VIC Energy Innovation Fund – Round 3

  • Grant application open until 28 November 2025
  • Grants up to $2 million per application (though exceptions may be considered where exceptional value is demonstrated)
  • Total funding pool of $10 million available

Round 3 of the Energy Innovation Fund supports the electrification of industrial processes within the food and beverage processing and manufacturing sector in Victoria. The goal is to replace fossil fuel-based systems (e.g. gas, boilers) with electric alternatives, thereby lowering emissions, improving energy cost stability, and driving technological innovation in the sector.

Key Requirements

Round 3 of the Energy Innovation Fund supports industrial electrification in Victoria, targeting the food and beverage processing and manufacturing sector.

Eligible projects must replace fossil fuel systems with electric alternatives, fully integrated on-site, and demonstrate or achieve Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9 and Commercial Readiness Index (CRI) 2–5 by funding agreement execution.

Projects must:

  • Be capital works/implementation projects (not feasibility or early-stage R&D)
  • Be primarily located in Victoria
  • Comply with regulatory, safety, and permitting requirements
  • Seek funding for eligible costs of up to 50 % of the total project cost

What is eligible for funding?

Eligible Expenditure must be directly tied to delivering the physical works / capital works of the project.

Some examples:

  • Contracted costs for construction, plant supply, grid connection, and works directly for physical delivery.
  • Labour costs of personnel directly working on the project (e.g. site engineers, project staff), including on-costs (superannuation, insurance, leave accruals)
  • Civil, structural, electrical works required to integrate new equipment
  • Capital cost of major plant, equipment or components for electrification
  • Construction-related administrative costs (e.g. site accommodation, site-specific travel, drawings / plan printing) where directly needed for the project
  • Legal, audit, accounting services only if directly linked to contracting or delivery of the works
  • Costs of licences, permits, or IP necessary for deploying the equipment
  • Construction-phase insurances and risk management costs necessary to enable delivery of the works

The grant will fund up to 50 % of Eligible Expenditure (GST inclusive less GST credits) under competitive assessment.

What companies are eligible for funding?

Eligible applicants include:

  • Food and beverage processing and manufacturing businesses in Victoria — the project must be in that sector (not agricultural production, packaging-only, or distribution-only)
  • Technology developers, consortia, or joint ventures (with a lead entity) if the project meets all other eligibility criteria
  • Entities incorporated under the Corporations Act, state or territory owned bodies, or local government bodies (depending on compliance with eligibility rules)

It is critical that the entity has legal authority to deliver the project, own or use required IP, and satisfy financial and delivery capacity requirements.

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

  • Industry analysis presentation
  • Competitor Analysis Presentation
  • Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
  • 3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
  • 3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
  • End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
  • CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
  • Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
  • Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.