The European Investment Bank (EIB) is pushing ahead with climate change mitigation and environmental protection by providing Europe’s second Green Loan to a company in Austria.
Energie Steiermark will receive EUR 90 million of special climate action financing for sustainable investment projects. It is the first EIB Green Finance package in Austria.
More specifically, the funds will be used for further grid expansion measures to integrate renewable energies and other energy-efficiency projects. The EIB, which has a long tradition of financing such projects, has now granted a Green Loan for the second time.
“The EIB, the European Union’s climate bank, is aiming to considerably increase its efforts to combat climate change. Over the next 10 years, it intends to kick-start climate action projects worth EUR 1 billion. From 2025 onwards, every other project will target climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability,” said EIB’s Irish Vice-President Andrew McDowell.
The EIB funds that have now been made available will be channelled exclusively into sustainable investments in the 30 000-kilometre Styrian electricity grid and will thus ensure the integration of renewable energy. Styria will therefore be even better equipped in the future to increase the use of wind power, solar energy and hydroelectric power, as well as other new technologies, such as electricity storage units, thus continuing to ensure its excellent security of supply.
After the Spanish energy group Endesa in 2018, Energie Steiermark is the second company in Europe to receive an EIB Green Loan.
Original source: EIB
Published on 04 November 2019
