The UK Infrastructure Bank has made its first investment, lending £107m to finance a project on the site of the old Redcar Steelworks on Teesside.
The government loan will be used to build a new quay to service the offshore wind industry, where equipment can be built, stored and shipped.
The new development, which is expected to cost about £200m in total, will support around 800 jobs in the area.
The UK Infrastructure Bank was launched over the summer, armed with £12bn of equity and debt capital from the government, as well as £10bn of guarantees.
It was set up to help to finance innovative infrastructure projects that support regional growth and help to tackle climate change.
