SYDNEY — Hundreds of hotels and motels from Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory to Hobart in Tasmania are set to save on their power bills under an AU$10.2 million ($7.9 million) federal government grants program.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has announced 443 facilities had been given the green light for up to AU$25,000 ($19,364.8) in grants under the Hotel Energy Uplift Program.
Hotels, motels, and serviced apartments with up to 99 rooms were eligible to receive grants under the program.
Taylor tweeted: “Small and medium hotels across Australia are receiving support to cut their energy costs. Australia’s hotel industry was among the hardest hit by COVID-19, and we are helping local operators get back on their feet.”
“This will help lower their energy bills by upgrading to more energy-efficient air-conditioning, refrigeration, and equipment, improving the building through double glazing and insulation, carrying out energy audits or installing energy monitoring equipment,” Taylor said on June 11.
“These grants will help fund projects that will provide genuine and lasting energy savings that will reduce operating costs and have a positive flow-on effect for jobs and small businesses into the future.”
The program is also expected to create a business boom for local electricians, carpenters, engineers, and plumbers. The pandemic has hit the country hard, especially the hospitality sector, owing to the lockdown.
The local businesses have also suffered, and the grant has been released to help the businesses and locals who are struggling to make both ends meet.
The government has also released a list of Hotel Energy Uplift Program that will receive the grant.
The Office of the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction released a statement discussing the energy cost being cut for the hotels.
The statement read that over 440 hotels, motels, and other facilities will receive the grant that will help lower their energy bills by upgrading to more energy-efficient air-conditioning, refrigeration, and equipment, improving the building through double glazing and insulation, carrying out energy audits along with other expenditure.
More than 85 percent of the grants have been allocated to hotels in regional or remote Australia.
Hotels, motels, and serviced apartments with up to 99 rooms were eligible to receive grants under the program.
Stephen Ferguson, national chief executive of the Australian Hotels Association, said the grants would help struggling businesses trying to recover from the worst 15 months the industry has ever experienced.
“Energy costs are one of the largest ongoing expenses for many hotels, and the bills keep coming, even when a hotel has its doors shut during a lockdown,” he said.
“So anything that can be done to bring down power costs is welcome.”
Energy Efficiency Council chief Luke Menzel said it would also take pressure off the electricity grid and deliver lower emissions.
(Edited by Amrita Das and Praveen Pramod Tewari. Map by Urvashi Makwana)
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