Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) Carbon Finance and Funds

Organizational profile: Nefco is an international financial institution that finances the initial scale-up of Nordic green solutions on global markets. Founded in 1990 by the five Nordic countries, Nefco is the Nordic Green Bank – the financial institution that provides only green financing. Nefco serves the interests of its owners, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and works with concrete actions to accelerate the green transition. Nefco has financed and implemented over 1,500 projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean water and sanitation, waste management, circular economy and cleaner industrial processes, among others.

Nefco works closely with the environmental authorities and other governmental institutions, as well as business, trade and innovation councils of its Nordic owner countries. Its trust fund management includes assignments from the Nordic governments, Arctic Council member countries, the EU and the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Nefco contributes to climate mitigation and adaptation in many of its activities. Its energy-efficiency and renewable energy projects have a direct impact on greenhouse gas emissions. By facilitating and implementing environmental projects such as sustainable forestry, as well as waste and wastewater management, Nefco also contributes to improved conditions for life on land and below water. Several projects in the Arctic and Barents regions have a strong emphasis on biodiversity.

Financing Instrument: Loans, Grants, Equity, Feasibility studies (technical assistance)

Project scale:

• Loans and equity – up to EUR 5 million to public and private sector projects in the Eastern European region (Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine)
• Loans and equity-type financing – up to EUR 2.5 million to Nordic SMEs and mid-caps for expansion and green projects carried out on global markets outside the Nordic countries
• Green Recovery loan financing for Nordic SMEs’ internationalisation up to EUR 500,000
• Buyer credits – up to EUR 5 million for the delivery of environmentally sustainable products, machinery or services to Eastern Europe
• Soft loans – approx. EUR 100,000 to EUR 500,000 to public sector projects in Eastern Europe
• Grants / project support – provided through a number of trust funds
• Concessionary financing for internationalisation – up to EUR 50,000 to Nordic SMEs and mid-cap companies for feasibility studies, demonstration projects or pilot installations outside the EU/EFTA area

Recipient countries regions/country groups: Nefco finances projects that are realized outside the Nordic region (owner countries). In addition to financing the global scale-up of Nordic green solutions, Nefco focuses on Eastern Europe, the Baltic Sea, and the Arctic and Barents regions, and has also a results-based financing programme for clean off-grid energy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Recipient categories: Governments, Businesses, trade and innovation councils of NEFCO's Nordic owner countries

Eligibility Criteria: Nefco welcomes project proposals, which aim at generating positive environmental or climate-related results. Project enquiries and applications are is assessed from an environmental point of view by a team of environmental experts. Nefco is particularly interested in small and medium-scale projects that have the potential to grow and generate environmental impacts greater than the original investment. Nefco incorporates the EU Taxonomy requirements when evaluating the project proposals.
Application guidelines: If you are interested in possibilities of getting financing from Nefco to your green project, fill in the general application form from Nefco´s website or contact the project manager with detailed information about your project. Nefco’s environmental specialists will first give an opinion of the project’s expected environmental benefit and/or threats. To get a better understanding of the proposed project, Nefco will normally request you to provide additional key information of the project in the form of a prefeasibility study or a business plan, including preliminary calculations on financial feasibility, and a summary on environmental improvements.