Seeking finance so that your business can make a clean energy transformation? Check out some of the tips in the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s new Transforming Australian Agriculture with Clean Energy guide.
by Gabrielle Stannus
“The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has a unique role to increase investment in Australia’s transition to lower emissions. We invest to lead the market, operating with commercial rigour to address some of Australia’s toughest emissions challenges – in agriculture, energy generation and storage, infrastructure, property, transport and waste,” says Melanie Madders, CEFC’s Director – Investments.
“We are responsible for investing $10 billion in clean energy projects on behalf of the Australian Government, and we work to deliver a positive return for taxpayers across our portfolio. We are also proud to back Australia’s cleantech entrepreneurs through the Clean Energy Innovation Fund,” continues Melanie.
Together with the National Farmers Federation (NFF), the CEFC last month released Transforming Australian agriculture with clean energy: A practical guide to lowering on-farm energy use and carbon emissions.
In this guide, the CEFC and the NFF identified 51 opportunities whereby farmers can reduce their energy bills by improving energy efficiency and switching to renewables. Many of these opportunities are also relevant to greenlife businesses.
“The CEFC focus is not solely on financing clean, i.e. renewable energies, but also energy efficiencies and cutting energy use, lowering emissions and improving productivity. Eligible projects could also include items such as solar powered irrigation, high efficiency irrigation systems with variable speed drives, or even retrofitting a variable speed drive to an existing irrigation system,” Melanie explains.
So how does a greenlife business access clean energy finance so that it can join the so-called clean energy transformation?
“The CEFC works with a range of co-financiers to broaden our reach across the Australian economy, and to make it easier for small and medium sized businesses to tap into the benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency, whether they are seeking loans of $10,000 or $5 million or anywhere in between. Finance is agreed directly between the borrower and the finance provider. We are proud to have delivered almost $1.1 billion in finance for more than 11,300 smaller-scale projects since we began investing,” says Melanie .
Growers and retailers seeking to access clean energy financing opportunities should speak with one of the CEFC finance providers directly (as listed on the CEFC website), many of whom have in-house agribusiness experts that are able to assist further.
Stop!
Before you consider calling one of the CEFC’s finance providers, make sure you go into that conversation equipped with the knowledge to get the best deal.
Check out the online Renewable Energy Calculator developed specifically for the greenlife industry. This calculator is designed to provide a simple and easy to use tool for nursery owners to assess the approximate costs and savings associated with installing solar panel arrays and wind generation systems. Users can assess savings of purchased electricity and opportunities to sell to the grid.
Greenlife Industry Australia recommends that the calculator only be used to provide an indication of the feasibility of solar or wind energy at your selected site. More detailed costing and technical analysis should be undertaken with an approved technology supplier.
For more information:
Greenlife Industry Australia
T: (02) 8861 5100
F: (02) 9659 3446
[email protected]
www.greenlifeindustry.com.au
Greenlife Industry AustraliaT: (02) 8861 5100
F: (02) 9659 3446
[email protected]
www.greenlifeindustry.com.au