The 2025 Victorian Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge is now open, and seeking nominations for water professionals tackling climate change with bold, forward-thinking solutions.
Victorian Minister for Water, Gayle Tierney, launched the 2025 challenge at the Intelligent Water Networks’ Member Conference – encouraging the water industry to develop new solutions to climate change impacts in the sector.
“This challenge has encouraged great collaboration across the sector, resulting in cutting edge technology solutions and the development of innovative environmental approaches across the sector,” Ms Tierney said.
“By funding innovations that drive meaningful change, we are aiming to strengthen the water sector’s ability to adapt to our changing climate.”
The annual competition is led by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and the Intelligent Water Networks and is open to all Victorian water corporations to compete for a total prize pool of $280,000.
The State Government said that, overall, 2025 has been a very dry year for Victoria, with rainfall so far lower than any other this century – which is why it has increased funding in 2025 to encourage bigger, more complex and collaborative projects.
According to the Victorian Government, smart ideas for adapting water systems to be more climate resilient are more important than ever, with water corporations encouraged to reduce the effects of climate change or transform obstacles within the sector into new opportunities.
The last two years of the challenge have awarded funding to a range of projects, from technology solutions to innovative environmental approaches to help water systems adapt to changing climate conditions.
The winner of the 2024 challenge was South East Water, in partnership with RMIT University, for their plan to co-produce green hydrogen and oxidant from direct solar radiation.
The winning project proposed using recycled water to separate hydrogen and oxygen to generate green hydrogen. This world-first method, which harnesses power from the sun, can be installed on a floating modular platform and integrated into existing infrastructure.
Victoria’s water corporations are also leading the way on renewables, on track to be powered with 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of the year. This is a major step towards achieving net zero.
To enter, water corporations can visit, climateinnovationchallenge.org.au
