Green Business Loan Scheme

• Your business must be based in Wales and trade from Welsh premises. Limited companies, sole traders and partnerships can apply, from small to large businesses. You need at least two years' trading, at least one set of filed annual accounts, a satisfactory credit history and up-to-date HMRC tax and PAYE payroll-tax payments.
• Private-sector landlords are excluded. So are gambling, tobacco and sectors the bank considers to have significant environmental impacts or to be ethically or morally controversial.
• The normal carbon-cost limit is £325 per tonne of greenhouse-gas emissions saved over the project's lifetime, measured as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This compares the project cost with its lifetime emissions savings; the application template calculates it. Projects above that limit are still assessed individually for wider benefits and impacts. If your business uses 100% green electricity, the calculation uses grid-electricity emissions instead, so your renewable tariff does not count against the project's carbon savings.
• Projects with no carbon or energy savings, or which increase carbon emissions, are excluded. New fossil-fuel installations, gas heating and gas connections are excluded. A significant share of the heat or energy generated must not be intended for sale to the grid, other businesses or households.
• Work solely to meet legal requirements, ongoing software licences and in-house staff costs are excluded. Costs must be necessary, directly linked to the project and incurred within its period. Other support cannot already cover the same costs.
• Use reputable, accredited suppliers. For new heating, low-carbon heat and renewable-energy projects, identify and implement insulation and other building-efficiency improvements before sizing and installing the system.

The interest discount counts as public subsidy: its value is the interest you save, not the amount you borrow. You must qualify through one of two routes:

• Energy Usage Streamlined Subsidy Scheme: for energy-efficiency, low-carbon heating or additional energy infrastructure in buildings. You must own or occupy the building. Where owner and occupier differ, they need arrangements allowing the project to proceed and deciding who benefits from the subsidy. An independent energy audit by an accredited assessor must support the project. It must not have started when you apply, must not be undertaken to meet a legal or regulatory requirement and must not involve fossil fuels. Total public subsidy for the project must not exceed £3 million or the applicable share of eligible costs: 60% for small, 50% for medium-sized and 40% for large businesses.
• Minimal Financial Assistance: if the project does not qualify under the first route, the bank can consider this alternative. You must have enough of the £315,000 three-year allowance remaining to cover the interest discount and confirm that in writing. This allowance counts assistance received under three specified categories: Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA), the State aid de minimis exemption, and the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement's exemption for ‘small amounts of financial assistance’. It is not a limit on all types of public funding. If the discount exceeds your remaining allowance, this route cannot provide it.

Status

Løbende ansøgning

Apply online through the Green Business Loan Scheme page. If you cannot use the online system, email greenbusiness@developmentbank.wales for an editable PDF application.

Submit at least one year's filed accounts and three months' bank statements. Complete the project-information template with the proposed work, site, costs, energy and emissions savings and risks. Upload full supplier quotations and declare public funding received during the last three years.

The bank also requires financial forecasts: a 12-month cash-flow forecast up to £150,000; either that or two years of monthly profit-and-loss, cash-flow and balance-sheet forecasts for £150,001–£350,000, depending on credit history; and the two-year forecasts above £350,000. The bank confirms the requirement for the middle band after receiving your application.

The bank gives an indicative interest rate, then checks the project and business finances if you agree to continue. Wait for the offer letter before starting project activity. To receive the loan, submit the release-of-funds notice supplied with the offer and the supplier invoice. If suppliers need upfront part-payment, request staged funding in your application; release may be delayed for a site inspection.