The GO Scheme - Certifying Green Steel and other Aussie low carbon products

On 3 November 2025, the Albanese Labor Government drew attention to what it described as a ‘high-integrity emissions certification scheme’ which it explained will give a new competitive advantage to Australian businesses and exporters looking to capitalise on the growing demand for renewable electricity and clean energy industries.

The scheme, known as the Guarantee of Origin scheme – or GO scheme for short – becomes important in the face of hopes for clean energy industries such as an Australian Green Steel industry of the sort we reported on yesterday, 10 November, in our post Green Steel?

The GO scheme is designed to certify the emissions of products like hydrogen and green metals, giving consumers, investors and industry confidence in their low-carbon credentials and help build trust in buying cleaner, Australian-made products which can be used domestically or be exported to countries decarbonising their own economies.

The GO scheme will also certify renewable electricity to provide clear, transparent evidence to support claims of renewable electricity generation use.

GO will allow Australian industry to verify the emissions associated with the production, transport and storage of their products. It will also provide a voluntary, enduring certification mechanism to increase the transparency of claims made about renewable electricity use.

Starting with the certification of hydrogen produced through electrolysis, GO will expand to cover other low-emissions products like green metals, low carbon liquid fuels and biomethane.

As of now, Industry can register with the Clean Energy Regulator for two types of certificates:

Product Guarantee of Origin (PGO) certificates, which record the emissions intensity and key attributes of clean products such as green hydrogen; and
Renewable Electricity Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates, which verify when, where and how renewable electricity was generated.

REGO will overlap with the Renewable Energy Target (RET) certification scheme for five years, providing long-term certainty for renewable electricity investment and procurement.

For industries investing in clean energy and manufacturing, GO is designed to play an important role in accessing the Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia initiatives, including the $4 billion Hydrogen HeadStart program, the $6.7 billion Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive and the $2 billion Green Aluminium Production Credit.

The GO scheme also comes on the back of the June 2025 announcement that the Albanese Government will invest in the future of Australian-made green metals with a $19.8 million grant to develop the production of low-emissions ‘green iron’ using Pilbara iron ore in Kwinana, just south of Fremantle.

That funding is intended to support a $48.8 million Front-End Engineering Design study for the NeoSmelt project, which is working towards replacing the traditional blast furnace steelmaking route by developing an electric smelting furnace to make low-emissions iron.

The electric smelting furnace (known as ESF) is a technology advance that could reduce emissions by as much as 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of steel produced.

The innovation could cut emissions by millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year if rolled out Australia-wide.

NeoSmelt, interestingly, is a joint venture between BlueScope, BHP, Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy and Mitsui Iron Ore Development. The Kwinana facility would be Australia’s largest ironmaking electric smelting furnace pilot plant.

As an aside, this project is expected to generate up to 100 full-time equivalent roles during operations, potentially peaking to 300 during construction phase.

A final investment decision is expected in 2026, with operations at Kwinana planned to begin in 2028.

Chris Bowen

As to the GO initiative, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, who will soon be on his way to COP30 in Brazil, was upbeat and observed that –

“The global shift to clean energy represents one of the biggest economic transformations since the Industrial Revolution – and it presents Australia with an enormous economic and jobs opportunity.

“Global investment in clean energy projects is set to rise over USD $2 trillion. Our government wants to grow this – and this scheme provides the regulatory certainty that Australian businesses and investors need to increase our share in it.

“Our scheme will mean that our exporters, farmers, and industries will be able to seize the benefits of net zero globally, while helping to protect our environment for future generations.”

Here’s Josh Wilson presenting at COP30 in Brasil

Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson, who is also the MP for Fremantle, and has just presented at COP30 in Brasil, was equally enthusiastic and added –

“The GO Scheme will help Australia to realise the full economic potential of the energy transition by supporting jobs and investment in a Future Made in Australia, and it will give Australian producers the confidence and credibility they need to compete in a global economy that’s rapidly decarbonising.

“GO is a high-integrity certificate scheme that will demonstrate how products are made and attest to their lifecycle emissions, opening access to high-value domestic and international markets that demand low emissions products and transparency.

“A key tool in the Albanese Government’s energy transition toolbox, GO will catalyse the development of renewable hydrogen to the scale we need to power the growth of new industries and jobs, and to decarbonise critical but hard-to-abate industrial sectors.”

And just to show there were lighter moments at the COP30 meeting despite all the serious climate discussions underway there, here are two of Australia’s biggest movers and shakers in the political and industrial Climate world, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy and Freo MP Josh Wilson and Green Industrialist and Freo aficionado Dr Andrew Forrest AO, Executive Chairman of Fortescue Ltd hamming it up for the camera at COP30!