Alina Oprea • 14 July, 2023 at 11:30 AM
EIB to support Green Deal Industrial Plan with €45 billion in additional financing. EU Bank raises the size of its REPowerEU package by 50% and expands eligibility to finance manufacturing in state-of-the-art Strategic Net-Zero Technologies. Additional funding is expected to mobilize over €150 billion in investment by 2027. EIB Board also approves €10 billion for projects in energy, innovation, business investment, and education, as well as for water infrastructure destroyed by the Turkish earthquake.
The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) will increase its financing volumes for clean energy to a fresh record and expand its targeted, extraordinary support to the build-up of manufacturing capacity for state-of-the-art strategic net-zero technologies and products. The package approved today will make a substantial contribution to the objectives outlined in the European Commission's Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age.
At its July meeting in Luxembourg, the EIB's Board of Directors decided to raise the additional funds earmarked for projects aligned with REPowerEU, the plan designed to end Europe's dependence on fossil-fuel imports, to €45 billion. The additional funding comes on top of the EIB's already substantial support for clean investments and represents a 50% increase compared to the original €30 billion package announced in October 2022.
The EIB Board also decided to broaden the scope of eligible sectors to boost financing for EU manufacturing in state-of-the-art strategic net-zero technologies and the extraction, processing, and recycling of critical raw materials. The additional funding will be deployed by 2027 and, in total, is expected to mobilize more than €150 billion in investment for the targeted sectors.
“We are deploying the full range of our available financial firepower to support Europe's industrial competitiveness, manufacturing, and the rollout of critical technologies that will lead us to a swift and just transition to net zero. The people of our Union can always count on the unwavering support of their Bank”, said EIB President Werner Hoyer.
Sectors expected to benefit from EIB support for state-of-the-art manufacturing include solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies, onshore and offshore wind, battery and storage, heat pumps and geothermal technologies, electrolyzers and fuel cells, sustainable biogas, carbon capture, and storage, grid technologies. Also eligible are investments related to the extraction, processing, and recycling of related critical raw materials.
The EIB's Board of Directors also approved €10 billion in new lending for projects. The approvals include new wind and solar generation in Spain and Austria, grid upgrades in Italy, and an electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing Gigafactory in France. Overall, the EIB is well on track to deliver on its announced REPowerEU support measures.
The Board also approved a comprehensive €400 million support package to restore drinking water, wastewater treatment stormwater infrastructure, and basic services in towns and cities in southeastern Türkiye devasted in the February earthquakes. Also outside the EU, the Board approved financing for a new electricity interconnector between Ecuador and Peru and streamlined financing for small-scale clean energy and green transition projects across Africa.
The EIB Group is the EU's long-term financing institution, owned by its member states. It comprises the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF). It finances sound investments that contribute to EU policy goals, including social and territorial cohesion, and the just transition to climate neutrality.
The EIB was the first multilateral development bank to end support for fossil fuels and has committed to supporting €1 trillion in climate investment this decade. Over half of the EIB Group's lending in 2022 was devoted to climate and environmental sustainability projects, while almost half of the EIB's financing inside the EU was signed for projects in cohesion regions, where per-capita income is lower, highlighting the Bank's commitment to equitable growth.