Vast Renewables Receives AUD180 Million Boost for South Australia Project

March 12, 2025

DENVER, Colo., Mar 12, 2025 (247marketnews.com)- Vast Renewables (NASDAQ:VSTE) secured up to AUD180 million in conditional funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to build its groundbreaking Vast Solar 1 (VS1) project in Port Augusta. VS1 could position Vast to deliver long-duration renewable energy storage and generation, providing reliability when the sun dips below the horizon.

Deploying Vast’s cutting-edge CSP technology, this utility-scale project promises to pump clean, dispatchable power into South Australia’s grid during peak pricing periods—those post-sunset hours when solar panels go dark. It’s one of Australia’s first forays into long-duration renewable storage, a critical piece of the net-zero puzzle.

Craig Wood, Vast’s CEO, commented, “Our clean energy solutions are exactly what Australia and the world needs to accelerate the energy transition. By providing green, affordable electricity on-demand when other renewables are not available to power homes, industry and fuels production, we deliver the missing piece of the puzzle. Our technology leverages Australia’s natural resources, skills and innovation and we are thrilled to have the continued strong support of ARENA and the Australian Government on this journey.”

VS1 has an option to fuel Solar Methanol 1 (SM1), a world-first co-located green methanol plant developed with global energy titan Mabanaft. Green methanol—a hydrogen-derived fuel already powering container ships.

ARENA’s AUD180 million replaces a prior commitment from February 2023, covering roughly half of VS1’s estimated AUD360-390 million construction cost. Vast has wrapped up front-end engineering design (FEED) and commercial groundwork, now racing to lock in the remaining funds for a final investment decision and a 2025 groundbreaking.

Vast’s CSP v3.employs a proprietary sodium loop that captures and stores solar heat in molten salt, then dispatches it as power or heat on demand—up to 8 hours for VS1’s 30 MW capacity.

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