CEFC commitments reached $12.7 billion in 2022/23

The CEFC has provided an update related to its 2022/23 year, with $1.9 billion in new investment commitments made, including a record $1.2 billion in renewable energy and grid-related projects.

According to CEO Ian Learmonth, the $1.2 billion helped bring forward large-scale solar, wind and storage projects with a total transaction value of $5.7 billion, with such investments critical to reaching a national goal of 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030. 

The period included CEFC investments in “large-scale transformational” projects, including a $100 million commitment to the NSW Waratah Super Battery (claimed to be one of the largest standby network batteries in the world) and a commitment of up to $222.5 million for the 756 megawatt Golden Plains Wind Farm in Victoria.

Thirty new and 20 follow-on transactions were made in the 12 months, and commitments reached $12.7 billion across more than 300 large-scale transactions for the lifetime of Australia’s “green bank”.

The CEFC invested a record $54.5 million in new and follow-on commitments through the Clean Energy Innovation Fund (managed by Virescent Ventures), with each $1 attracting an additional $6.47 in private sector capital.

In total, according to the CEFC, its $1.9 billion in transactions made over the 12 months — up from $1.4 billion the year before — led to a record in resulting private sector commitments, with $5.02 in private funding attracted per dollar of CEFC funding.

The period also saw the federal government approve an additional $20.5 billion capital allocation to the CEFC, the first increase since the CEFC was established in 2012. 

This included $19 billion through Rewiring the Nation, $1 billion to help households change their energy usage, and $500 million to back projects and companies in the climate tech sector.