01 Performance COMMONWEALTH BANK ENERGY EFFICIENT LOANS

CEFC ANNUAL REPORT / 2014–15

Commonwealth Bank Energy Efficient Loans

Manufacturers, retailers, produce suppliers, schools, and clubs across Australia are transforming their business operations and costs, investing in clean technologies financed through an Energy Efficient Loan (EEL), co-funded by the CEFC and Commonwealth Bank. The loans are supporting increased production capacity, improved productivity and lower operating costs.

Project Scope

Energy Efficient Loans are individually tailored to help businesses, not-for-profit organisations and local and state governments better manage their energy costs. The loans enable organisations to make changes now that will help them save on energy for years to come.

The loans can be used across a wide range of energy saving technologies, including:

  • Energy efficient lighting

  • Industrial refrigeration

  • Heat exchangers

  • Energy efficient motors

  • Pumps and fans

  • Solar systems and battery storage

  • Compressed air and variable speed drives

  • Gas-fired generators

  • Onsite energy generation from methane capture

  • Purpose built energy efficient equipment such as industrial printers, ovens and fruit graders

  • Refrigeration

Looking to the future

With a significant pipeline of Energy Efficient Loans building across a diverse set of industries, this program has potential to significantly assist businesses reap the cost advantages of new efficient equipment.

Highlights

The EEL program has accelerated some $21 million in total investments, with more than $6 million of projects in the pipeline. During 2014–15:

  • Bankstown Sports Club received an Energy Productivity in Action 2015 from the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), recognising its commitment to energy efficiency. The club’s investment in energy efficiency improvements, part financed through the EEL program, has delivered energy savings of $500,000 a year, or 1.5 GWh.

  • Leading Sydney car dealership Col Crawford Lifestyle Cars used an $800,000 EEL loan to install 1,000 solar panels, including a solar car park shading structure and more than 1,000 LED lights. It is estimated the dealership will halve its electricity use.

  • Having financed a refrigeration upgrade in 2013, leading Victorian apple and pear supplier Radevski Coolstores used an additional $1.15 million EEL loan for the installation of an efficient new fruit grader and solar panels, which are expected to reduce its energy bill by 25 per cent.

 

The Col Crawford project is genuinely ground-breaking. Approximately half of all the solar panels are integrated into a new solar car park shading structure that generates pollution-free solar electricity at the same time as providing shade and cover from rain for parking.” Autonomous Energy Director Mark Gadd, whose company designed and installed the project
Origin Solar as a Service SunEdison Energy Plan Program