FAQ - Credit guarantees for green investments

Even with a well-functioning financial market, there may be challenges in financing environmental investments involving loans with longer maturities.

To be eligible for a guarantee, a loan must amount to at least SEK 500 million.

The central government shares the risk with the lender and guarantees up to 80 per cent of the loan.

Credit institutions can apply for risk coverage for loans to companies. 

The maximum maturity of a guarantee is 15 years. There is not a predetermined repayment schedule.

The industrial investment must be in Sweden and must meet the criteria specified in the ordinance (2021:524) on state credit guarantees for green investments.

You will find the application form and instructions on our website.

The borrower pays interest to the lender as usual. The lender in turn pays a guarantee fee to the Debt Office based on the borrower’s creditworthiness in accordance with the ordinance (2021:524) on state credit guarantees for green investments.

The fee that the Debt Office charges under the ordinance (2021:524) on state credit guarantees for green investments must be consistent with the market. For the Debt Office, this means that the fee is made up of an administrative fee as well as a guarantee fee consisting of a fee for expected loss and a premium to ensure that the fee is market-based and thereby no state aid is involved.

The administrative fee is to cover the costs incurred by the Debt Office in issuing a guarantee. It must also cover the Debt Office’s continual costs for managing the guarantee during its term to maturity.

The part of the guarantee fee that is set in relation to the state’s expected loss is based on the borrower’s creditworthiness. Significant factors that are also taken into account and that affect the size of the fee for expected loss are, among other things, collateral and the guaranteed loan’s maturity and repayment (amortisation) structure.

The guarantee fee also contains an allowance to ensure that the fee is consistent with the market. The Debt Office needs to compensate for the difference in capital requirements for itself and private actors. The Debt Office also makes a market-based adjustment of the fee.

See section 8 of the ordinance (2021:524) on state credit guarantees for green investments for more information.

The administrative fee must be paid at the time of the issuance of the credit guarantee.  

The guarantee fee must be paid at the time of the first disbursement of the loan or, at the latest, in conjunction with the respective loan disbursement. 

The Debt Office will, as a starting point, use the taxonomy developed by the European Commission as an essential tool for the evaluation.

See also the programme report on the environmental evaluation produced in collaboration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, available on the Debt Office’s website.

The programme report (only available in Swedish)

There are no general delimitations in the regulations governing the Debt Office’s work with the green credit guarantees.