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Project Qualifications

To qualify for MnCIFA financing, projects must meet requirements in state law (Minn.Stat. 216C.411).    

Financial repayment

MnCIFA issues loans, not grants, so proposals must show the financial ability to repay a loan. That process involves financial due diligence, similar to a conventional bank loan process.  

Learn more about MnCIFA’s application and lending process

Additional requirements:  

The project must be located in Minnesota.  

The loan minimum is $250,000, with options for intermediaries to have a revolving loan or portfolio loan that offers financing for lower lending amounts.  

Site jobs are required to pay prevailing wage.  

MnCIFA is required to invest at least 40% of our loans in communities meeting qualifications as environmental justice areas.

Green financing requirements  

Our financing is required to support climate-related projects that demonstrate they meet at least one of these qualifications:  

Substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions;  

Reduces energy use without diminishing the level of service;  

Increases the deployment of renewable energy projects, energy storage systems, district heating, smart grid technologies, or microgrid systems;  

Replaces existing fossil-fuel-based technology with an end-use electric technology;  

Supports the development and deployment of electric vehicle charging stations and associated infrastructure, electric buses, and electric fleet vehicles;  

Reduces water use or protects, restores, or preserves the quality of surface waters; and/or  

Incentivizes customers to shift demand in response to changes in the price of electricity or when system reliability is not jeopardized.  

Preferred criteria  

In addition to required qualifications, MnCIFA follows statutory preferred criteria to finance projects that:  

  • Maximize the creation of high-quality employment and apprenticeship opportunities for local workers consistent with the public interest, especially workers from Environmental Justice Communities, labor organizations, and Minnesota communities hosting retired or retiring electric generation facilities, including workers previously employed at retiring facilities;  
  • Utilize energy technologies produced domestically that received an advanced manufacturing tax credit under section 45X of the Internal Revenue Code, as allowed under the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Public Law 117-169;  
  • Certify, for all contractors and subcontractors, that the rights of workers to organize and unionize are recognized;  
  • Agree to implement a project labor agreement.