The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to lend Iberdrola SA around 1.08 billion dollars (1.0 billion euros) for the construction of 22 renewable energy plants in three countries.
The 19 solar power mills and three onshore wind farms will be built in Germany, Portugal and Spain with a total capacity of 2.2 gigawatts, according to a joint press release on Monday.
Most of the projects will be developed in areas affected by industrial change away from fossil fuels, rural towns and poorer areas, he said.
REPOWER
This package of projects is part of REPowerEU, the European Union’s roadmap to end dependence on Russian energy and accelerate the transition to net zero.
“The new installations will provide green energy equal to the average annual energy consumption of more than 1,000,000 households and will be located mostly in cohesion regions, where the per capita income is lower than the EU average, which underlines the EIB’s commitment to equitable growth and convergence of living standards,” the media release said. “Investments made under this agreement will boost economic growth and employment in the regions where they are located these renewable energy facilities”.
“These new projects will also support the national energy plans of the three countries and help Iberdrola achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2040,” he added.
EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Felix, who signed the financing pact with Iberdrola chief executive Ignacio Galan, commented: “As the terrible war in Ukraine has shown, sustainable energy and energy security are two sides of the same coin. To achieve both, it is vital that we collaborate with companies in the European energy sector such as Iberdrola”.
Green financing
In support of REPowerEU, the bank last year committed $18.4 billion (€17.06 billion) in financing for sustainable energy projects, according to an EIB media release in February 2023.
“The EIB’s green financing increased substantially again to €36.5 billion (58% of the total), meaning the Bank delivered on its commitment to dedicate at least half of its resources to climate action and environmental sustainability, well ahead of its goal for 2025.” , said the Luxembourg-based lender owned by EU states. “Overall, the EIB Group is on track to meet its target of supporting €1 trillion in green finance this decade, having already supported €222 billion. [$239.7 billion] in investment of the last two years”.
The pledges also help the bloc keep pace with the US, which in August 2022 committed what it calls its largest investment in climate and energy.
“At a time when the United States is implementing the largest green subsidy program in history, it is imperative that Europe keep pace and stay the course, both for the sake of our planet and to safeguard the competitiveness of our economies.” , said the president of the EIB. Werner Hoyer said in the February release.
Monday’s announcement by Spain-based Iberdrola said: “Over the next five years, an additional €30 billion [$32.4 billion] it will be invested in addition to the EIB’s already robust support to the EU energy sector”.
“Funding committed to REPowerEU is expected to generate an additional €115 billion [$124.18 billion] of investment for 2027, thus contributing substantially to Europe’s energy independence and to the EIB Group’s goal of mobilizing 1 billion euros. [$1.08 trillion] in climate finance this decade,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, major electricity supplier Iberdrola plans to invest around $50.75 billion (more than €47 billion) between 2023 and 2025 in energy transition projects.
Driving innovation
In addition to expanding the capacity of renewable energies, the new plants encourage innovation by facilitating “the integration of renewables into the networks, undoubtedly one of the great challenges to achieve Europe’s climate goals”, according to Monday’s press release .
“Some of the PV projects will include hybridization with wind power and battery systems for energy storage.”
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