New Energy secures $50m debt finance
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New Energy Corporation’s plans to build two Western Australian waste-to-energy facilities have received a boost after the company secured up to $50 million in senior debt from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
The proposed waste-to-energy projects are earmarked for Port Hedland and Rockingham.
The plants take waste that would have gone to landfill and turn it into electricity.
New Energy had been in discussions with potential debt and equity financiers from Australia and internationally.
“This finance from the CEFC is critical to New Energy’s success and our future development of this clean energy technology to its full potential,” New Energy chairman Enzo Gullotti said.
“It demonstrates the opportunity in Australia for these kinds of waste-to-gas projects to realise commercial success and benefits that other financiers can follow.”
In April, New Energy general manager Jason Pugh told Business News it had awarded a front-end engineering and design contract for both plants to US-based engineering firm Kiewet.
The Port Hedland waste-to-energy plant is expected to cost $200 million to build while the Rockingham plant is expected to cost $160 million.
Both plants are similar in size and design but the higher cost for the Port Hedland project reflects the increased cost of doing business in the Pilbara.
CEFC chief executive Oliver Yates said the CEFC was pleased to help catalyse finance for the innovative project.
“New Energy’s waste-to-gas technology is a world-leading, Australian innovation that has been widely deployed and commercially proven overseas,” he said.
“Waste management is a complex sustainability challenge. Taking waste, which is a cost, and turning it into energy, makes a lot of business sense and represents a big win for the environment.”
The future of the CEFC is in doubt after the Abbott government announced plans to abolish the agency, which acts as a ‘green bank’ to mobilise investment in renewable energy and lower emission technologies, but the potential closure faces stiff opposition in the Senate.