The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) has agreed to support the REPowerEU plan with additional €30 billion in loans and equity financing over the next five years.
The additional funds from the EIB Group will be directed to renewables , energy efficiency , grids and storage , electric-vehicle charging infrastructure , and breakthrough technologies , such as low-carbon hydrogen .
The package of new, targeted financing approved by the EIB’s board of directors on October 26, 2022, is expected to mobilize up to €115 billion of new investment by 2027 , thus making a substantial contribution to the REPowerEU objective of ending dependency on Russian fossil fuels , according to EIB Group.
It is a supplementary envelope, on top of the EIB Group’s already existing support for the energy sector in the European Union, averaging around €10 billion of financing per year over the past decade.
Werner Hoyer , president of the EIB Group, said “This horrible war and Russia’s blackmail over gas supplies affirmed that our dependency on fossil fuels is a critical security vulnerability. It’s about time we finally ended this dependency.
“The EIB is determined to mobilize the full-scale of its financial resources in support of the joint effort, and work with the private sector to maximize the impact of our investment.”
Ursula von der Leyen , president of the European Commission, added: “I welcome the EIB’s financial reinforcement of our REPowerEU plan, on top of the €300 billion funds already available.
“With today’s EIB package, we can go even faster in cleaning Europe’s energy system and ending our dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The EIB Group’s contribution will help us ensure our energy security and reach our 2030 climate goals.”
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