The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) has announced that it will support the REPowerEU Plan with an additional EUR 30 billion in loans and equity financing over the next five years. The additional funds from the EIB Group (European Investment Bank, European Investment Fund) will be directed to renewables, energy efficiency, grids and storage, electric-vehicle charging infrastructure, and breakthrough technologies, such as low-carbon hydrogen.
According to a statement, the package of new, targeted financing approved by the EIB’s Board of Directors on October 26, 2022, is expected to mobilize up to EUR 115 billion of new investment by 2027, thus making a substantial contribution to the REPowerEU objective of ending dependency on Russian fossil fuels.
This horrible war and Russia’s blackmail over gas supplies affirmed that our dependency on fossil fuels is a critical security vulnerability. It’s about time we finally ended this dependency. The EIB is determined to mobilize the full scale of its financial resources in support of the joint effort, and work with the private sector to maximize the impact of our investment, said Werner Hoyer, President of the EIB Group said.
It is a supplementary envelope, on top of the EIB Group’s already robust support for the energy sector in the European Union, averaging around EUR 10 billion per year over the past decade.
I welcome the EIB’s financial reinforcement of our REPowerEU Plan, on top of the EUR 300 billion funds already available. With today’s EIB package, we can go even faster in cleaning Europe’s energy system and ending our dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The EIB Group’s contribution will help us ensure our energy security and reach our 2030 climate goals, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
While the additional EIB Group financing will focus on improving Europe’s energy security over the medium term and avert future supply shocks, EIB support for some efficiency projects could result in lower demand for gas already in 2023.
The package follows a Board decision to approve EUR 5.5 billion in financing for clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate action, including new wind power in the Baltics, and upgrading transmission networks in Poland and Spain.
In addition to raising expected energy-lending volumes for the next five years to unprecedented levels, the EIB’s Board of Directors also adopted a series of technical and policy measures aimed at accelerating the pace and maximizing the impact of the new investment.
More attractive loans
Key elements include higher upfront disbursements, longer tenors that will make EIB loans to the energy sector more attractive, and a co-financing ceiling of up to 75 percent for projects contributing to the REPowerEU objectives, up from the typical 50 percent EIB limit per project.
Furthermore, the Board of Directors introduced a temporary and exceptional extension of the exemptions to the EIB Group’s Paris Alignment for Counterparties (PATH) framework.
In this respect, the existing exemption under the EIB Group’s PATH framework for projects with highly innovative content will be temporarily and exceptionally extended to include all renewable energy projects and electric-vehicle charging infrastructure inside the EU.
This will allow EIB Group financing of a greater number of clean energy projects with a wider range of clients and utility companies contributing to the EU`s climate objectives and energy security.
The extension will run until 2027, subject to a Climate Bank Roadmap review foreseen in 2025. Over this period the EIB will continue to engage with all its clients to support them in developing decarbonization plans.
Put together, the package of additional financing, policy, and technical flexibility, as well as dedicated support for high-risk investments, like pilot facilities, will help supercharge Europe’s transition to a more sustainable and secure future.
