Green finance has become a key hub for bridging economic leapfrogging and green development, and it is urgent to think about how energy-efficient credit as a financial tool can lead enterprises to green innovation. Based on a research sample of Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2023, and using the Energy Efficiency Credit Guidelines as a quasi-natural experiment, we constructed a double-difference model to deeply analyze the relationship between energy efficiency credit policies and corporate green innovation. The study shows that energy efficiency credit policy induces a significant jump in firms'' green innovation and it still holds after a series of robustness tests. The mediation effect study found that, under the “inner and outer spiral” support system, energy efficiency credit policy empowers firms to innovate in a green way by boosting investor sentiment, lowering the cost of debt financing, scaling back production and promoting environmentally responsible compliance. In addition, the promotion effect of energy efficiency credit policies on firms'' green innovation is more significant among firms in environments with weaker constraints from environmental protection authorities, heavily polluting firms, and firms that are more deeply infected by Confucian culture. Further research found that energy-efficiency credit policies can contribute to an “increase in the quantity and quality” of green innovation by firms; Using internal corporate governance as a contextual factor, the “divergence” effect of the TMT fracture zone weakens the green innovation effect of the policy. The “cohesion” effect induced by the party organization''s participation in corporate governance positively moderates the promotion of green innovation by energy-efficient credit policies and compensates for the negative impact of the “divergence” effect. Further, the green innovation model under the energy efficiency credit policy can help accelerate the realization of results and form and cultivate new quality productivity. The relevant research provides empirical evidence and reference for the precise implementation of policies and green transformation of enterprises.