The evolving role of export credit agencies in global energy finance

Export credit agencies (ECAs) are a key source of public finance for energy investment – but their importance to the energy sector typically goes unrecognised.1 ECAs are government-backed institutions that provide loans, guarantees and insurance to support national companies with interests in either exports or investments abroad. While their primary objective is to promote trade and national industry, their financing involvement can enable large-scale energy investment flows, especially in emerging and developing economies.

Unlike development finance institutions, ECAs are rarely included in energy and climate finance tracking or policy discussions. But as the need for energy investment grows, the scale of spending required has brought renewed attention to all potential sources of capital. Every form of public finance deployed across borders – whether concessional or commercial, policy-driven or market-based – plays a role in shaping outcomes. 

These flows can help address the diverse needs countries face, supporting the development of a range of energy sources that contribute to security, reliability and sustainability in different ways. (Nationally, the appropriate energy mix depends on country-specific circumstances, including existing assets, resource endowments, system needs and policy goals.)

New analysis from the IEA’s World Energy Investment 2025 expands the category of international public finance – cross-border public funding that advances energy and development goals abroad – to include funding from ECAs. This wider lens captures not only ECAs and development finance institutions, but also multilateral climate funds, intergovernmental aid and philanthropic sources. Drawing on official data and direct engagement with agencies, this year’s analysis of official export credits under the OECD Arrangement brings ECAs more fully into view.2

The new dataset examined in this commentary does not cover all ECA support; it is limited to certain long-term interventions that are reported under the OECD Arrangement. But it provides new insights into the ways that ECAs – situated at the crossroads of trade, industrial policy and energy – are shaping energy investment flows around the world.

A defining factor that can make or break energy investment decisions – particularly in emerging economies or for newer, less mature technologies – is risk. Commercial financiers face strict thresholds for what constitutes acceptable exposure, as they must ensure the financial viability of their commitments. Projects with uncertain revenue streams, high upfront costs or political and regulatory volatility can struggle to move forward without adequate risk mitigation.

Export credit agencies help address this challenge by offering credit-enhancing instruments that shift or absorb specific investment risks. The most prominent is “pure cover” – guarantees or insurance that protect lenders and exporters against non-payment. These instruments are designed to support a country’s export competitiveness abroad and are typically sector- or technology-agnostic. As a result, ECA financing often reflects the structure of national industries and supply chains. Coverage may support wind turbine sales, power engineering services, construction equipment or grid technologies deployed in overseas projects, to name a few examples.

Between 2014 and 2023, pure cover accounted for 73% of all ECA energy-related commitments, and 84% included some element of credit risk cover. This stands in sharp contrast to other forms of international public finance, where guarantees make up less than 1% of total energy financing. By offering de-risking at scale, ECAs play a unique role in enabling private sector participation and expanding the reach of energy investment into higher-risk markets and emerging technologies.

Over the past decade, the nature of energy sector transactions reported under the OECD Arrangement have undergone a marked shift. Since 2021, the bulk of commitments have gone to clean technologies, led by wind power and other renewables. This stands in contrast to ten years ago, when fossil fuel supply made up more than 70% of total energy-related support. By 2023, the share of oil and natural gas had fallen to just over 20%. The change reflects both growing commercial interest in exports of clean technologies and new arrangements within the ECA system, including the Climate Change Sector Understanding under the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, and agreements to restrict support for unabated coal-fired power plants. Beyond OECD-specific arrangements, several leading agencies have joined the UN-convened Net-Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliance, pledging to align their operations with the goal of net zero emissions by mid-century. Such voluntary initiatives – alongside formal frameworks – are reshaping the landscape of export finance.

Clean energy projects are increasingly able to attract private capital, but they often still face risks that deter full commercial participation. ECAs can play a catalytic role by providing credit risk cover that de-risks projects and unlocks private co-financing. Fossil fuels remain part of these institutions’ portfolios – especially in the form of natural gas and oil supply; such support often reflects both the export profile of the providing country and the energy priorities of recipient markets, in particular for gas infrastructure. Nonetheless, the overall trend points to a gradual reorientation of ECA financing.

Export credits are a major source of international public finance for emerging and developing economies. Between 2014 and 2023, they received two-thirds of all ECA energy commitments – a reflection of the higher demand for external finance in countries where commercial risks are more acute. Increased capital flows to emerging and developing economies for energy projects are essential to support a range of development objectives.

However, there are variations in patterns of support across countries and regions. Data reported under the OECD Arrangement show that around 80% of fossil fuel-related support since 2014 has been channelled to emerging economies, while more than half of clean energy-related export credits have flowed to advanced economies. 

Export credit agencies are important players in energy finance, with evolving portfolios and a unique ability to de-risk projects and mobilise commercial capital. As international public finance expands in scope, so, too, must the frameworks that guide its deployment. Greater transparency and stronger coordination with broader public finance efforts are important for export credits to support the accelerated deployment of cost-effective energy technologies in the regions that need them the most.

The IEA’s World Energy Investment report is the global benchmark for tracking investment trends across the energy sector. This year’s report, which marks the 10th edition of this flagship analysis, presents the latest data on capital flows to different types of energy projects, as well as the first set of full-year estimates for 2025.