Vast Renewables Limited and consortium partner Mabanaft secured funding agreements of approximately AUD $40 million for their solar methanol plant, SM1. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Projektträger Jülich (PtJ) will contribute AUD $19.48 million and EUR $12.4 million, respectively. The funding advances the SM1 project and aligns with the German-Australian HyGATE program, supporting hydrogen-related projects. Powered by Vast's CSP v3.0 technology, SM1 aims to produce 7,500 tons per annum of green methanol, potentially revolutionizing hard-to-abate industries and creating a solar methanol industry in Australia.