National Australia Bank (NAB) has created a new way for investors to back renewable energy projects such as wind and solar farms.

The NAB Low Carbon Shared Portfolio invites institutional investors to buy into a AUD200m pool of NAB loans that fund existing renewable energy projects in Australia. The energy created by these projects avoids more than 460,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, which is the equivalent of emissions created by 66,000 Australian households.

"We're witnessing an emerging renewables economy that will be an important part of Australia's future, and NAB is a key player in this field," Chief Customer Officer, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Mike Baird said.

"We have seen tremendous growth in clean energy across our loan book and our customers are continually telling us that they want more ways to get involved in the market.

"We have listened and responded by creating this portfolio – the first of its kind in Australia – which gives fund managers the ability to invest alongside NAB in renewable projects that until now have been unavailable through the public debt market."

NAB has arranged AUD6.2bn in renewable energy project finance since 2003 and is the leading arranger in the Australian sector, and number five globally. In FY17 alone, NAB did 23 deals totalling more than AUD16 billion in renewables project value.

"NAB supports the transition to a low carbon economy and the delivery of secure, reliable and affordable energy," Baird said.