A recent report suggested investment in the clean energy industry had fallen to its lowest since the financial crisis of 2008. But the money to fund new energy projects is still there, claims one financier. The secret is getting your mitts on it.

ELN asked Adam Hewson, the Director of ReEnergise Finance why some thought it was a bad time for finding cash. He told ELN: “It is a bad time and it’s not a bad time. It’s tough if you’re looking for a very large sum of money- that requires an awful lot of organisations to club together to provide that capital, but the reality is that when you move further down that spectrum, to the sub-£1 million requirements there are a lot of institutions that are willing to get involved… The money is there, it’s just finding access to it.”

Adam set up ReEnergise Finance to target the SME sector for financing energy projects. The company provides loans to UK based public and private sector companies, creating packages designed to suit different technologies, available through loans from £75,000 up to £5 million.

The former city banker said despite the connotations of green energy being expensive and hard to fund, it was more a case of banks changing their attitudes.

Mr Hewson added: “The finance market as a whole needs to make the step away from energy efficiency and renewable energy being something new and unique and making it more mainstream, treating it like any other asset. As that becomes more important, so will the finance become more available.”

The firm was unveiled last week by Climate Minister Greg Barker as one of the Green Deal’s 22 ‘pioneers’ who will work with Government to ensure the move from testing into a managed launch in the Autumn.