Environment and energy investment loans
Loans for small and medium-sized businesses installing non-fossil energy equipment, replacing ageing equipment to save energy, or carrying out an emissions-accounted green transition plan.
Questa opportunità è attualmente disponibile in inglese.
The Environment and Energy Measures Finance programme (環境・エネルギー対策資金) provides loans through Japan Finance Corporation’s SME Business division. Its climate-related routes cover non-fossil energy facilities, qualifying energy-saving replacements and a green transformation (GX) plan: a business plan for reducing environmental impacts that starts with calculating your greenhouse-gas emissions. GX loans can also pay for ongoing emissions measurement, third-party verification, temporary premises during building renewal and securing personnel.
You can borrow up to JPY 720 million directly from JFC or up to JPY 120 million through an agent bank. Equipment loans have repayment periods of up to 20 years, including up to two years of grace. GX long-term operating-capital loans have up to ten years to repay, including up to two years of grace. You repay the borrowed money with interest; this is not a grant.
Non-fossil energy equipment normally uses JFC’s base rate. Special rate II applies to up to JPY 400 million for wind, geothermal, hydropower or biomass generation; heat equipment using temperature differences, biomass, snow or ice; and biomass-fuel production. Special rate I applies within that ceiling to solar generation of at least 10 kW for your own consumption, ground-source heat and solar heat. The solar size and own-consumption tests qualify the special rate, rather than excluding all other solar installations from the loan.
Qualifying energy-saving replacement loans use the base rate minus 0.65 percentage points. Rates also depend on credit risk and the loan term.
For GX equipment, special rate I applies to up to JPY 400 million, excluding land finance. Special rate II instead applies if you have a registered J-Credit project with certified credits, Eco Action 21 certification and registration, ISO 14064-1 certification, or valid Science Based Targets (SBT) recognition. To use this rate, you need one of the listed project registrations, certifications or recognitions; an uncertified emissions calculation alone is not enough. Special rate III applies to equipment covered by an approved business-adaptation plan under the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Act, limited to equipment for improving production-process efficiency within the energy-use/environmental-burden-reduction category. GX operating capital uses the base rate.
For direct loans, JFC initially holds the loan money on the contract date and transfers it to your nominated account on the agreed date, after required security procedures. The contract allows JFC to change the release amount and timing. It charges no interest on the amount it still holds. JFC can withhold release if circumstances trigger immediate repayment under the contract. Normal repayment takes equal portions of the principal from your bank account by automatic debit; other methods, including equal total instalments, are available through the SME branch. Voluntary early repayment, whether partial or full, needs JFC’s consent and may attract a fee depending on interest rates at repayment. You bear the costs associated with the borrowing.
Eligibility
This entry covers the SME Business version of the programme. Your business must satisfy the requirements for the activity you want to finance.
- For non-fossil energy, install or acquire the necessary facilities; modification and replacement are included.
- For the energy-saving replacement route, the existing equipment must be beyond its statutory useful life. The replacement or enlarged equipment must be new equipment of the same type, expected to save energy, and accepted under JFC’s qualifying equipment requirements. Merely buying a more efficient machine is not sufficient for this route.
- For GX, calculate your greenhouse-gas emissions and carry out a green transformation plan. Equipment and long-term operating capital must be needed to implement that plan.
JFC agrees whether security is required and what form it takes. Direct loans may require the responsible manager’s personal guarantee where the applicable conditions are met. A guarantor is jointly liable for repayment.
Use the money only for the agreed purpose unless JFC approves a change. GX operating capital cannot simply refinance existing bank borrowing, fund unrelated business, be lent to a third party, or be used for speculation. Selling financed assets without JFC’s consent or breaching special-loan conditions can cause early repayment of some or all of the loan.
You, your guarantor and any security provider must declare that you are not connected to organized-crime groups or equivalent antisocial forces, and must not use violent demands. JFC can terminate the relationship and demand repayment if that undertaking is breached.
How to apply
- Stato
- Aperto continuamente
- Restrizioni del bando
- Applications go through JFC SME Business branches or its agent financial institutions.[^c13]
Apply for a direct loan at a JFC branch’s SME Business counter, or for an agency loan at a financial institution that acts as JFC’s SME Business agent. The operative programme instructions accept applications through these routes on an ongoing basis.
JFC’s principal assessment documents include company information, corporate registration, the latest three years of financial statements and tax returns, tax-payment evidence, a recent trial balance where relevant, equipment quotations and security details. It may request supplementary materials and visit your headquarters or proposed project site before deciding on the loan.
After release, pay equipment suppliers promptly. The loan guidance requires payment, including settlement of any bills used to pay, within roughly three months of the contract and the contract requires payment evidence within six months of the contract date. Report delays or changes to the works or contract amount promptly and follow JFC’s directions. Failure to meet these obligations can trigger early repayment and additional interest calculated back to the contract date.
If your contract releases funds on condition that newly acquired assets will immediately become security, pay by the planned acquisition date and complete security registration within one month after acquisition. Missing either condition requires repayment of the whole loan.
Continue providing annual accounts and tax documents promptly after filing until the loan is fully repaid.