Local councils in the west of Melbourne, Australia will receive $2.2 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to assist in the EV transition.

The funding will support the $8.9-million Local Council BEV Integration Project to deploy 65 EVs and seven heavy EVs, as well as charging infrastructure, across three local councils in Victoria. The Wyndham City Council, Moonee Valley City Council and Brimbank City Council, as members of the Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action (WAGA), will introduce EVs for waste management, parks and roads maintenance and general travel. 

The project, ending in June 2027, provides an opportunity to demonstrate how a variety of vehicles in a fleet of 400 can be transitioned to zero-emission alternatives. It will also test ways to overcome challenges in bringing EVs into fleets, such as technical issues, costs, and day-to-day operations. It aims to understand charging infrastructure needs and strategies for managing EVs to make fleet electrification easier.

“Local councils have been early movers in this space and, typically, their experiences reflect the challenges and barriers experienced by other industries and sectors,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.

Source: Australian Renewable Energy Agency