Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corp. has committed A$100 million (US$72 million) to the new Australian Bioenergy Fund.
The Australian Bioenergy Fund will support investment in a broad range of projects seeking to produce energy from agricultural, council, forestry and mining waste streams. It is aiming raise more than A$200 million in equity and will be managed by the Foresight Group.
The Australian Bioenergy Fund will invest in a range of technologies including energy from waste, anaerobic digestion, sustainably sourced biomass-to-energy projects, landfill gas capture, wood pelletisation and the production of biofuels.
Foresight, which manages funds on behalf of the UK Green Investment Bank and the European Investment Bank, has invested more than A$1 billion in bioenergy and energy from waste projects.
CEFC CEO Oliver Yates said the Australian Bioenergy Fund is targeting equity investments in projects that will help unlock important opportunities across the economy to harness waste and turn it into energy. “We see this new fund as playing an important role in accelerating and widening the market uptake of bioenergy and energy from waste technologies that have a proven track record overseas but are not yet widely deployed in Australia’s energy mix,” Yates said.
“A number of projects that the CEFC has assessed have been held back by a lack of equity capital, and that needs to change. Converting waste from agricultural production, mining, forestry and landfill has the potential to lower business operating costs, reduce the reliance on grid electricity and create a more sustainable way to manage waste disposal.”