Strategic Grants Overview. Karratha & Districts Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Transcription

1 Strategic Grants Overview 14 March 2018 Karratha & Districts Chamber of Commerce & Industry

2 1 PwC s Incentives and Innovation Team PwC team comprises former government officials and is a specialised service offering for the firm Assisting client to identify a competitive project Experience with large-scale applications (complexity and tight timelines) Development of a strategic approach based on project benefits Understanding the government s value-proposition project competitiveness, suitability and alignment with government objectives Ability to interpret government feedback Importance of stakeholder relationship (differing viewpoints between bureaucrats and Ministers) Appreciation of political circumstances on grant funding (election cycles, political relationships) Key is to build merit as grants are highly competitive within required timeframes PwC 2

3 2 Where government co-invests $8bn invested in industry assistance each year according to Productivity Commission Defined programs and discretionary grants Federal and State Cost effective way for government to have high-impact (sugar hit) Economic, social, environmental impacts Projects must be prospective Require need for funding argument: - project needs to be in pre-approval stage or capital raising (shovel ready) - project must be viable long term - generally not suitable for proposals where less than 60-75% of private finance has been secured - for larger applicants need substantial external economic and social co-benefits Generally not suitable for start-ups (some exceptions e.g. CRC-P & Commercialisation Australia) PwC 3

4 Regional Growth Fund (RGF) grants for transformative common-use or private use infrastructure Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF) grants for multi-beneficiary infrastructure in regional Australia Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) soft loans for multi-beneficiary infrastructure in northern Australia ARENA grants and recoupable grants for innovative renewable energy projects CEFC soft loans for more established clean energy technology CEIF soft loans for innovative clean energy technology CRC-P grants for late stage research projects with clear commercialisation pathway, with industry and university involvement R&D Tax Incentive tax offset for qualifying R&D activity PwC 4

5 $272.2 million Regional Growth Fund (RGF) - Grants to support common-user and single-user infrastructure projects in regional Australia which have a major transformational impact on the region in terms of: - jobs - flow-on activity across the region - Categories of projects can include, but are not limited to, transport and communications, tourism, manufacturing and primary industries - Applicants can be from State or local governments, the private sector and not-for-profits - The minimum grant size is $10m with no specified upper-limit - 50% co-funding required (matched funding cannot come from the Australian government) - Two-step application process EOI due by 27 April, then invited to full application stage PwC 5

6 $297.7 million Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF) - The four year Program supports new, improved and upgraded multi-beneficiary infrastructure projects that provide economic and social benefits to regional and remote areas - A Council or not-for-profit organisation must lead the application - Appropriate BBRF projects could include improving multi-beneficiary infrastructure in areas such as: Transport networks roads, ports, airports, rail hubs Communications networks Water projects Regional cold stores - Grant funding of between $20,000 and $10 million is available - Standard 1:1 (50%) funding ratio, however defined Remote and Very Remote regions are able to access a 3:1 (75%) ratio - Next round of funding is expected to open around the middle of 2018 PwC 6

7 $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) - Project must be in northern Australia (north of Tropic of Capricorn or NT) - Concessional finance program supports investment in multi-user infrastructure that benefits Northern Australia - Typical projects include airports, communications, energy, ports, rail, and water - No specified maximum assistance, however, NAIF's preferred minimum investment size for an individual project is $50 million or more - Only project to date is a port upgrade in Onslow WA ($18m) - NAIF can provide up to 50% of the debt finance for a project - Up to 27 year borrowing term - Broadly, need to show economic benefits (economic modelling), social benefits (including indigenous engagement strategy), linkages to regional plans, need for funding, capacity to repay PwC 7

8 $2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) - ARENA will support activities relating to innovative renewable energy technologies - The program seeks to support emerging technologies along a pathway to commercial readiness - Wider knowledge sharing of project outcomes is a key requirement, with a pathway to unlocking future investment - Projects must align with ARENA s Investment Plan: Delivering secure and reliable electricity (storage) focus on storage and demand management Accelerating solar PV innovation making solar PV more efficient and affordable through R&D Improving energy productivity reducing energy costs and emissions in the transport, building and industrial sectors Exporting renewable energy building new and scaleable export value chains in renewable energy - No specified grant funding, however applicant co-contributions is required (can be grants or recoupable grants) PwC 8

9 $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) - Soft loans for more established clean energy technology investments - Need to show a gap in commercial funding - This fund will provide debt and/or equity financing to projects - No specified maximum assistance, however, CEFC's preferred minimum investment size for a renewable technology project is $20 million - The Clean Energy Innovation Fund (CEIF) provides soft loans to innovative technologies on lower interest rates and seeks guidance from ARENA on the level of innovation present in a proposed project PwC 9

10 Cooperative Research Centre Projects (CRC-P) Programme - The program supports collaborative late-stage research projects, with a fast pathway to commercialisation - Projects need to address an identified industry problem and involve both industry and university participants (at least one SME and one other industry participant) - Key information in relation to the CRC-Ps: funding available for up to three years maximum of $3 million (GST exclusive) available for each CRC-P - CRC-P collaboration must at least match the amount of grant funding sought through cash and/or in-kind contributions (1:1 ratio) PwC 10

11 R&D Tax Incentive - Operates through the Australian taxation system - Supports highly innovative activities, with the purpose of creating something new or improved: - requires that the outcome of the activity cannot be known/determined in advance - must follow a scientific method hypothesis, experimentation to test hypothesis (core activity) - can have supporting activity if it is directly related and for the dominant purpose of supporting the core activity - For qualifying activity the benefits are: - 45% Refundable Tax Offset if entity has less than $20m turnover - 40% Tax Offset if entity has turnover of greater than $20m PwC 11

12 4 Questions & Contact Details Keith Anthonisz Manager, Incentives and Innovation Mob Emily Jeffrey Senior Manager, Incentives and Innovation Mob Brian O Meara Senior Manager, Incentives and Innovation Mob brian.omeara@pwc.com PwC 12

13 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the Australian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see for further details. The information contained in this document cannot be relied upon for any particular matter. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation PwC 13