Green transition for Nordic SMEs

At the end of 2021

Nefco’s portfolio included

investment projects

to support the scale-up of Nordic SMEs

and

projects with conditional loans

through Nopef

We finance green projects by Nordic small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) that aim to scale up on global markets through our own capital (Investment Fund) to complement private capital and other funding. We also finance feasibility studies for internationalisation through Nopef, the Nordic Project Fund, which is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers and has been administered by Nefco since 2014.

In 2021, we launched a Green Recovery Loan Programme to help SMEs overcome recent economic challenges. This programme drew immediate interest and several projects were agreed during the year.

The majority of the Nordic SME project portfolio in 2021 were focused on climate change mitigation such as energy efficiency and renewable energy-related initiatives.

Advanced weather forecasting models provide early warnings, ensure safe operation of offshore wind power equipment and increase the operational time of wind turbines for energy generation. The Norwegian company Automasjon og Data AS, which is experienced in providing meteorological and oceanographical data systems, started a transition from the oil and gas sector to the renewable offshore wind market in 2012, an excellent demonstration of the transition to green.

 

With financing from Nefco’s Green Recovery programme, Automasjon can resume its activities, which were halted due to the pandemic, in the UK and particularly in the offshore wind sector in Scotland, generating new job opportunities in both Norway and the UK. These data-driven solutions will help to secure stable energy generation from renewable sources over prolonged periods of time and contribute to mitigating climate change.

Full story: Norway’s Automasjon receives Nefco financing to provide meteorological data for offshore wind energy