Accelerating towards net zero: CEFC Annual Report 2024-25

7 October 2025

The CEFC Annual Report 2024-25 has been tabled in Parliament, outlining a record-breaking year of activity across transmission infrastructure, renewable energy, natural capital, household energy efficiency and climate technology to advance Australia’s clean energy transition.

In the 12 months to 30 June 2025 CEFC finance led a remarkable $25.7 billion uplift in new investment toward net zero, on the back of a record $4.7 billion in CEFC investment commitments.

This included two of our largest ever transactions, in transmission, game-changing investments in sustainable agriculture, substantial progress in renewables, a nationwide emphasis on household and business sustainability and a renewed focus on climate tech investment to nurture a homegrown innovation ecosystem.

CEFC Chair Steven Skala said: “CEFC capital is enabling efficient investment in transmission and transport infrastructure; contributing to technology advancement, diffusion and innovation, and supporting adaptation to changing climate conditions. As the world transitions to net zero, Australia’s ability to draw on its comparative advantage in renewables and clean energy should, over time, add to all our prosperity.”

CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “The role of the CEFC in delivering on the promise of Australia’s net zero future has always been more than the numbers, as important as they are. By working alongside co-investors – and specifically not competing with them – the CEFC capital is shaping new investment models and providing market certainty in a manner that recognises the urgency of the climate challenge.”

CEFC investment capital was increased by $2.65 billion in the reporting year and it now has access to more than $33 billion in capital from the Australian Government to catalyse the flow of capital into the clean energy transition.

Since inception to 30 June 2025, CEFC investments have crowded in an additional $65 billion in private sector and third-party capital across more than 400 large-scale transactions, delivering a total transaction value of $85.3 billion.

This rate of lifetime leverage, crowding in an additional $3.55 for each $1.00 of CEFC capital invested, is powerful evidence of our commitment to avoid taking the place of willing private capital in these investment opportunities.

Mr Learmonth added: “We see evidence that investors are adjusting to a ‘new normal’ across the broader investment landscape. We recognise the considerable investment opportunities ahead, across energy generation, carbon sequestration, and the electrification of transport, all major emissions drivers.”

Annual Report 2024-25 insights

• CEFC commitments through the General Portfolio reflect our goal to invest to address areas of highest emissions, close market gaps and reduce costs to consumers by investing where the private sector is absent, or by crowding in new sources of capital.
• Investments through the Rewiring the Nation Fund, including $1.935 billion for Humelink and $750 million for the Central-West Orana REZ, were transformative in scale, the amount of additional capital they attracted and in their long-term impact on Australia’s energy grid.
• Our market leading work in natural capital led to an additional $339 million in commitments to the agriculture sector, while publication of investment insights Towards Net Zero Agriculture Pathfinder, and Environmental Plantings Explainer Guide are helping farmers navigate carbon farming and improve sustainability while maintaining productivity.
• In renewable energy, market conditions for new generation and operational renewables remain challenging, offering a key opportunity for the CEFC to leverage its unique risk and return appetite to accelerate project delivery.
• We continue to back Australia’s homegrown innovators with lifetime commitments reaching $395.8 million to deliver $2 billion in new investment climate tech opportunities through the Powering Australia Technology Fund.
• In its first year the Household Energy Upgrades Fund reached customers of some of Australia’s largest retail banks and supported tools that explain the complex home energy upgrade installation process.
• CEFC investment commitments in the 2024–25 year are forecast to abate 5.7 Mt CO₂-e over their lifetimes, from avoided emissions in both the electricity and non-electricity sectors.

Read the CEFC Annual Report 2025