The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest EUR 25 million in the Enercap Power Fund, which will support renewable energy infrastructure projects in Central and South-Eastern Europe. A significant proportion of the investments made by the Fund are expected to be in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia and the Czech Republic.
The announcement of the signature, subject to final legal documentation, was made today by EIB Vice President Marta Gajęcka during the 2007 EIB Forum devoted to the topic "Investing in Energy – Mastering Climate Change" held in Ljubljana on 27-28 September.
The Enercap Power Fund will support projects based on the use of mature technologies in the wind sector, as well as in the biofuel and other renewable energy sectors considered to be environmentally beneficial and contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Mrs Marta Gajęcka, EIB Vice President, commented: “The investment will contribute to a cleaner, greener environment in Central and South-Eastern Europe, increasing our dependency on renewable energy sources. With the provision of clean and secure energy ranking high on the EIB’s list of priorities, we have developed a range of innovative financial instruments, including framework facilities for smaller-scale investments, structured finance and equity funds specifically to facilitate investment in projects such as the Enercap Power Fund.”
The Enercap Power Fund is expected to reach a total size of EUR 100 million-150 million. This operation is being implemented in the framework of the EIB’s Structured Finance Facility (SFF), an innovative financing solution that enables the Bank to support priority projects bearing a higher lending risk than would traditionally be assumed by the EIB.
Background information:
The promotion of sustainable, competitive and secure sources in the energy sector is a key policy objective of the European Union. As the EU’s long-term financing institution, the European Investment Bank (EIB) made support for Europe’s energy needs a top lending priority in 2007, targeting the increase of renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy saving, research and development in energy, and security and diversification of supplies. The EIB has set itself a minimum annual lending target of EUR 800 million for renewable energy projects.
Since the start of 2006 to date, the EIB has provided loans in excess of EUR 6 billion for energy investment projects within the EU, of which EUR 456 million in 2006 and EUR 901 million in 2007 benefited renewable energy projects.
The 2007 EIB Forum taking place in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 27-28 September will look at different world energy scenarios, assess their economic and environmental sustainability and discuss the political choices to be made. Energy supplies and the full spectrum of energy sources, from fossil and nuclear to renewable energy, will be considered as well as energy demand in major sectors such as the motor and steel industries, energy consumption for heating and lighting, and the potential for greater energy efficiency. On-line information on the EIB Forum can be accessed at www.eib.org/forum.