Australia is injecting A$2 billion ($1.7 billion) into the government-owned Clean Energy Finance Corporation in a bid to boost investment in the nation’s energy transition.
The money is expected to unlock an additional A$6 billion in private capital from investors for domestic projects and accelerate the shift toward renewable power and batteries, lowering prices for consumers, the government said in a statement.
Energy transition investment in Australia will need to scale up rapidly if the nation is to remain on a net zero pathway, according to a report from BloombergNEF last year. In 2023 about US$18 billion ($24.39 billion) was spent on the green shift but that amount needs to more than triple to US$55 billion per year from 2024 to 2030, the report said.
Established by the government in 2012 with initial funding of A$10 billion, the CEFC was tasked with financing green projects and start-ups at a time when large-scale investment in sectors including wind and solar was seen as too risky for most private banks.
