Western Australia opens 3% loans of $300,000 to $15 million for factory solar and batteries - the worksite puts in 20% cash, and spend before the deed is out
On 27 October 2026 the WA Department of Energy and Economic Diversification opened the Made in WA Energy Affordability Investment Program. The pot is $153.3 million. The guidelines price every loan at 3% a year, for up to 7 years, with no principal or interest repayments in the first 12 months. Stream 1 names solar photovoltaic, inverters and battery storage at a manufacturer's site. The smallest job the loan can cover is $375,000. A business that only sells goods sits outside the manufacturer test. Applications close at 5pm AWST on 23 February 2027.
A factory in Western Australia can now apply for a government loan for panels and a battery. It is a loan. The money comes back. The rate is printed. The grant line is not.
On 27 October 2026 the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification said applications are open for the Made in WA Energy Affordability Investment Program. The opening note calls it a 153.3 million low-interest loan program and names renewable energy, energy storage and electrification. The program page, updated the same day, prints the dollar sign: $153.3 million. Loans run from $300,000 to $15 million and can cover up to 80% of eligible project cost. Two streams. Stream 1 is energy efficiency, or a lower energy cost. Stream 2 pairs that with advanced manufacturing equipment, and the job shows a lower energy cost as well as a lift in how the plant makes things. Applications close at 5pm AWST on Tuesday 23 February 2027. The guidelines add that the State can close earlier.
The program details page and the guidelines print the price of the money. Every loan is 3% a year. The longest term is 7 years, and that count includes a first year with no principal repayments and no interest repayments. The FAQ calls that first year an interest-free period and prints the 3% as the rate after it. The guidelines print "3 per cent per annum" and do not print the words "interest-free". No application fee and no establishment fee, on the FAQ. Early repayment carries no penalty, and money paid back cannot be drawn again.
Who can stand in the queue. A manufacturer in Western Australia, in one of five sectors, or a manufacturer that supplies made goods into one of them: clean energy, critical minerals, defence and space, food and beverage, health and medical life sciences. The guidelines define a manufacturer as a business mainly engaged in turning materials, substances or components into new products. A shop that only sells goods is outside that sentence. Charities and government bodies are out as the sole or lead applicant. The guidelines put Aboriginal businesses to one side of that exclusion and do not finish the sentence for a reader.
The size split follows annual revenue. At $10 million or under, the loan is $300,000 to $2 million, and that category's allocation is up to $60 million. Above $10 million of revenue, the loan is more than $2 million and up to $15 million, and that category's allocation is up to $93.3 million. 60 plus 93.3 is 153.3, by our arithmetic. The guidelines print both caps and the $153.3 million pot. They do not print the addition.
The 20% is cash. The guidelines say a loan can fund up to 80% of eligible project cost, and the applicant's share is at least 20%, from cash the applicant controls. That cash is not a fresh loan, and it is not another government program, unless the Minister approves it. The smallest loan is $300,000, so the smallest eligible job is $375,000: $300,000 from the program and $75,000 from the factory. The FAQ repeats those three figures. On a $15 million loan the same 80/20 rule is a $18.75 million job and $3.75 million of cash, by our arithmetic. 15 divided by 0.8 is 18.75. The FAQ prints a different pair for that top loan: a $3 million cash share and an $18 million job. 15 is not 80% of 18. 3 is 20% of 15, which is the loan, not the job. The guidelines' minimum example matches 80/20. The FAQ's maximum example does not.
What the loan can buy. Stream 1's list is open. The named items include solar photovoltaic, inverters, and battery energy storage systems at the manufacturer's site, where the job improves the energy cost. The FAQ answers two short questions in the affirmative. Renewable energy is in, where it serves the manufacturing operation and the energy result can be measured. A battery is in, where it is connected to that operation, meets the technical and connection rules, and improves the energy cost. An existing solar system can take a battery, subject to assessment. Second-hand gear is out. Spend dated before the loan deed is signed is out. A new building is out, aside from essential works the program has approved for the job. The FAQ expects the job finished within two years of the deed, unless the State allows longer.
The gear has a list. The guidelines' appendix says panels, inverters and batteries are on the Clean Energy Council approved product lists, where those lists apply. The installer is accredited by Solar Accreditation Australia, the body that used to be the Clean Energy Council's accreditation arm. The contractor holds a Western Australian electrical licence. The appendix also talks about a virtual power plant, a group of batteries a network can call on. It says joining one is voluntary for Western Power customers, and it names Horizon Power's Community Wave. That is a later option on the page. It is not the line that admits the loan.
