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EIB provides EUR 50 million loan to finance 50 MW biomass plant in Spain

The European Investment Bank (EIB) granted an EUR 50 million loan to a subsidiary of Spain-based forestry and renewable energy company Greenalia S.A. to finance a new 50 MW biomass-fired power plant being built in the La Coruña municipalities of Curtis and Teixeiro in Galicia, Spain. Using forest biomass as fuel, it is the first biomass plant to be financed by the EIB under the European Investment Plan.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) granted an EUR 50 million loan to a subsidiary of Greenalia S.A. to finance a new 50 MW biomass-fired power plant being built in Galicia, Spain (photo courtesy Greenalia).

To be built on a 103 000 m² publicly owned site, the EUR 50 million EIB financing together with another EUR 50 million loan from various financial institutions will be provided via a Project Finance arrangement for the construction and operation of this new facility.

The plant will use about 500 000 tonnes of forest biomass per annum sourced within a 100 km radius of the new facility thus contributing to forest maintenance and fire prevention in the region, while encouraging the collection, for industrial use, of small wood waste that is normally discarded. The biomass used by the plant will be FSC or PEFC-certified.

Planned to be operational in 2020, the Curtis-Teixeiro biomass power plant will increase the share of renewable energy generation helping to meet the targets for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions set out in the Spanish National Renewable Energy Action Plan (PANER) 2011-2020.

In addition to the positive environmental impact, this EIB-funded project will generate economic and social benefits, promoting job creation and economic growth in rural areas. 400 people have been employed for the construction of the plant, and once it is up and running, 35 permanent jobs will be created and around 100 additional indirect jobs in the waste supply chain.

The EIB is providing this loan under the Investment Plan for Europe, known as the “Juncker Plan”. This increases the EIB Group’s capacity to finance investment projects that, in line with the Plan’s criteria, involve activities which by their structure or nature have a higher risk profile.

This project is one of the first to be implemented under the new regulatory framework for the industry approved in Spain in 2013. Greenalia was the winning bidder in Spain’s first auction for new renewables-based power generation facilities in early 2016.

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