The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Spain’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business will provide €870 million in financing to Naturgy to strengthen, upgrade and digitalize its electricity distribution network in Spain, according to a press release by the EIB. The operation includes €520 million channeled through the Regional Resilience Fund and €350 million from EIB financing. It will support the construction and reinforcement of 2,300 km of electricity networks across five autonomous communities. The initiative aims to accelerate electrification of the economy and the integration of renewable energy. Most of the targeted regions are cohesion regions.
The investments will benefit Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Galicia and Madrid. All but Madrid are classified as cohesion regions, where income per capita is below the EU average. The Regional Resilience Fund is financed through NextGenerationEU under Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The EIB serves as the ministry’s strategic partner for implementation and management of the fund. More than 80% of the total investment will go to cohesion regions.
The first loan, totaling €520 million, has already been signed through the Regional Resilience Fund. The second loan, worth €350 million, has been approved, with €200 million already signed, entirely from the EIB’s own resources. The funds will be invested in automation, remote control and digitalization of the grid, connecting new users and meeting increased demand. Additional measures include implementing security measures, reducing grid losses, and placing infrastructure underground. The project will strengthen Naturgy’s entire distribution network in Spain, which spans over 116,000 km of power lines.
In 2025, a record €11.6 billion of EIB financing went to electricity grid and storage system projects worldwide. In Spain, the EIB Group devoted a record €1.9 billion to grid investments in 2025, meaning one out of every two euros invested in Spanish grids came from EIB financing. Between 2021 and 2025, the EIB financed the construction or upgrade of 45,000 km of electricity networks in Spain, enough to circle the globe. Funds were allocated to digitalization projects, smart meters, repairing damage caused by the DANA weather event, storage, and strengthening interconnection with Europe. The Naturgy project supports the EIB’s climate action and cohesion objectives.
The operation aligns with the Spanish government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and forms part of the EIB’s action plan to support REPowerEU. Naturgy is an energy multinational active in Spain, Latin America, the United States and Australia, supplying gas and electricity to over 18 million customers. The group has electricity generation capacity of 19.1 GW worldwide, including 8.4 GW of renewable capacity. In 2025, the EIB Group completed financing and investment operations in Spain totaling around €11 billion, alongside an additional €2.9 billion under the Regional Resilience Fund. The arrangement underscores the shared commitment of both institutions to economic, social and territorial cohesion.
