Credit guarantees for green investments

On 3 June 2021, the Government resolved to give to the Debt Office a mandate to issue state credit guarantees for new loans raised by companies with credit institutions for financing large industrial investments in Sweden that contribute to reaching the goals of the environmental objectives system and climate policy framework.

The assignment will be carried out in accordance with the ordinance (2021:524) on state credit guarantees for green investments, which entered into force on 22 June 2021.

Guarantees can be issued under the scheme until the end of 2024. The guarantee framework will by then amount to SEK 80 billion.

• To be eligible for a guarantee, a loan must amount to at least SEK 500 million.
• The guarantee covers up to 80 per cent of the loan.
• Credit guarantees can be issued in Swedish kronor, euros, or US dollars. All steps in the process from when a loan is granted to when the entire process is completed are executed in the currency initially chosen.
• The maximum maturity of a guarantee is 15 years.

Application for a credit guarantee for a green investment

The Debt Office issues the guarantee to the credit institution that grants the loan, but it is the project for which the loan is raised that the Debt Office analyses from a legal, financial, and environmental standpoint.

All applicants must use the Debt Office’s application form. A number of appendices are to be attached with the application, as described in the application form.

Under Related Content below, you will find the Application Form as well as Appendix 1 (Description of the Investment) and Appendix 2 (Environmental Assessment). 

Environmental evaluation of investments

To qualify for the guarantee scheme, investments must meet certain environmental requirements. The ordinance (2021:524) on state credit guarantees for green investments refers to the Swedish environmental objectives system and the climate policy framework. Conducting a transparent and predictable evaluation process for determining whether an investment significantly contributes to the environmental quality objectives requires a well-defined benchmark.

In this case the Debt Office intends, as a starting point, to use the taxonomy developed by the European Commission as an essential tool for the evaluation.  

Using this taxonomy, the Debt Office, together with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, has set out assessment criteria for the evaluation.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines for the green credit guarantee scheme are found under Related Content below (the information is only available in Swedish). 

Information about granted credit guarantees

The Debt Office continually assesses expressions of interest and applications and maintains a dialogue with the relevant companies and credit institutions during the application process. The green credit guarantee scheme involves large and complex projects, and accordingly it takes time for the companies and credit institutions to complete the applications and finalise the supplementary documents.

The application processing is ongoing and the decision to grant the first credit guarantee was made in April 2022.

The Debt Office issued a credit guarantee to Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) for a 3 billion kronor loan for converting Preem’s refinery in Lysekil to biodiesel production.  Read more in the press release below. 

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Further information is available on the page: FAQ – Credit guarantees for green investments

Contact

For questions about the guarantee scheme, contact the Debt Office at: green.guarantees@riksgalden.se

For questions from media, contact the Debt Office's press function: press@riksgalden.se