{"id":14670,"date":"2026-07-21T13:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/interview-with-pieter-oppermann-why-bng-is-providing-e20-million-to-energiefonds-overijssel\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T13:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:44:13","slug":"interview-with-pieter-oppermann-why-bng-is-providing-e20-million-to-energiefonds-overijssel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/interview-with-pieter-oppermann-why-bng-is-providing-e20-million-to-energiefonds-overijssel\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Pieter Oppermann: Why BNG is providing \u20ac20 million to Energiefonds Overijssel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regional energy projects are essential for the energy transition. However, they are often too small or too complex for banks to finance individually. How do you solve that? We spoke about this with Pieter Oppermann, Senior Relationship Manager Public Finance at BNG. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA unique opportunity to accelerate the energy transition at a regional level\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Last year, StartGreen entered into a new partnership with BNG. This bank supports public organizations building a more social and sustainable Netherlands through financing. With a loan of 20 million euros, they enable Energiefonds Overijssel to make even more impact at a regional level. Pieter Oppermann, the Investment Banker for this loan, explains why BNG and Energiefonds Overijssel are a good match. <\/strong><\/p>\n

From sewers to heat networks
\n<\/strong>BNG has been financing the public sector in the Netherlands since 1914. \u201cWe provide social organizations with financial room; not to achieve as much profit as possible, but precisely to realize real impact. In doing so, we want to strengthen organizations that are building a more social and sustainable Netherlands.\u201d <\/p>\n

It is interesting to note that BNG was founded to give municipalities collective access to cheap, long-term financing for public facilities, including sewerage. \u201cNow we are focusing on heat networks, among other things: so we are once again financing the installation of underground pipes, but for a completely different purpose.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"
Pieter Oppermann, Senior Relationship Manager Public Finance BNG<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Overlapping goals
\n<\/b>Last year, Energiefonds Overijssel approached BNG for more funding. The fund and the bank already knew each other from previous collaborations. \u201cFor about eight years, we have spoken regularly about jointly financing sustainability projects, including social housing owned by corporations,\u201d Pieter explains. \u201cIn 2025, the fund had a desire to grow and was looking for extra funding. We provided that to them because we appear to have many overlapping goals. We both want to make a social impact and help accelerate the energy transition. We do this, among other things, by financing public energy generation projects and by encouraging housing corporations to become more sustainable.\u201d <\/p>\n

Regional opportunities
\n<\/b>In addition, BNG is moving towards a regional approach. \u201cWe are increasingly looking at what is needed in a region and how clients can optimally realize social impact,\u201d Pieter explains. \u201cThis loan is intended to be deployed for smaller initiatives, so it fits perfectly. Smaller regional projects are often difficult for us as a bank to finance, but through this loan, we can still contribute. Energiefonds Overijssel is a major financial player in Overijssel. Furthermore, the province established the fund to accelerate the energy transition. That fits well with our strategy and our role as a financier and connector in the public domain.\u201d <\/p>\n

Part of BNG’s strategy is to facilitate the objectives and ambitions of decentralized governments. \u201cOur objective to make as much impact as possible in the region is in line with the province’s objective. The fact that the provincial executive was present at the signing moment indicates how important the province considers this cooperation. And the guarantee on the loan also indicates that they welcome this step. That was an extra reason for us to get the energy fund’s application approved.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Well-spent loans<\/strong>
\nThe bank trusts that Energiefonds Overijssel will spend the 20 million euros well. \u201cWe are not going to interfere with the application on a per-project basis, but trust that the fund management provides loans within the established (subsidy) scheme. In this, the permitted projects are defined in four categories: Energy efficiency, Renewable energy & energy infrastructure, Sustainable mobility, and Circular projects\/enablers<\/em>. Based on this condition, BNG is making a facility of 20 million euros available to the fund. With this, it can provide loans to companies, housing corporations, and projects that invest in energy-saving measures, CO2 reduction, or contribute to the energy transition in another way.\u201d <\/p>\n

An important theme for the bank is the heat transition. Pieter: \u201cFor that reason, we want to help accelerate the development of heat networks. Furthermore, we see the combination of solar or wind farms with storage as a very interesting development, because it can partially solve grid congestion.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Great confidence
\n<\/strong>Naturally, the bank conducted a thorough analysis of the financial models before partnering with the fund. \u201cThat gave us a good picture of how equity has developed over the past 14 years. We also looked closely at the financing structure and the composition of the portfolio. Those also gave us confidence. Because the fund has financed a number of solar parks and the solar sector is in rough waters, we looked closely at whether the structure and creditworthiness of the fund are sufficient to cover the new risks. We concluded that there are sufficient resources to absorb any losses, partly due to the zero-percent loan from the province.\u201c <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is good to know that we are partnering with a party that has the right resources and permits. As the most creditworthy bank in the Netherlands, we attach great value to our partners being professional and having a good reputation.\u201c <\/em><\/p>\n

Professional fund manager
\n<\/strong>What also played a role in BNG’s positive decision is that StartGreen is a professional party with extensive experience in providing financing. \u201cIt is good to know that we are partnering with a party that has the right resources and permits. From this perspective, it is also important that StartGreen received the <\/span>ISAE type 1 certification<\/a> last year: the international audit standard for demonstrably managing outsourced processes. As the most creditworthy bank in the Netherlands, we attach great value to our partners being professional and having a good reputation.\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

Sustainable and risk-free
\n<\/strong>Another reason for BNG to partner with Energiefonds Overijssel, according to Pieter, is the opportunity to deploy risk-free credit. \u201cWe not only want to enable sustainable projects with loans but also want to run as little risk as possible. A maximum of 10 percent of our total credit portfolio may consist of loans with credit risk for which the bank must hold capital (S-eligible). That means that 90 percent of our loans must be \u2018S-free\u2019: there is no solvency requirement for those. In this case, the loans are S-free because there is a provincial guarantee on them. So if we can generate solvency-free turnover through a party with the same impact-oriented objectives, then that is a unique opportunity that we seize with both hands.\u201c <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Would you like to know more about how StartGreen works with institutional and professional investors to accelerate sustainable and social transitions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then go to startgreen.nl\/for-investors<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regional energy projects are essential for the energy transition. However, they are often too small or too complex for banks to finance individually. How do you solve that? We spoke about this with Pieter Oppermann, Senior Relationship Manager Public Finance at BNG. \u201cA unique opportunity to accelerate the energy transition at a regional level\u201d Last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,122,121,129],"tags":[127,130,133,132,131,126,124],"class_list":["post-14670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energiefonds-overijssel","category-energy-fund-overijssel","category-news","category-startgreen-capital","tag-energy-transition","tag-financing","tag-funding","tag-grid-congestion","tag-impact","tag-impact-investing","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startgreen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}