Expert blog – January 4, 2024
Sice last June, StartGreen has been managing the BespaarGrant Fonds. Entrepreneurs who want to make their business premises more sustainable can turn to the fund for financing. Noura Hzami, Investment Analyst at Energiefonds Overijssel, explains in this blog how StartGreen contributes to the success of the BespaarGarant Fonds.
No financial space
Many entrepreneurs want to make their business premises more sustainable, but do not have the financial means and cannot get a loan from the bank. Owners of an office of 100 square meters are since January 1, 2023 legally required to achieve an energy label C or lower. This means that their building may use a maximum of 225 kWh per m2 per year of fossil energy. If they do not take sustainability measures, the fine can amount to 81,000 euros. In addition, the appraised value of their property decreases significantly with an energy label D or worse.
Other and smaller entrepreneurs would also like to become more sustainable; partly because they want to contribute to the energy transition, but also to achieve a lower energy bill. However, many entrepreneurs are currently working too hard to keep their heads above water; they are experiencing staff shortages and/or still have to repay NOW subsidies. It is very logical that sustainability is not at the top of their priority list.
Social purpose
To help these entrepreneurs become more sustainable, five trade organizations: VNO-NCW, MKB-Nederland, Techniek Nederland, Bouwend Nederland and NVDE, have joined forces in Stichting BepaarGarant . The Foundation serves a social purpose: making commercial and social real estate as sustainable as possible. To remove practical and financial barriers, the foundation offers a total package: from an inventory of the possibilities to insight into energy savings and costs. Some entrepreneurs can finance the recommended sustainability measures themselves. If not, they can turn to the BespaarGarant Fonds.
Off-balance financing
This fund, financed by the ministry of Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties en the Nationaal Groenfonds, offers so-called 'off-balance financing'. Many entrepreneurs do not have sufficient credit space for sustainability. Due to the off-balance sheet structure of this financing, they do not have to use their company's credit capacity, but can enter it as an expense on their profit and loss account. In practice that is often where the bottleneck lies.
The reimbursement is based on the volume of energy savings that the entrepreneur realizes with the sustainability measures. The energy bill will be lower and the entrepreneur can use this space to repay the sustainability measures. After payment, energy costs are also structurally lower.
Years of benefit
Stichting BespaarGarant provides the savings service, the owner of the sustainable company pays back per kilowatt hour saved and can deduct the investment from taxes. Not every company can save the same amount, but in fact every entrepreneur qualifies. For example, we are now working on an application for a dry cleaning business and see that it can certainly pay off for small entrepreneurs. By combining solar panels on the roof with an indoor battery, this entrepreneur aims to minimize the gas consumption of the washing machines.
Many entrepreneurs still leave money behind because they are not aware of the long-term benefits. The sustainability measures ensure lower energy costs. So even once you have made your investment, you will still benefit from those measures for years to come. However, entrepreneurs often do not look further than two or three years ahead, while the economic lifespan of the savings measures can sometimes reach 30 years. The trade associations behind Stichting BespaarGarant actively communicate this to their supporters. In turn we bring the story to all forums where we are present.
Fits like a glove
The foundation has chosen StartGreen from three parties to manage the fund, because we have the capacity and the know-how. Fit Our Future does the account management; they are, so to speak, the field service. We are the 'inside service': we carry out the risk assessment and ensure that investment criteria are met. Erhan (Yildiz, Investment Director Transition Fund – ed.) and I provide the financing applications, the investment committee assesses them. Nienke Rijpstra, Investment Director of Energiefonds Overijssel, sits – alongside Cees Vletter of Vopak Ventures – on the investment committee.
The BespaarGarant Fonds fits StartGreen like a glove: we are working on sustainability here and therefore serve a social purpose. We also assess financial risks on a daily basis. So it makes perfect sense that StartGreen does the fund management. Another advantage of StartGreen is that internal cross-pollination is possible. Other StartGreen funds also undertake sustainability programs. Customers who cannot access one of these funds may be able to be financed by BespaarGarant due to the unique nature of this financing instrument.
We have been doing fund management since June and so far we have mainly been busy setting up the structure and processes. We have developed a model to determine the discount rate. We have also created investment templates so that we have a blueprint for all applications and we can approach the risks systematically. This makes it easier for the investment committee to assess applications. Some things are simple checks: you need to check them, others require more research.
Energy advice
The first applications are currently being received. There is a well-filled pipeline of applications in the preliminary phase at the foundation itself, but not all of them have reached us yet. Before they come to us, the entrepreneur must have independent energy advice. Advisors come to check whether the intended measures are realistic given the situation, size and location of the building, so that the intended savings can actually be achieved. Such advice costs money. Sometimes local subsidies can be used for this. For example, there are subsidies for heat pumps and solar panels. If there are, we will of course also include them in the business case, because this shortens the payback period. Subsidies do not cover the costs, but they are a bonus. Quotations must then be requested for implementers of the sustainability measures.
If you, as an entrepreneur, know how you want to become more sustainable, you have energy advice about savings and you know that you want to finance the sustainability measures with the BespaarGarantfonds, then the application will be submitted to us. We want to honor an initial request as quickly as possible and then move on. That is expected to happen early this year.'
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