Australia / Federal Government: Rewiring the Nation Plan

• October 2022, the Federal Government entered into agreements with the Victorian and Tasmanian Governments to provide concessional financing for energy and transmission projects as part of the Rewiring the Nation plan. The agreement between the Federal and Victorian Governments included $1.5 billion in concessional financing for Victorian REZ projects, including offshore wind farms, and $750 million through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) for the VNI West project. Separately, the Federal, Victorian and Tasmanian Governments entered into an agreement that would see the $3.5 billion Marinus Link transmission project receive a concessional loan for 80 per cent of the projects total estimated cost through the CEFC, with the remaining 20 per cent comprising of equal equity contributions from the three governments.

• December 2022, the Federal and NSW Governments also entered into an agreement to provide a combined $7.8 billion in financing to deliver eight transmission and Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) projects across NSW. As part of the Rewiring the Nation Plan, the Federal Government will provide $4.7 billion in financing towards the projects, with the NSW Government committing the remaining $3.1 billion through the NSW Transmission Acceleration Facility. The eight projects to be financed include:

• 1. Sydney Ring – Hunter Transmission Project, 
  2. Central-West Orana (CWO) REZ, 
  3. New England REZ, 
  4. HumeLink,
  5. Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI West),
  6. Hunter-Central Coast REZ – including potential offshore wind opportunities,
  7. Sydney Ring – Southern Sydney Ring, and 
  8. South-West REZ.

• This latest Rewiring the Nation backing followed the landmark deal between the Commonwealth, Tasmanian and Victorian governments for two undersea cables to link Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation projects to the mainland; the Victorian leg of VNI West (Kerang Link); and a range of REZ projects, including offshore wind.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
REWIRING THE NATION PLAN