CEFC outlines $490m funding for NSW grid infrastructure
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The news: The federal government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced a $490 million commitment to accelerate the delivery of new grid infrastructure in NSW.
The numbers: CEFC will provide debt financing via its Rewiring the Nation (RTN) Fund to NSW EnergyCo for select expenditure related to the Central-West Orana (CWO) Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in the state.
This will allow the state body to finance capital expenditures related to land acquisition within the CWO-REZ, as well as the purchase of biodiversity offsets, at the government cost of funds, easing the overall financing task.
The context: The CWO-REZ, near Dubbo in NSW, is one of the biggest designated renewable energy zones being built in Australia and will provide an additional 4.5 gigawatts in network capacity. EnergyCo has appointed ACEREZ, a consortium formed by ACCIONA, Cobra and Endeavour Energy, as its preferred network operator to design, finance, build and operate the REZ.
CEFC said the $490 million commitment was its single largest transaction since it began investing.
What they said: CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “The considerable scale of this commitment draws on our experience in leading investment in our clean energy future".
"As the second commitment through the RTN Fund, it also signals the strength of our focus on delivering much needed capital in a timely manner to this large and complex investment task," he said.
The source: CEFC media release