Certificates sit in the quote, on a different line from the 20% cash. The guidelines tell the applicant to show whether small-scale technology certificates, or any other certificate incentive, are inside the budget or the supplier quote. They point at changes to the federal Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme. They do not print a worked example that drops those certificates into the 20% cash. The regulator's page of 30 October, filed here as the related-roof note, is the current test for when a factory roof is small-scale, mid-scale or over the line. The September note on mid-scale certificates is the earlier rule. This loan is Western Australia. It is not the NSW business battery discount.
An older sheet still sits on the web. An announcement last updated 10 March 2026 put the program at $150 million, said loan periods of up to ten years were being considered, and said the launch would be July 2026. The pages that opened on 27 October print $153.3 million, seven years, and a 3% rate. A reader who prices the job off the March sheet is on the old paper.
Security is not one rule. The guidelines leave the form and the level to the Minister. They name a charge over project assets as one form, registered on the personal property securities register. There is no line that every loan is unsecured.
Assessment is a contest. One application only. If two arrive from the same applicant, the department will have the applicant pick one. The Minister can move money between the streams and the revenue categories. A printed rate is not an approval.
Analogy: 3% is the price of the money. The panels and the battery are a different invoice. The 20% is the slice the loan does not cover, in cash, before the first draw. A certificate discount on the quote is a third piece of paper.
Good: A published open date, a published close, a published rate, a published size range, and a guidelines line that names solar photovoltaic, inverters and batteries at a factory.
Bad: The FAQ's $18 million top job does not match the guidelines' 80/20 rule. The guidelines and the FAQ do not share one sentence on whether the first year is interest-free or only free of repayments. Security is at the Minister's discretion. The March sheet still prints ten years and $150 million.
Ugly: Reading 3% as a discount off the panels. Treating the 20% as covered by a federal certificate. Paying a deposit before the deed and expecting the loan to refund it. Putting a retail shop, or a second-hand battery, on the application. Using the March ten-year line on a job that will be signed under the October guidelines.
Soft next step: put the 3% rate, the 20% cash, the product list and the deed date on one sheet, and keep any certificate discount inside the quote.
Source: WA Department of Energy and Economic Diversification, first published 27 Oct 2026 - applications open. Primary for the open date, the phrase "153.3 million" without a dollar sign, loans of $300,000 to $15 million, renewable energy, energy storage and electrification, the two stream descriptions, and the close at 5pm AWST on Tuesday 23 February 2027. Program homepage, last updated 27 Oct 2026. Primary for $153.3 million, loans from $300,000 to $15 million, up to 80% of eligible project cost, and renewable energy plus energy storage. Program details, last updated 27 Oct 2026. Primary for the five target sectors, the revenue split at $10 million, the 3% rate, the 7-year term, no principal or interest repayments in the first 12 months, the $375,000 minimum eligible job, and the 20% applicant share with evidence before the first payment. Program guidelines (PDF), applications open 27 Oct 2026. Primary for 3 per cent per annum, the 7-year term including the repayment-free year, no principal or interest repayments in the first 12 months, early repayment without penalty and no redraw, category caps of up to $60 million and up to $93.3 million, 80% and at least 20% in cash the applicant controls, the bar on funding that share from a loan or another government program unless the Minister approves, the $300,000 / $75,000 / $375,000 example, disclosure of small-scale technology certificates and other certificate incentives, one application only, competitive assessment, the State may close at its discretion, the manufacturer definition, the charity and government exclusion with Aboriginal businesses set aside, Stream 1's open list naming solar photovoltaic, inverters and battery energy storage systems, spend before the deed is ineligible, second-hand equipment is ineligible, new buildings are ineligible aside from approved essential works, security at the Minister's discretion including a charge over project assets, and the appendix rules on Clean Energy Council product lists, a Solar Accreditation Australia installer, a Western Australian electrical licence, and voluntary virtual-power-plant participation for Western Power customers, including Horizon Power's Community Wave. 60 + 93.3 = 153.3, and 15 / 0.8 = 18.75, and 18.75 − 15 = 3.75, are our arithmetic. Program FAQ (PDF). Primary for the 3% rate following what the FAQ calls an interest-free period, no application or establishment fees, early repayment without penalty, the repeated $375,000 example, the $15 million loan paired with a $3 million cash share and an $18 million job, battery storage eligible when connected to the manufacturing operation, an existing solar system able to add a battery subject to assessment, second-hand equipment out, and completion expected within two years of the deed unless the State allows longer. 15 / 18 is about 83%, and 3 / 15 is 20% of the loan: both are our arithmetic, and neither is printed as an 80/20 check. WA Government announcement, last updated 10 Mar 2026. Primary for the older $150 million figure, loan periods of up to ten years being considered, a July 2026 launch, and industrial batteries. The October pages do not carry those three figures forward.