The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has approved an investment of up to AUD 45 million for Fortescue’s Solar Innovation Hub in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. Aimed to serve as a 500 MW ‘test bed’ for emerging technology, the Hub, with a planned 1.5 GW solar PV development pipeline, seeks to lower the levelized cost of utility-scale solar and accelerate deployment.
The project introduces a novel funding approach, explains ARENA, by trialing a portfolio of up to 10 individual projects that deploy a range of technologies under one agreement.
The project aims to test solar innovations to cut high costs and logistical challenges in the Pilbara, lowering the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and guiding future large-scale solar projects in Australia. It is expected to generate insights into reducing LCOE for solar PV in remote industrial environments.
To achieve this, Fortescue has launched 2 demonstration projects within the hub. While Built Robotics has successfully trialed its automated pile-driving technology at the Cloudbreak Solar Farm, 5B will test its pre-fabricated, pre-wired Maverick Solar technology onsite from early 2026. Both will be evaluated and, if successful, will be scaled up in future stages of the project’s solar pipeline.
“By creating a space where cutting-edge technologies can be tested and refined in real-world environments, we’re helping to deliver significant cost reductions as quickly as possible for the benefit of both industry and the climate,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.
ARENA says this is in line with the agency’s Ultra Low-Cost Solar (ULCS) goal through which it targets to achieve 30% module efficiency at an installed cost of 30 cents/W by 2030, which in turn will enable an LCOE of under AUD 20/MWh. Under this vision, the country seeks to achieve 1 TW of installed solar PV capacity in Australia by 2050.
Fortescue CEO Metals and Operations Dino Otranto added, “The Solar Innovation Hub will allow us to trial and refine new technologies that improve safety, speed up delivery and drive down costs – helping us and Australia accelerate the transition to green energy.”
Built Robotics earlier secured ARENA’s AUD 1.3 million funding under its 30-30-30 vision, while 5B raised AUD 46 million under the Solar Sunshot program (see ARENA Commits AUD 3.2 Million To Drive Down Solar Costs With Software Solutions and 5B Secures First Solar Sunshot Funding in Australia).
Recently, ARENA approved a grant under ULCS for Nextracker to deploy its automated foundation system in Australian solar farms (see ARENA’s AUD 4.96 Million For Nextracker’s Solar Automation Tech).
