Unlocking capital for battery projects in the NEM with Niall Brady (Head of Solar & Battery Storage @ The CEFC)

Raising capital for grid-scale storage in Australia is a balancing act. Projects need to navigate volatile wholesale prices, tight grid constraints and uncertain policy timelines while still delivering reliable returns. Government-backed green banks and specialist financiers have stepped in to bridge that gap, creating new structures that share merchant risk, widen the pool of lenders and move projects from concept to construction.This episode of Transmission breaks down how innovative finance is accelerating battery storage across the National Electricity Market. Modo Energy Director, Wendel Hortop sits down with Niall Brady - Head of Solar and Storage at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to explore the mechanics of concessional debt, profit-share structures and revenue floors, and examine how early deals paved the way for today’s multi gigawatt pipeline. If you want to understand why capital remains a bottleneck for Australia’s energy transition and how the right instruments can unlock it, this conversation is for you.In this episode you’ll learn:• Why merchant risk still scares traditional lenders and how tailored debt packages make first-of-a-kind battery projects bankable• How profit-share and upside mechanisms work to align public finance, private equity and project developers• What makes an effective revenue stack in the NEM, including energy arbitrage, FCAS and emerging capacity paymentsLessons from Australia’s earliest solar-storage hybrids and how their financing models have evolved with falling capex and sharper price spreads• The next frontiers for green finance, from long-duration storage to regional microgrids and community energy hubsAbout our guestNiall Brady is Head of Solar and Storage at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Australia’s $30 billion government-owned green bank. Niall leads investment strategy for large-scale PV and battery projects, structuring deals that de-risk merchant exposure and crowd in private capital. His portfolio covers Australia’s first utility-scale solar-storage hybrids as well as new market entrants targeting firmed renewable generation for the NEM. For more information on what the CEFC do - head to their website.About Modo EnergyModo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage solutions understand the market - and make the most out of their assets.All of our podcasts are available to watch or listen to on the Modo Energy site. To keep up with all of our latest updates, research, analysis, videos, podcasts, data visualizations, live events, and more, follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. Check out The Energy Academy, our bite-sized video series breaking down how power markets work.