Vast Renewables Enters Voluntary Administration as Funding Strains Stall Flagship Solar Thermal Project

Vast Renewables Limited, the Australian concentrated solar thermal power developer behind the long-planned VS1 storage project in Port Augusta, has entered voluntary administration along with ten wholly owned subsidiaries after months of escalating liquidity pressure and stalled capital raising efforts. KPMG partners Peter Gothard and Amanda Coneyworth were appointed administrators on 13 November 2025.

The appointment marks a significant turning point for one of Australia’s most prominent homegrown cleantech ventures. Vast gained early credibility through a successful pilot installation in New South Wales, later repositioned itself through a US listing, and spent the past two years promoting its next generation tower-based CSP platform as a long duration storage alternative within the country’s emerging renewable energy mix. Despite securing conditional federal commitments worth up to $290 million for VS1, including major ARENA support, the company struggled to bridge the commercial funding gap required to reach construction. Its delisting from Nasdaq earlier this year due to share-price non-compliance compounded the challenge.

Gothard said the administration applies only to the Australian entities and does not extend to Vast’s US affiliates or to SiliconAurora Pty Ltd, the special purpose vehicle that controls the broader Port Augusta Green Energy Hub and its 140-megawatt battery project. Vast’s day-to-day operations will continue while KPMG conducts an urgent assessment of the group’s financial position and viable restructuring paths. An accelerated expression-of-interest campaign will open shortly, targeting buyers or recapitalisation partners capable of taking control of VS1 and the company’s intellectual property.

Only three months ago, Vast raised US$3.5 million through convertible notes subscribed by Nabors Industries and Canberra Airport Group, two of its longest-standing shareholders. Management described the injection at the time as bridge funding to maintain momentum at Port Augusta and to underpin a broader capital campaign targeting institutional and strategic investors. The company also announced it was advancing a partnership with a multinational manufacturer to accelerate commercialisation of its technology. Those initiatives have not progressed far enough to stabilise the group’s balance sheet or secure the equity needed to unlock further government funding tranches.

The administrators are expected to focus early efforts on clarifying the status of key government support agreements, assessing the cost to complete VS1, and gauging market appetite for the company’s technology platform. KPMG will convene the first creditors’ meeting for the group on 24 November.