AUD 100 Million For Solar+Storage+EV In Australia

• A new co-financing program has been launched in Australia to support local businesses switch over to solar, storage and electric vehicles
• The AUD 100 million financing will be provided by the CEFC and Bank of Queensland
• The co-financing is aimed at helping businesses lower their energy use, use clean power and also lower carbon emissions

Businesses in Australia planning to switch over to solar, energy storage and electric vehicles can depend on AUD 100 million ($67.9 million) financing launched by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Bank of Queensland's BOQ Finance (BOQF) division.

BOQF is drawing on CEFC finance to offer a 0.7% per annum discount on the finance rate for a range of eligible projects through the BOQF Energy Efficient Equipment Finance program with the aim of helping businesses capture clean energy, lower energy use, improve productivity and lower carbon emissions.

The program will finance projects such as rooftop solar systems and solar thermal systems, agricultural equipment including tractors, headers and irrigation, battery storage, battery electric vehicles, plug in hybrid electric vehicles, and lighting, HVAC and commercial refrigeration equipment.

Funding options range from financial lease, specific security agreement and commercial hire purchase.

Set up by the Government of Australia to improve the flow of financing for clean energy projects, CEFC says it has provided more than AUD 1 billion ($679 million) in new investments to smaller-scale clean energy projects in the country.  

A June 2019 report commissioned by CEFC and the Property Council of Australia expects the country to have 179 GW of rooftop solar potential that can generate 245 TWh of clean power annually. Commercial and industrial zones are expected to manage 26 GW of this capacity (see 179 GW Rooftop Solar Potential In Australia).