CEFC ‘crowds in’ investment in clean energy – Ian Learmonth

The clean Energy Finance Corporation’s work of co-investing alongside private sector funds has never been more important than in 2024. Here in his investment update for 2023-24 CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth writes of a year of investment opportunities and constraints, of emissions progress and the increasingly personal impacts of climate change.

As a specialist investor on behalf of all Australians, these factors substantially shaped CEFC activity during the reporting year.

We contributed to important new investment across our economy, with $1.8 billion in CEFC capital backing investments with a total transaction value of $9.3 billion.

In attracting an additional $4.01 for each $1.00 of CEFC capital invested in the 2023-24 year, we again saw the potential of CEFC capital to ‘crowd in’ investment in our net zero economy.

At the same time, we sharpened our strategic investment focus to ensure we are most effectively using our capital to address the areas of highest emissions, most notably in clean energy generation, enhanced energy efficiency and carbon sequestration.

Evidence of this progress can also be seen in the timely deployment of capital in just the first year of operation for each of the Rewiring the Nation (RTN), Household Energy Upgrades (HEUF) and Powering Australia Technology (PATF) Funds.

It can be tempting to view the challenges of our net zero future as too large, too complex or too distant to address.

Yet at the end of another investment year, CEFC teams are buoyed by investor interest in net zero; the economywide commitment to emissions reduction and transparency; and the exciting progress of technology and innovation in tackling global greenhouse gas emissions.

In responding to these opportunities, we benefit from the experience and expertise of more than a decade of investment in emissions reduction.

During the 2023-24 year, we drew on this deep experience in building Australia’s renewable energy sector to further accelerate progress in large-scale energy storage and transmission infrastructure.

Our experience in delivering Australia’s first green home loans, alongside discounted finance for more than 70,800 smaller-scale asset finance projects, now underpins our approach to fast tracking household sustainability.

And our early leadership in backing climate tech innovators as they build market share is bearing fruit, with investee companies attracting substantial additional capital to finance ambitious growth plans.

The work we do to address emissions is opening important economic opportunities founded on our world-leading solar and wind resources.

This is an edited version of CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth’s introduction to the CEFC’s Investment update 2023-24.

Picture: CEFC/Ian Learmonth