SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Wells Fargo's environmental financing has grown to $6.2 billion in loans and investments for green building projects, solar and wind power installments, clean technology and firms that develop it, the company said in its latest report on green financing.

The sum represents a more than sixfold increase since the start of Wells Fargo's green financing initiative, a component of the company's 10-point environmental commitment (pdf) launched in 2005. Also, a growing percentage of the funding now goes to cleantech projects and enterprises.

The report (pdf) released Thursday covers activities through 2009 and provides cumulative totals of environmental loans and investments since the start of the program.

Green financing by Wells Fargo has grown steadily despite the Great Recession. In December 2008, the company reported that its environmental loans and investments exceeded $3 billion, surpassing its goal of $1 billion. The firm closed that year with a cumulative total of more than $5 billion in loans and investments in green projects.

The program has also diversified over the years and expanded from financing focused largely on green building projects to embrace a growing number of:

• Utility-scale wind installations.
• Commercial-scale solar photovoltaic projects with firms such as SunPower, BP and SunEdison, many of which involve purchase power agreements with a range of public and business entities including Kohl's, Walgreens and Staples. 
• Services and support for green and cleantech firms.

Green building projects accounted for $3.250 billion or about 52 percent of Wells Fargo's environmental financing; renewable energy projects, $1.850 billion or almost 30 percent; and green firms and business ventures, $1.1 billion or 18 percent by the close of 2009.