Green Forum • 10 February, 2025 at 8:46 PM
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Santander have signed a €500 million counter-guarantee agreement that Santander will use to create a portfolio of bank guarantees of up to €1 billion, expected to unlock €8 billion of investment to support wind energy equipment manufacturing companies in Europe.
The guarantees will back investment by companies manufacturing wind energy and grid interconnection equipment, as well as key components for the wind sector. This will enable the manufacturers to receive advance payments as well as to provide performance guarantees when taking on new wind projects. The guarantees scheme also enables manufacturers to pay their suppliers in advance for the supply of wind farms and the related wind value chain components, which include turbines, grid connection infrastructure, cables and transformer stations.
The leverage effect of the EIB counter-guarantee is expected to mobilise additional funding from other investors to support increasing production and accelerate wind energy development, helping to stimulate investment in the real economy.
The deal forms part of the EIB's €5 billion wind power package launched in 2023, a dedicated package of counter-guarantees to improve access to finance for wind power sector and support increasing newly installed wind energy generation capacity by 32GW. This EIB financing scheme is being activated through agreements with the sector's main lenders like Santander. It is a key component of the European Wind Power Package launched by the European Commission, and is designed to further accelerate a just and swift transition to net zero, while boosting home-grown industrial innovation.