The CEFC commitment, which is matched by Commonwealth Bank, will make Energy Efficiency Loans available to the market, scaling up the agreement which the bank previously had with Low Carbon Australia to co-finance energy efficiency and small scale renewable projects.
CEFC chief executive officer Oliver Yates said the funding relationship with the nation's largest bank would make available more than $100 million in funding for mid-range businesses seeking to reduce their energy costs.
"This agreement with Commonwealth Bank offers clean energy finance opportunities to manufacturers and other sectors at a scale that simply hasn't existed until now," he said.
"These loans are designed to help businesses upgrade equipment for improved energy efficiency and can be used to finance up to 100% of the project cost, enabling businesses to preserve their working capital."
The EEL can be used to fund a wide spectrum of equipment including energy efficient lighting, industrial refrigeration, methane capture, heat exchangers, energy efficient motors, pumps and fans, solar panels, compressed air and variable speed drives, cogeneration and trigeneration plants.
“The CEFC and Commonwealth Bank agreement will provide finance that enables businesses to take immediate advantage of energy and operating cost savings from new equipment, positioning them to be more competitive," Yates said.
Some $10.5 million of investment projects have already been funded by the co-financing arrangement with Low Carbon Australia, which has been integrated into the CEFC, to assist manufacturers reduce energy costs. These include a trigeneration plant, industrial refrigeration upgrade and more efficient printing presses.