The partnership between the Danish Green Investment Fund and Better Energy is now further strengthened. A significant three-figure million DKK loan will accelerate the expansion of green energy capacity and the displacement of fossil fuels. This loan is also the first from the Danish Green Investment Fund under Denmark's Green Future Fund.
It is a new era in the energy sector. The first solar parks to compete on market terms without government subsidies for electricity prices have been built, and now financially strong forces are ready to accelerate the green transition even further.
“At the Danish Green Investment Fund, we are pleased that the new loan to Better Energy will help support a green project that delivers on three bottom lines. The project contributes to CO2 reductions and biodiversity, it creates societal returns with green jobs and green growth, and the green energy is produced without subsidies. Since 2017, we have joined forces with Better Energy, and with this agreement, we are bringing our partnership up to a new level. Better Energy has proven that solar energy is commercial on all parameters, so now it is about scaling solar energy in Denmark,” says Danish Green Investment Fund Managing Director Michael Zöllner.
The loan from the Danish Green Investment Fund includes the financing of Denmark's first solar park without subsidies in Næstved and the financing of Better Energy's growing portfolio of owned solar parks. The purpose is to bring the financing into play where it can have the greatest positive effect on Better Energy's work to expand new solar energy capacity.
“We are taking an important step with this agreement,” says Better Energy CEO Rasmus Lildholdt Kjær. “For several years, we have been collaborating on the project financing of Danish solar parks. Our focus has been on commercialising and financially maturing them. We have achieved this, and today we can build solar parks without government subsidies and finance them with mortgage loans. With this new agreement, we are refining the financing with the Danish Green Investment Fund so that we can deliver even more new solar parks every year,” says Rasmus Lildholdt Kjær and points out that there will also be invested in biodiversity and nature development at the new solar parks.
Biodiversity and climate protection go hand in hand
The solar park in Næstved helps in the effort to reach Denmark's climate and biodiversity goals, and it is carefully planned to accommodate the surrounding environment. Around the solar park are meadows, bogs and a lake classified by the local municipality as having high-value biodiversity. Based on a thorough local environmental study, eight different biodiversity points of impact have also been incorporated in the solar park area to ensure that nature has good conditions to spread and thrive.
"The climate crisis is important, but we are also in a biodiversity crisis. We must not forget this and both crises must be solved at the same time," explains Rasmus Lildholdt Kjær and emphasises that solar parks can contribute on both fronts.
About the Danish Green Investment Fund
The Danish Green Investment Fund is an independent state loan fund with the purpose of co-financing economically viable projects that facilitate and support the sustainable development of our society. The Danish Green Investment Fund seeks to bridge the gap between traditional bank financing and equity capital. The fund co-finances projects within environmental savings, renewable energy sources and resource efficiency.
About Denmark's Green Future Fund
Denmark's Green Future Fund has a total capacity of DKK 25 billion, which is divided into four funds, namely EKF Denmark's Export Credit Agency, Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), the Danish Green Investment Fund and the Danish Growth Fund. The Danish Growth Fund and the Danish Green Investment Fund have been strengthened by a total of DKK 10 billion.
