Highlights from the 2026 Australasian Renewable Heat Conference
This year we took our popular Australasian Renewable Heat Conference to a new city (Melbourne) and a new and bigger venue (the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre) and we were delighted to have 350 industry leaders join us for two action-packed days!
After a great breakfast hosted by Platinum Sponsor, Origin Energy, we welcomed all delegates into the expanded exhibition area with more than 30 exhibitors for coffee before kicking off proceedings with a Welcome to Country and opening session looking at the heat decarbonisation challenge across the industrial and commercial sectors.
Industrial session highlights
Highlights across the industrial sessions included Reneae Gasmier from Solar Victoria detailing the addition of industrial heat decarbonisation activities to the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, learning about Cache Energy's long-duration thermochemical energy storage system, international updates from our overseas speakers, the launch of a practical guide to thermal storage for industrial process heat and the news that Good Heat has selected Rondo Energy as the OEM for its Project Arcadia which is due to start construction in the New Year. Conversations indicated that the models of energy and heat-as-a-service resonated with a number of attendees, particularly in light of budget tightening across most parts of industry.
Commercial session highlights
Our commercial sessions were buoyed by research from JLL showing all-electric office stock in the Melbourne and Sydney central business districts is set to jump from a handful of buildings today to well over 2,000 assets by 2030 and that supply that isn't yet keeping pace with tenant demand. Consistently we heard in the commercial the importance of moving early rather than waiting: the premium on electrified, high-performing assets is available now while supply is short, and narrows as more stock comes online, while laggard buildings face rising costs and value decline. Mirvac's case study on 200 George Street in Sydney grounded the discussion in practice, showing how gas heating and hot water were removed from a fully operating premium tower with no loss of premium-grade performance. In her presentation on the electrification of Collingwood Leisure Centre, Karen Hucker from the City of Yarra made the important point of securing a good quality, experienced consultant - even if it costs more - as it will guarantee better outomes.
Across the board, we were fortunate to have so many fantastic project case studies for attendees to learn from, including from Blackmores, VISY, Alsco Uniforms Australia, Mirvac, Gundagai Meat Processors, Australian Country Choice, Australian Consolidated Milk, McCain Foods, Coca-cola Europacific Partnership, Four Pines Brewing Company, Tronox, Monash University, Sugar Australia, Yarra Valley Water, GPT, the Living Company and City of Yarra.
The other major highlight of the event was the presentation of the 2026 Renewable Heat Awards (see the Award-winning projects from Optimal Renewable Gas and Saputo Dairy Australia, Alsco Uniforms Australia and Monash University here) and a special presentation of the A2EP Lifetime Achievement Award for A2EP founder, Jon Jutsen.
Already we have had overwhelmingly positive feedback on the event with 94% of respondents saying they will be back in 2027! We have already started planning our next conference so stay tuned for details!
