Brazil’s development bank BNDES and state-owned ENBPar announced changes to FGEnergia, a credit-guarantee programme for energy-efficiency investment by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Disclosed on October 2, the changes aim to make the instrument created in 2022 by the bank and the Procel energy-conservation programme available through a broader group of companies and financial institutions. Procel contributed R$40 million to the programme. The funds are described as backing a guarantee that shares part of lending risk, rather than as grants paid directly to businesses.

Under FGEnergia, BNDES can guarantee up to 80% of a loan’s value. That protection reduces part of the risk borne by participating financial institutions when they lend for efficiency projects; companies obtain financing from lenders authorised in advance for the programme, rather than receiving a direct loan from BNDES. The new package increases the number of eligible institutions, simplifies contracting steps and strengthens links with BNDES’s other guarantee instruments. The announcement therefore changes the programme’s access and operating terms; it does not report a new loan allocation or approvals for named companies.

The clearest change to the cost of the guarantee is that its fee will be zero through the end of 2027. This does not remove interest on the company’s underlying loan; the financing institution continues to set the other credit terms. Projects supported by the programme can include equipment upgrades, production processes and energy-management systems intended to reduce energy use. ENBPar and BNDES say the investments are meant to lower operating costs, improve productivity and business competitiveness, and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

FGEnergia is positioned as a financing step that complements PotencializEE Nacional, a Procel-supported initiative that helps companies identify and prepare energy-efficiency opportunities. PotencializEE focuses on diagnostics and technical preparation, while the guarantee is intended to ease access to the credit needed to implement projects. Procel is coordinated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, ENBPar executes the programme and BNDES operates its credit guarantee. Together, these roles are meant to create a more complete route from energy assessment through project financing and implementation, while supporting productivity and Brazil’s energy transition.

Businesses seek the credit through financial institutions authorised in advance for the programme; BNDES approves those institutions and guarantees part of the lending risk. The four announced changes work together: increasing the number of participating lenders, simplifying contracting, temporarily removing the guarantee fee and improving integration with BNDES’s existing guarantee instruments. Public funds are therefore used to make private credit more accessible through risk-sharing, rather than to pay the full cost of an efficiency investment.