ANZ discounted finance helps SMEs counter rising costs with energy efficiency
Supporting businesses to strengthen operations, position for future growth
The CEFC backs the ANZ Energy Efficient Asset Finance Program to provide discounts on standard asset finance rates for businesses seeking to improve their energy performance and reduce costs with eligible equipment and technology.
$600m
CEFC cumulative commitment
Discounted
rates
1,600
businesses backed
SMEs are looking for practical ways to manage rising costs while maintaining productivity. This program helps bring forward investment in equipment that can reduce energy use and improve efficiency, while lowering financing costs at a time when access to affordable capital matters.Richard LovellExecutive Director, CEFC
Our investment
The CEFC committed $150 million in July 2026 to expand access to discounted finance for ANZ small and medium enterprise (SME) customers.
The CEFC and ANZ each contribute 0.4 per cent per annum towards a total discount of 0.8 per cent for assets including electric vehicles, rooftop solar, batteries, energy-efficient technology and recycling equipment.
The discounted rate can reduce total repayment costs and improve cash flow over the life of the asset, supporting investment decisions that may otherwise be deferred.
The July 2026 investment takes the total cumulative CEFC commitment to the ANZ Energy Efficient Asset Finance Program to $600 million since 2017.
our impact
Small and medium-sized businesses account for almost a third of Australia’s economy and, with many facing sustained pressure from higher energy prices, inflation and supply chain disruptions, access to discounted finance for energy-efficient equipment is critical.
The OECD has highlighted that partnerships between public finance institutions and commercial lenders are crucial to help small businesses invest in emissions-reducing technologies, particularly in hard-to-decarbonise sectors where sector-specific expertise is essential.1
Unlocking capital to improve sustainability
The CEFC has a strong track record of working with the Australian finance industry to unlock capital to improve sustainability. It has built a successful co-financing program with ANZ, which has helped bring lower-cost clean energy finance to small to medium businesses at scale. By July 2026, the ANZ Energy Efficient Asset Finance Program had supported more than 1,600 Australian businesses with over $444 million in discounted assset finance.
By making finance more affordable, the program helps businesses invest with confidence in assets that can strengthen their operations today while positioning themselves for future growth.
Investments that can deliver meaningful savings over time can include installing solar panels, upgrading equipment or transitioning a vehicle fleet.
The program has financed the installation of clean energy technologies across the economy, including more than $105 million in the agriculture sector, $72 million in manufacturing, $37 million in retail and wholesaling and $16 million in mining.
From renewable energy to recycling equipment
The ANZ Energy Efficient Asset Finance Program can support technologies including:
- a broad range of renewable energy and best-in-class energy efficient technologies
- precision agricultural equipment
- recycling technologies
- electric vehicles.
Please note: The CEFC does not provide finance to individual borrowers and does not make individual financing decisions. Interested borrowers should contact ANZ directly.
1 OECD (2026), Benchmarking SME Decarbonisation Policies, OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers, No. 79, OECD Publishing, Paris, p. 24.
