Transforming Australian clean energy investment: CEFC 2015-16 Annual Report

31 October 2016

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation Annual Report for 2015-16 has been tabled in the Australian Senate, fulfilling an important part of the CEFC's transparency, information sharing and regulatory obligations. The online version of the report is available here.

The CEFC committed a record $837 million in new investment in 2015-16, a 73 per cent increase on the previous year, supporting projects with a total value of $2.5 billion.

In her Chair's Report, Chair Jillian Broadbent AO notes that the CEFC ended the financial year as a relatively new but increasingly mature organisation after just three full years in operation.

"We are now a central part of Australia's clean energy sector, reflected in the volume, diversity and scale of our investments, our reach across the Australian economy, and the important role we are playing in drawing in new capital to support the nation's efforts in emissions reduction," Ms Broadbent said.

"We have made cumulative commitments of nearly $2.3 billion to projects valued at some $5.7 billion, while continuing to earn a return above the Government's cost of funds. For every dollar committed in 2015-16, the Corporation leveraged $1.95 in additional private sector capital.

"The Corporation continues to meet our key objectives, catalysing and accelerating investment and growing the portfolio of clean energy investments across technologies and geographically."

Ms Broadbent added: "The worldwide transition to the use of cleaner, smarter and more distributed energy technologies presents opportunities and challenges for the Australian economy in areas of our natural competitive advantage. By catalysing investment at scale, working alongside private sector investors, we are helping deliver least-cost greenhouse gas abatement, as well as productivity gains and broader economic benefits."

In his CEO Report on the 2015-16 year, CEO Oliver Yates said: "Through our 15 new investments, we mobilised an even greater amount of private sector capital into clean energy activities, working across a diverse range of technologies and geographies. We were pleased to directly invest in major projects, as well as increase our work alongside co-financiers to contribute to the transformation of Australia's clean energy investment, catalysing new finance into this exciting area of the national economy.

"At the same time we sharpened our strategic focus, to ensure CEFC finance is deployed to the greatest impact. We continue to apply commercial rigour to our investment decisions, so that we deliver a positive return on investment for taxpayers across our portfolio."

Mr Yates said the CEFC has a clear investment approach and a scalable investment model in order to accelerate progress towards achievement of the Renewable Energy Target and reduced emissions.

"It is important that the urgent clean energy action we need to take in Australia is achieved as efficiently and effectively as possible," Mr Yates said. "At the CEFC we have concluded another year demonstrating that we have a scalable platform to accelerate our investment activities and to continue to contribute to the transformation of clean energy investment in Australia."