News

Spanish renewable energy giant Acciona Energia has announced a A$2 billion expansion of one of the largest wind farms in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. The development will double the capacity of Queensland’s MacIntyre Wind Precinct to 2,000MW, providing enough power for 1.4 million homes and boosting the state’s commitment to becoming a renewable energy superpower. The new project also doubles the investment by Acciona Energia in the MacIntyre region, being developed in partnership with government-owned energy company CleanCo. “With this project we expect to dramatically accelerate the decarbonisation of Queensland’s electricity grid,” says Acciona Energia’s Managing Director in Australia Brett Wickham.

The Australian Government has introduced legislation to set up the Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO) over the coming months.

The 30% refundable tax offset will be available to eligible games developers that spend a minimum of A$500,000 on qualifying Australian development expenditure effective from 1 July 2022.

A pioneering Australian technology developer has invented a next-generation collapsible shipping container that is set to revolutionise the global shipping and logistics industry. Spectainer’s automated COLLAPSECON solution collapses up to four containers into one without cranes or manual labour, drastically cutting the cost of handling, storing and transporting empty shipping containers – a multi-billion-dollar problem for the industry. A tracking device on each container provides data on fleet movements and carbon emissions. “Our mission is to pioneer the future of global trade by creating innovative, practical and scalable solutions to evolve the shipping and logistics sector,” says Spectainer’s Founder and Managing Director Nicholas Press.

One of the world’s leading visual effects (VFX) and animation studios has landed in Australia. The UK’s DNEG will open a new studio in Sydney’s Tech Central district in 2023. The investment is expected to create 472 direct and 554 indirect jobs by 2024.

A five-year investment strategy is set to turbocharge Australia’s largest regional economy and accelerate growth in priority industries such as clean energy, circular economy, manufacturing, defence and agrifood. The New South Wales Government’s Regional Investment Attraction Strategy 2022–27 outlines the support and opportunities for businesses looking to expand or establish projects in the state’s regional precincts. It includes A$110 million in grant funding and aims to leverage A$1 billion in private sector investment. “We want to co-invest with businesses from across Australia and around the world to set up and deliver game-changing projects in regional NSW,” says Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole.

The Australian Government and national science agency CSIRO are partnering with Google to better understand and use natural carbon sinks found in the Indo-Pacific and Australian coastlines to combat climate change. Blue carbon ecosystems – such as mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass – provide long-term carbon storage. The project will combine artificial intelligence and data science with climate science. It will investigate new ways to accurately monitor, map and report on seagrass and associated biodiversity indicators. The collaboration is part of Google's Digital Future Initiative - a A$1 billion investment in Australian infrastructure, research and partnerships.

US medtech giant Stryker has opened its first R&D lab in Australia – a multi-million-dollar facility that will focus on digital health, robotics, clinical software and advanced manufacturing. Located in a collaborative health precinct in the Queensland capital of Brisbane, the investment will see Stryker work with some of Australia’s leading universities and medical research institutes to develop new health products and technologies. “With its world-class research institutions and highly skilled workforce, Australia has the capabilities Stryker needs to develop and produce the next generation of innovative medical technology,” says President of Stryker South Pacific Maurice Ben-Mayor.

The Australian Government released its Budget October 2022–23 on 25 October 2022. The Budget sets aside funding for initiatives aimed at strengthening Australia’s strategic capabilities, including in digital technologies.

This creates significant investment opportunities across several critical sectors, including resources, renewables, low-emission, and critical technologies.

In a world first, Australian dairy tech company Naturo has developed a fresh milk that it says is twice as digestible as other processed cow’s milk. Naturo’s groundbreaking Haelen Technology – first used to extend the shelf life of fresh milk – breaks down whey proteins in milk more than other standard milk processing, allowing for easier and faster digestion. “This latest digestibility finding is an incredible market breakthrough and has seen us shift our business strategy to allow worldwide Haelen Technology partnerships and licensing agreements. It opens the door to new products and new market opportunities,” says Naturo founder and CEO Jeff Hastings.

The Dublin-based games studio, Keywords Studios, is set to open 2 new game-development studios in Australia. The company is well-known as a contributor to major digital games including Fortnite, Mortal Kombat and Halo.

Australia and Japan have signed a new partnership to help secure crucial supply chains of critical minerals needed for the development of clean energy technologies. The partnership will promote opportunities for sharing information and collaboration in areas such as research, investment and commercial arrangements on joint projects. As well as strengthening Australia’s booming critical minerals sector, the new deal opens up opportunities for more foreign investment in the industry. “This new partnership … will help Australia further develop its abundant reserves of critical minerals, which will ultimately help both countries achieve their emissions reductions targets,” says Minister for Resources Madeleine King.

Australia is expected to become the second largest net-exporter of low-emissions hydrogen by 2030 and the largest by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency’s 2022 edition of its World Energy Outlook. This would see it exporting just over 50 billion cubic metres of natural gas equivalent (bcme). Globally, low-emissions hydrogen production is currently less than around 3.3 bcme. The largest net-import markets for low-emissions hydrogen in 2050 will be the European Union followed by Japan and South Korea. The Australian Government has already formed partnerships that support hydrogen market development with governments including Germany, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India and the United Kingdom.