0% business loans eligibility See all Client services

Guide to eligibility for interest free business loans.

0% business loans are available to business sites in Northern Ireland and Wales for organisations wishing to to invest in energy efficiency and low-carbon equipment.  

If your business is located elsewhere, see our Implementation and Finance service.

Eligible companies

  • Any business in Northern Ireland can apply for a loan.
  • Public sector organisations are not eligible for interest free loans, but may be eligible for our Implementation and Finance service
  • Incorporated businesses trading for at least 12 months & Non-Incorporated businesses trading for at least 36 months (this will include charities, friendly societies, clubs and the like) 

EU rules on state aid mean we are not normally able to offer business loans for the acquisition or adaptation of vehicles, or to organisations involved in agricultural or fisheries products (production, processing, or marketing prior to the first sale), or export-related activities.

How much can be borrowed?

Business loans are available from £3,000 - £400,000. The size of the loan offered and its repayment period will be based on the projected CO2 savings of a project, which will be assessed by the Carbon Trust.

To see how much a project could save, try our Loan Calculator (excel, 43kb).

Multiple loans are available up to the maximum loan amount.

Which projects qualify?

We can give £1,000 of loan for every 1.5 tCO2 saved per annum for a project.

Many types of project will be considered, provided they meet the on-site fossil fuel saving requirement. Examples of just some of the projects that could qualify include the following:

Building Technologies

  • Air conditioning
  • Heating
  • Heating controls
  • Building insulation
  • Heat recovery
  • Lighting
  • Pipe insulation
  • Solar thermal systems

Industrial Process Technologies

  • Compressed air fittings
  • Motors
  • Materials handling equipment
  • Power factor correction
  • Process heating
  • Process controls
  • Refrigeration
  • Variable speed drives

There are many more types of projects that will be considered for a loan, including renewables. Each project will be assessed on its potential to deliver real energy savings, and we will also need to carry out a credit check. Call our advice line on 0800 085 2005 if you are unsure about whether your project will qualify.

Further information required for specific projects

If you are requesting a loan to fund a power factor correction, biomass heating, spraybooth project, voltage management or plastic injection moulding application, please complete and submit the following with your application:


How to apply

If you'd like to apply for one of our business loans,  click here.

If you have any questions get in touch by emailing loans@carbontrust.co.uk 

Applying on behalf of a customer?

Just use your existing login details here to make an application on behalf of your customer.