CEFC Mobilizes $105B in Clean Energy Projects

The CEFC has reported a defining year of investment activity, committing a record $9.1 billion and helping drive $19.6 billion in total transaction value. The 12-month activity to June 30 has helped Australia's 'green bank' reach a new milestone, catalysing clean energy projects worth some $105 billion across the economy since inception.

It comes at a pivotal time in Australia's clean energy transition. As clean energy and emissions target deadlines loom, renewables now account for half of annual electricity generation and there is increasing momentum across transmission, storage, electrification and emissions reduction technologies.

CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said the past year had demonstrated that Australia's clean energy transition had moved decisively from ambition to execution.

While emissions reduction remains at the heart of the CEFC mission, recent events have reinforced that the clean energy transition is also about building a stronger, more resilient economy, improving energy security and creating long-term economic opportunity.

Ian Learmonth

CEFC CEO

"The past year has been a defining one for Australia's transition to net zero. Global energy markets have again highlighted the importance of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and accelerating the shift to clean, renewable energy and electrified transport.

"While emissions reduction remains at the heart of the CEFC mission, recent events have reinforced that the clean energy transition is also about reducing costs, building a stronger, more resilient economy, improving energy security and creating long-term economic opportunity."

Building on its record investment activity in 2024-25, the CEFC has now committed $27.1 billion since inception.

Activity in the 2025-26 financial year spanned renewable energy, transmission infrastructure, natural capital, climate technology, transport and property. During the period, the CEFC continued to deploy capital at scale, ensuring investment commitments moved quickly into projects and businesses delivering practical decarbonisation outcomes.

Every dollar committed by the CEFC in 2025-26 attracted an additional $3.401 from co-investors, demonstrating the ongoing ability of CEFC capital to crowd in private sector investment and accelerate decarbonisation outcomes across the economy.

"As announced recently, I will be stepping back from the CEFC in September this year and this will be my final CEFC Investment Update before I hand the baton over to my colleague and friend, Paul McCartney," Mr Learmonth said.

"The CEFC is playing a crucial role in Australia's clean energy transition, and it has been a great privilege and pleasure to lead the organisation for almost a decade. This year's performance reflects its importance and impact and I'm proud to have worked alongside the exceptional CEFC team to achieve such outstanding results."

Highlights from a year of scale and diversity

CEFC Investment commitments in 2025-26 reflected the breadth of opportunities emerging across the Australian economy, ranging from significant transmission infrastructure projects via the Rewiring the Nation Fund (RTN Fund) and market leading natural capital investments, to a $7 million investment in agricultural robotics company SwarmFarm, supporting innovation in regional Australia and sustainable agriculture.

Mr Learmonth continued: "The clean energy transition isn't only about large-scale infrastructure. It's also about helping households reduce costs today. By lowering the upfront cost of technologies such as rooftop solar, batteries and efficient electric appliances, we're helping Australians future-proof their homes while reducing pressure on household budgets."

• The General Portfolio accounted for $1.7 billion in commitments across 23 transactions and six follow-on transactions in the year.
• The CEFC financed more than $340m of large-scale renewables and storage projects, representing 1.2 GW of renewable energy capacity added to the grid.
• We have committed $535 million through the HEUF since its inception, supporting more than $1 billion in discounted lending programs for Australian households. HEUF customers are saving up to 85 per cent on energy bills².
• We are helping electrify Australia's passenger and commercial vehicles. Since inception, we have helped finance more than 23,000 electric vehicles, exceeding $1.4 billion in total value, including third party capital through its co-finance programs, saving fuel costs for their owners, and saving fuel for the rest.
• We launched an innovative capital recycling initiative, cornerstoning a new Australian Ethical investment fund through the transfer of selected CEFC assets.
• We supported some 22,000 smaller scale clean energy projects with more than $800 million in CEFC and third party capital to reduce the cost of loans.
• The Powering Australia Technology Fund helped Australian climate tech businesses scale their operations, with five new and three follow-on commitments, including a $20 million cornerstone commitment to the IP Group Climate Catalyst Fund.
• Our work with First Nations communities included investments to support a plantation forestry project on the Tiwi Islands that will generate high-integrity Australian Carbon Credit Units, and a project with the Nari Nari Tribal Council to restore the nationally significant Great Cumbung wetland system in south-west New South Wales.

Building a modern, affordable grid for a clean energy future

The RTN Fund remained the CEFC's largest area of investment activity in 2025-26, accounting for $7.2 billion in commitments.

As coal-fired power stations retire, investment in transmission infrastructure is critical to connecting Australia's world-class solar and wind resources to homes and businesses while maintaining reliability and reducing costs. The RTN Fund supports this least-cost transformation through flexible and tailored financing structures designed to accelerate priority transmission projects and reduce costs for consumers.

During the year, the CEFC committed an expected $3.8 billion through the RTN Fund to support the construction of Stage 1 of Marinus Link, a 750MW undersea and underground electricity and data interconnector between north-west Tasmania and Victoria's Latrobe Valley.

The concessional financing package for Stage 1 of Marinus Link is expected to deliver $900 million in benefits to Tasmanian and Victorian electricity consumers, during the first five years of operation, reducing the impact of transmission-related consumer costs by approximately 45 per cent in that period.

The CEFC also committed $1.2 billion to Stage 1 of North West Transmission Developments, a complementary project that will increase electricity transfer capacity within Tasmania and connect with Marinus Link. The financing structure is forecast to reduce project-related network charges by around 55 per cent over the life of the project compared with standard regulatory settings, delivering an estimated $315 million in benefits to Tasmanian electricity consumers in the first five years of operation.

Investment snapshot

Commitments by technology 1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026

1 Excluding the Rewiring the Nation Fund

2 CSIRO modelling, based on the number of HEUF loans as of 30 June 2026

3 Excluding the Rewiring the Nation Fund.