A new loan facility launched by Westpac Bank in conjunction with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation aims to help Australian businesses invest in solar, battery storage, energy efficient technologies and electric vehicles.
Using $200 million from the CEFC, the Westpac Energy Efficient Financing Program will offer finance leases, commercial loans and commercial hire purchase finance for qualifying renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, as well as low emissions vehicles, the bank said on Tuesday.
The program will provide businesses from a range of sectors including education, health, aged care sectors, agribusiness, and state and local government with a 0.7 per cent per annum discount on finance for qualifying projects.
The finance, which is for up to 100 per cent of the project cost, is available for terms of up to 10 years for individual projects starting at $15,000.
Eligible projects include: rooftop and off-grid solar PV; battery storage and solar thermal; installation of energy efficiency equipment; low emissions vehicles; energy efficiency retrofits or upgrades; and energy-from-waste.
Businesses opting to use the financing program will be guided on which technology to invest in by energy services company Verdia, which will also help businesses with designing an effective project, sourcing quality equipment and with ongoing asset management.
“This is an end-to-end solution…supported by access to tailored discounted finance from Westpac. Westpac and Verdia will work with customers to design, deliver and finance everything from single-site to large, multi-site energy efficiency and distributed energy programs”, said the bank’s general manager of commercial services, Alastair Welsh.
“Verdia’s mission is to support the transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources, and to make that change happen sooner” by overcoming traditional barriers, said Verdia CEO Paul Peters.
“These are usually lack of in-house resource to research and manage projects; difficulty in selecting the right supplier and equipment for their business; and the significant up-front capital investment required for new or upgraded equipment,” he said.
© 2016 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
