January
As CEFC billions roll in, the green bank faces a political test
Extra funds of $2 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation invite questions over its future, as the opposition’s Ted O’Brien says “the whole thing is absurd”.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Opinion
- Energy
How Trump’s war on green energy affects Australia
Donald Trump’s plans for an energy revolution will blow strong political winds across Australia’s energy market.
- Jennifer Hewett
Labor pumps $2b into green bank despite Trump’s fossil fuel push
The first extra funding for the country’s green bank since it was set up in 2012 contrasts with the pullback on clean energy under Trump 2.0.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Residential development gets an $800 million new year kick
The latest chunk of money ploughed into the country’s chronic housing shortage shows Australian build-to-rent is now a mainstream sector for overseas capital.
- Michael Bleby
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Opposition savings from housing, green energy funds in doubt
Senator Jane Hume says the Coalition will interrogate Labor’s billions of dollars tied up in funds for housing, clean energy and manufacturing, but admits they may be difficult to unwind.
- John Kehoe and Michael Read
December 2024
Milestone reached to unlock Snowy 2.0 power
The government’s green bank has committed its single biggest investment to the HumeLink transmission project, which is considered critical to the cleaner energy transition.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
MinRes chairman’s private equity firm scores big cash gift
James McClements’ Resource Capital Funds was given a $116 million handout from Australia’s “green bank”.
- Mark Di Stefano
Older, ‘cheaper’ houses hide costs that bite owners
More than 80 per cent of Australia’s houses have half the energy efficiency of the latest standards – and that’s going to make them less valuable.
- Michael Bleby
CEFC hands $116m for private equity-backed mining decarbonisation
Resource Capital Funds will use the money to invest in new Australian projects that focus on minerals used in the energy transition such as lithium and copper.
- Alex Gluyas
Macquarie inks $300m deal to finance EVs for ride-share drivers
Splend, a start-up that leases electric vehicles to Uber drivers, plans to increase its fleet of ride-share vehicles to 10,000 after signing a new debt deal.
- Tess Bennett
CEFC acquires minority stake in Palisade Impact’s Energy Locals
In its debut growth equity investment, CEFC has paid $25 million to acquire a minority equity stake in electricity retailer Energy Locals.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
November 2024
- Opinion
- Future Fund
‘I would not have agreed to Future Fund shift’
With $230 billion to come into play, expect a long line of rent-seekers to form a queue, says former treasurer and Future Fund founder Peter Costello.
- Peter Costello
QIC bets on Aussie climate tech companies, backs $200m VC
Queensland’s sovereign fund has joined Westpac and Clean Energy Finance Corporation in backing Virescent Ventures’ second climate-focused fund.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Opinion
- Lithium
Liontown survived the lithium carnage, but can it handle Donald Trump?
After taking a wild ride in lithium over the past year, Liontown Resources thinks it can also adapt to whatever the Trump administration produces.
- Jennifer Hewett
October 2024
Westpac joins $200m raise for unshackled climate VC
Westpac and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will back Virescent Ventures’ second fund, which aims to raise $200 million to invest in climate tech start-ups.
- Tess Bennett
August 2024
CEFC spend to rise to jump-start grid build-out
Funding for big-ticket transmission projects is set to swell spending by Australia’s green bank this year beyond the $1.8 billion invested in 2023-24.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Slow approvals are risking the next mining boom: report
State and federal environmental approval processes are jeopardising tens of billions of dollars of investment in green steel and renewable energy infrastructure, experts warn.
- Tom Rabe
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Cannon-Brookes, Benioff-backed start-up lays off staff in US pullback
Loam Bio, a start-up that has raised more than $150 million from high-profile investors, has laid off the majority of its staff in the US.
- Tess Bennett
Splend nabs fresh funds from Clean Energy Finance Corporation
The new funds will be put towards taking Splend’s overall Australian fleet to over 5000 vehicles by the end of the year, with more than 2000 being zero-emission EVs.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
June 2024
European renewables outfit TagEnergy takes $4b wind farm bet
The company, backed by the same investment firm behind sector giant Neoen, has locked in financing from major local lenders and the government’s green bank.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith