however, these activities may count towards fulfilling the knowledge sharing requirement. |
| Transport and accommodation | Travel logistics necessary for successful project delivery (excluding international travel). |
| Capital expenses below 50% of total grant funds | Capital expenses are eligible, though allocation of grant funds to capital expenses should not exceed 50%. |
Types of project not funded by this grant
| Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| Commercialisation activities | Activities beyond Commercial Readiness Index 1 are not eligible for funding. Activities that fall within Commercial Readiness Index 1 may be eligible for funding if the Technical Review Committee considers them essential to success of the project. (See link to ARENA’s Technology Readiness Levels for Renewable Energy Sectors under Part 6 of the guidelines: More information). |
| Organisational administration | Organisational administrative and operational costs that are not directly related to the funded project. |
| Cost recoupment | Funding cannot be used on any activities that commence before the grant is offered and accepted, including for application development. |
| Devolved grants | Projects that fund devolved grants (i.e., project offering grants to other organisations) are not eligible. Trust funds must be managed directly by the lead organisation, and all financial transactions must align with the approved budget and prescribed policies. |
| Existing commitments | Ongoing research that an organisation has committed to as part of a previous grant or core business operations. This does not include building on existing research, where there is a clear delineation between previous commitments and the Trust-funded project. |
| Cost shifting | Reimbursement of salaries of existing staff who will be supervising or working on the project unless it can be demonstrated that salaries have not already been budgeted for. |
| Capital expenditure exceeding 50% of total grant funds | Projects cannot allocate more than 50% of grant funds to capital expenses. |
What your application needs to include
You can also download the complete guidelines for applicants:
File
Clean Technology Research and Development Grants Round 2 guidelines (PDF 1.07MB)
Prepare your application with this checklist
Follow the three simple steps below if you are considering applying for funding under this program.
Step 1
Download and read the program guidelines (this document).
Step 2
Check the eligibility conditions and consider
- Is your organisation eligible?
- Is your proposal aligned with the objectives of this program?
- Are the proposed activities eligible for funding?
If you answered yes to these questions, you are ready to develop your expression of interest (EOI).
Step 3
Develop your EOI according to the instructions in Part 3: Application and assessment and submit it via the Trust’s EOI submissions web page by 5 pm, Friday 9 December 2022.
Documents you will need to provide
- certificate of currency - public liability insurance
- certificate of currency - workers compensations insurance
- response to EOI questions
- organisation financial information (as sets out on page 10 of the program guidelines).
Address the eligibility criteria
Eligibility criterion 1: Eligible applicants
To be an eligible applicant, you must:
- hold a current Australian Business Number (ABN)
- be an organisation that fits into one of the categories outlined in the program guidelines
- hold, at the time of executing a funding agreement, public liability insurance (minimum $10 million) and workers compensation insurance
- warrant that you are the legal and beneficial owner of (or have all necessary rights to use) any intellectual property necessary to carry out the project
- disclose any relevant5 legal proceedings or investigations, including litigation, arbitration, mediation or conciliation that are taking place, pending or (to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, after having made proper enquiry) threatened against the applicant or a related body corporate (as defined in the Corporations Act 2001)
- not be subject to any insolvency event, including being the subject of an order or resolution for winding up or dissolution (other than for the purpose of reconstruction or amalgamation) or the appointment of a receiver, liquidator, administer or similar
- not be listed on the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade sanctions list.
Eligibility criterion 2: Eligible projects
To be an eligible project, your proposal must:
- seek to innovate a new technology, services or process (or extend a technology, service or process) that supports or enables decarbonisation of a high emitting or hard-to-abate industry (or industries)
- be for early-stage research and development in the range of TRL 2-6
- align with the program’s priority areas
- be applying for funding in the range of $400,000 and $3 million
- have clear economic benefits in New South Wales
- use funding for eligible activities as outlined in the program guidelines
- meet the matched funding requirements specified in the program guidelines.
Address the assessment criteria
Applicants must provide responses to he following five questions:
- What is the problem you are trying to solve and how will your technology, service or process solve it? (300 words)
- How will this project progress your technology, service or process to the desired state? (300 words)
- How do you intend to commercialise your technology, service or process? What are the key risks or barriers? (300 words)
- Who are the key project partners and what specific experience and expertise do they bring to the project? (250 words)
- How will you engage your target market and other key stakeholders on the progress and outcomes of the project? (250 words)
In responding to the EOI questions, applicants must address the selection criteria:
- Significance of the research and development
- Feasibility
- Collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Alignment with program objective.
Further information on the assessment criteria is available in the program guidelines.
Start the application
Applications for this grant are available via the Grants portal.
The application and assessment process will take place in 2 stages:
- Expressions of Interest (EOI)
- Full applications.
Expressions of interest will be assessed by a Technical Review Committee. Shortlisted Expressions of interest will progress to stage 2 to submit a full application.
Full applications will also be assessed by a Technical Review Committee who will provide recommendations on grants to the Environmental Trust Board. The Environmental Trust Board will make final decisions for awarding grants, taking into consideration recommendations from the Technical Review Committee.
After the application is submitted
The applications will be assessed and both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified.
Support and contact
NSW Environmental Trust
Phone: (02) 8837 6093
Email: info@environmentaltrust.nsw.gov.au
Website: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/funding-and-support/nsw-environmental-trust/grants-available/clean-technology-research-and-development