The Australian Government, through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will deliver green loans via the $1 billion Household Energy Upgrades Fund (HEUF) to help consumers access cheaper home energy solutions and affordable finance.
CEFC will work with fintech lender Plenti to provide finance to help drive down the cost of clean energy technologies for eligible customers. The $60 million CEFC commitment will support cheaper finance for solar PV, home batteries and other energy efficiency upgrades via discounts on Plenti green loans of up to 2.74% annually.
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In addition, eligible customers can get a further 0.6% discount on the green loan if they sign up to a Virtual Power Plant through Plenti’s point-of-sale platform, GreenConnect.
Consumers will be able to apply to Plenti for a green loan financed via the HEUF from 5 June 2024.
CEFC head of consumer finance Grace Tam said, “Many Australian homes are inefficient in terms of energy performance and thermal comfort. People who live in homes that require a lot of energy to heat and cool are vulnerable to extreme temperatures and energy price fluctuation.
“We recognise that navigating the home energy upgrade installation process can be a challenge for many households. That’s why we’re working with co-financiers such as Plenti, who offer support to customers to help them make home energy technology decisions that suit their homes and their budgets.”
Rewiring Australia has backed the announcement, with executive director Dan Cass saying, “Household electrification is the fastest and most cost effective way to reduce emissions and ease the cost-of-living by bringing down power bills for good.
“One third of households already have solar and these loans will help others to reap the benefits of self-generated electricity costing only five cents per kilowatt hour, the world’s cheapest energy.
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“Finance for households to electrify is the most popular and non-partisan energy policy in Australia. Polling commissioned by Rewiring Australia shows the majority of voters— including almost half of Coalition supporters—would consider installing solar panels and electric appliances if they had access to a low cost loan,” he said.
“We encourage the CEFC to pick up the pace and allocate the remaining $940 million of the $1000 million it has available to loan households under this scheme.”
