In the face of efforts by Australia’s conservative Liberal-National government to do away with it the country’s ‘green bank’ has made a major investment in new biogas infrastructure that it hopes will cut energy costs for agribusinesses and manufacturers.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has revealed its made new investments exceeding $50 million.
The new outlays include a $20 million deal to invest in new biogas projects with Quantum Power, which will contribute a similar amount.
Under the deal, Quantum will supply food processors and other agribusinesses in all five mainland states with energy generated from organic waste, reducing the need for grid power and cutting costs.
CEFC chief executive Oliver Yates said food producers and manufacturers would benefit from greater control over their energy costs and improve their competitiveness in a global market.
Biogas allows these businesses to generate energy from onsite waste streams.
“The food processing sector has faced rising energy costs and getting control of those costs helps with their competitiveness,” he said.
Mr Yates said biogas production offered regional Australian agribusinesses and manufacturers a way to increase their control over a significant input cost thereby boosting their energy productivity in the face of rising electricity costs that have reduced returns.
“Quantum Power will build and manage the onsite facilities, leaving businesses free to keep focused on their core operations.”
Fairfax Media reports the deals, along with others expected to be unveiled over the next week or so, will bring the fund’s total investments to about $590 million compared with $536 million towards the end of 2013.
The Liberal-National coalition government has dubbed the CEFC a “giant green hedge fund” that provides unnecessary competition for the private sector.
The $10 billion fund was set up by the previous Labor government as part of its clean energy package and moves so far to do away with it have been thwarted by the Labor opposition and the Australian Greens Party.
Supporters note that private banks and other firms have spent three dollars for each dollar invested by the fund, for a total of more than $2.2 billion since its inception last July.
The investments, which include about half going to energy efficiency projects, have saved almost four million tonnes of carbon emissions at a negative-cost of $2.40 a tonne, the CEFC estimates.
Fairfax Media reports that as of February 20, the CEFC was in active discussions with 34 project proponents seeking finance for more than $1.2 billion.
All up, the projects would be worth more than $3 billion, the fund said.
The CEFC is also considering proposals from more than 150 proponents seeking CEFC finance for more than $4.3 billion, with total project costs exceeding $11.8 billion.
Under current legislation, the fund is required to invest $2 billion a year for five years.
3 Responses
Thats great that the CEFC spends Tax payers money to the tune of Billions of dollars, totally outside of any Democratic process….thats what you get when former Central Bankers have headed up the organisation…..
So everyone here who goes on about ‘big business’ being the ‘enviro enemy’ misses the point that there is no bigger business than the Green Banker take-over happening right in front of thier faces…..maybe all Bank Robebrs from now on should just wear a Greenpeace t-shirt and claim – “it’s for the earth!”
Concerning that they can circumvent the government, but investing in eco-technologies that may one day help us stop destroying the planet sounds like a good idea to me
Yes ‘its sounds like a great idea’ is exactly how they will get away with diverting billions of dollars with zero oversight and thus no accountability.
My question to you is – at what point will they stop taking this stream of money & who will make them if the Government wont?
If you trust Bankers then good luck to you mate – we will see how it pans out as the first investment of Australian money was with a foreign company.
Did you also know that these billions were taken outside of the carbon Tax system? No one i know has been made aware of this.
Again Paul the new ‘big business’ is exactly this type of arrangement where they dont actually produce anything, just take money, offer it up to thier own inetersts and the companies usually go bust or dissapear with the money and the Environment isnt one bit better off….but its all done under a ‘feel good’ umbrella……