Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has invested more than $900m in the 2013-14 financial year in projects worth more than $3bn in total value.
The investments cover a diverse range of economic activity such as agribusiness, waste coal mine gas-to-energy, wave energy, bioenergy, energy efficiency projects in local government and the community sector, and efficiency upgrades across the full spectrum of the property sector.
CEFC CEO Oliver Yates said the CEFC is demonstrating the potential that its activities offer to catalyse greater private sector investment into the sector, with its current portfolio achieving matched private sector funds of more than $2.20 for each $1 of CEFC investment.
“The CEFC invests for a positive return, with its investments presently expected to earn an average yield of approximately 7%, which is more than 3.5% above the government’s cost of funds prevailing when the investment were made,”Yates said.
“Through this portfolio of 40 direct investments and a further 25 projects co-financed under aggregation partnerships, the CEFC is delivering abatement estimated at more than 4.2 million tonnes of CO2e p.a., with a benefit to the taxpayer of around $2.40 per tonne of CO2e abated (net of government cost of borrowing).”
The CEFC has partnered with all four major banks and more than ten other domestic and international banks for the investment.
The CEFC will also finance $227m, of which around $133m is for new solar programmes and projects, which will bring its total commitment to solar to more than $200m.
Some of the investments of the CEFC include up to $120m for three new Solar PV financing programmes, up to $70m for a programme by SunEdison, up to $20m for a programme offered by Tindo Solar, up to $30m for a programme by Kudos Energy and $13m under a structured project finance facility.
