Toolkit Makes Community Renewables Financing Easier

Frontier Energy is creating a toolkit that is set to make community energy projects easier to develop, supported by $296,000 funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the $493,000 project would help break down some of the barriers facing new community energy projects by increasing project developers’ understanding of how to secure finance.

“While the community renewable energy sector in Australia is growing, there remains a large gap in information on financing,” Mr Frischknecht said.

“The new financial toolkit will provide easily accessible information on financier requirements, financial models, checklists and case studies through a central website, along with a list of key contacts.

“Spending less money on external advice, particularly in the early stages of development, will make projects cheaper overall.

“Ultimately, the resources aim to reduce the duplication of efforts, lowering project development costs and making community renewables projects more viable.”

In the coming months, Frontier Energy will consult with a range of key stakeholders in the development of the toolkit including commonwealth and state governments and key community energy groups.

The toolkit is scheduled for release in early 2016.