Denmark’s export credit agency EKF and one of the country’s largest blue-collar pension funds PensionDanmark have teamed up to provide DKr10bn (US$1.8bn) liquidity for the export market.

The money, provided by PensionDanmark and covered by EKF, will be offered to foreign firms to place export orders with Danish companies.

Wind farms, where Denmark is a market leader, will account for a large part of the project, though the partnership has rules in place to ensure that a wide range of industries may be considered worthy of funding in this way.

The agreement will run for three years and could be extended and in practice the pension fund will provide loans alongside banks to large Danish export orders.

The first DKr1bn (US$180mn) has already been provided to Swedish firm Arise Windpower and Platina Partners to build a wind farm in Sweden.

The firms will purchase 66 turbines from Denmark’s Vestas.

PensionDanmark is providing half of the necessary funding for the turbines, while Scandinavian banks DnB Nor and SEB are offering the remaining DKr1bn.

This milestone move to partner an ECA with a pension provider is shrewd for both sides, as now there is an extra source of liquidity in the export market and PensionDanmark can get a relatively safe return on investment that will provide more than long-term Danish government bonds.

“Danish growth and Danish exports are closely connected,” says EKF chief executive officer Anette Eberhard.

“The agreement we are announcing today creates a new, strong tool for supporting not just future growth but also primarily green growth.”