The European Investment Bank (EIB) informed today that it had provided more than GBP 5.5 billion for a record number of UK-based projects in 2016, compared to GBP 5.6 billion in 2015.
EIB supported investments across several key sectors in the UK, including energy infrastructure.
New EIB support for renewable energy-related investment in the UK last year included GBP 500 million to reinforce electricity transmission in northern Scotland to improve connections between wind, wave and tidal renewable energy schemes and the national power network.
Jonathan Taylor , European Investment Bank Vice President, said: “Last year the European Investment Bank’s support for crucial investment across the UK helped to improve essential services, enhance key infrastructure and unlock economic opportunities across the country. This included record financing for social housing investment in any European country, and the largest ever loans to universities. These will strengthen world class research and innovation at universities in Oxford, Edinburgh, Swansea, Bangor, Newcastle and UCL. More UK households will get green energy following the single largest ever EIB support for investment in offshore wind, and London commuters will benefit from new trains.”
The EIB is directly owned by the 28 European Union member states, including a 16 per cent share held by the UK government.
The financing agreed in 2016 represented the second largest annual engagement since the start of EIB lending in the UK in 1973.