Improving access to financing for SMEs in El Salvador to replace energy-intensive motors, air-conditioning, refrigeration and boilers, increasing energy efficiency and developing a new market in energy services.

The project will develop a package of measures to encourage energy efficiency investments by SMEs in El Salvador. El Salvadoran SMEs, making up over 99% of the country’s enterprises, suffer from obsolete equipment, the result of low levels of investment, and limited access to long-term credit. There are no Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) and no market for financing longer-term energy efficiency projects, which are perceived as risky, unstructured investments. The energy savings insurance scheme developed will include risk-sharing contracts,  independent technical validation, insurance and specific financial instruments, significantly lowering investment risks for banks and SMEs.

GCF will loan USD 20M to BANDESAL (the National Development Bank of El Salvador), who will add USD 20M of their own resources. This will contribute to a credit line available for local banks to fund SME energy efficiency projects at concessional rates, to be repaid through future energy savings. Loan repayments will finance additional sub-projects thanks to the use of a revolving fund. The equipment targeted for upgrade is widely used and has large energy savings potential.

The project has an estimated lifespan of 15 years.