The world’s largest international financier for renewable energy, the European Investment Bank, confirmed new backing for investment across India. The EIB will increase support for onshore wind investment through expansion of an existing lending programme with the State Bank of India, has approved a new credit line with Yes Bank to accelerate private investment in wind and solar projects and expects to work closely with Indian partners to support offshore wind projects.
The clean energy financing was confirmed by European Investment Bank Vice President Andrew McDowell at an offshore energy investment conference in New Delhi.
“Scaling up renewable energy investment is crucial for economic growth, improving access to energy and addressing climate change and support for renewable is a key priority for the European Investment Bank, the EU Bank, here in India. The EIB is pleased to host our first offshore wind investment conference in New Delhi and bring together technical and financial expertise from across India and the European Union’s unique global experience in the sector. We look forward to broadening cooperation with Indian partners to support new renewable energy projects in the months ahead and enabling offshore wind to contribute to clean power generation in the country.” said Andrew McDowell, Vice President of the European Investment Bank responsible for Energy and South Asia.
“The European Union and India share a common goal of tackling climate change. India has huge renewable energy resources and harnessing India’s abundant natural resources is crucial for sustainable development. Supporting energy investment is a key focus of the European Union’s India strategy announced this week and my colleagues are working closely with Indian partners to further develop India’s offshore wind sector. Today’s conference demonstrates the European Union’s firm commitment to support expansion of clean energy in India and as the Bank of the European Union, the European Investment Bank, has a unique technical and financial experience that is already backing transformational renewable energy projects across the country.” said H.E. Tomasz Kozlowski, European Union Ambassador to India.
Partnership with State Bank of India to unlock new onshore wind investment
Alongside the conference the, European Investment Bank and State Bank of India formally agreed to build on successful cooperation to finance renewable energy provide new support for wind energy projects across India by expanding an ongoing financing initiative to support onshore wind projects.
Under the agreement promoters of onshore wind projects will be able to benefit from long-term low cost financing under a dedicated EUR 600 million renewable energy financing programme already supporting large scale solar investment across India.
In 2017 EIB provided EUR 4.4 billion for renewable energy investment worldwide and in recent years has supported projects across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Since support for climate related investment became a formal priority in 2010, the EIB has invested over EUR 130 billion globally, supporting more than EUR 600 billion in climate action investment.
Original source: EIB
Published on 23 November 2018
