Deutsche Leasing Group and Helaba pool expertise: Crowd-funding platform to enable citizens to participate in energy transition projects

In collaboration with the Deutsche Leasing Group, Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen is providing the savings banks with a funding solution that will enable participation by the general public. Using a crowdfunding platform, projects such as wind farms can be financed via the participation of ordinary citizens. A pilot project involving a number of savings banks is currently underway.

Crowdfunding as a means of enabling participation by the ordinary people is increasingly gaining in importance, particularly in light of the energy transition – the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. It represents one way of accelerating the expansion of green energy projects. Increasingly, project developers regard a solution for enabling citizen participation as a condition for obtaining debt finance. In addition, by actively involving local people, the construction of wind farms, solar energy systems or electricity transmission networks, for example, is less likely to face opposition from the general public. It gives ordinary citizens the chance to make a direct contribution to financing the energy transition.

The aim of the cooperation between the Deutsche Leasing Group, Helaba and the savings banks is to expand the strategic pooling of expertise within the Savings Banks Finance Group even further for projects that drive the growth of renewable energy: "By launching a crowdfunding platform to fund renewable energy projects, Helaba is adding another compelling option to its range of sustainability-related services for the Savings Banks Finance Group," explains Frank Nickel, a member of Helaba's Executive Board responsible, among others, for business with the savings banks, SMEs and the public sector. "Together with the savings banks, we are enabling ordinary citizens to actively play their part in making the energy transition a success - right on their doorsteps. We are delighted to have the Deutsche Leasing Group on board as a partner with the requisite capabilities and know-how."

Rainer Weis, a member of Deutsche Leasing's Executive Board responsible for business with savings banks, adds: "We need new and diverse options for financing and participation in order to raise the substantial funds needed to expand renewable energy. Thanks to this collaborative service, we are able to offer end-to-end financing solutions, covering the entire process from obtaining and securing participation by the public right through to precisely customised, long-term debt finance. As an active facilitator for sustainability within the Savings Banks Finance Group, we will be able to clearly demonstrate our expertise and are looking forward to collaborating on this crucial and innovative project."

Helaba is commissioning the development and operation of the platform. It will act as a point of contact for the savings banks and will explain the capabilities of the digital plat-form. Deutsche Leasing is complementing this service by arranging and structuring the debt finance. The savings banks are responsible for marketing the projects in their local regions and will pass on transactions to Helaba.

About Deutsche Leasing

The Deutsche Leasing Group is the solution-oriented asset finance partner for the German SME sector. The company provides support for investment projects in Germany and other countries and offers a wide range of financing solutions (asset finance) and supplementary services (asset services). As a central and international group partner, the Deutsche Leasing Group is Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe’s centre of excellence for leasing, factoring as well as other alternative forms of financing. In its international business segment, Deutsche Leasing supports its German customers’ activities in over 20 countries, including their core European export markets as well as in China, the USA, Canada and Brazil.

You can find more information at www.deutsche-leasing.com