The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a EUR 200m loan with Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque (CVA spa) for its investment programme. CVA spa is active in the hydroelectric sector and its capital is wholly owned by the Valle d’Aosta Region via Finaosta.
CVA’s investment programme comprises the restructuring and upgrading of existing dams and hydroelectric plants and the construction of new hydroelectric plants in Valle d’Aosta and a new photovoltaic plant in Piedmont. Overall, in Valle d’Aosta the development programme provides for the construction of five hydroelectric plants, the restructuring of seven plants and three dams and the upgrading of three hydroelectric plants and one dam.
For the EIB, the operation falls within the EU’s traditional project financing sectors of energy and the environment. The CVA project contributes to the EU objectives of expanding renewable energy sources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing more secure energy sources.
This is the EIB’s first direct operation with CVA, a company founded in 2000, which in 2001 took over Enel’s hydroelectric plants in Valle d’Aosta.
EIB
The European Investment Bank supports the strategic and policy objectives of the European Union by granting long-term loans for economically viable investment projects. The EIB’s shareholders are the 27 EU Member States. Italy is one of the four leading shareholders, along with the United Kingdom, Germany and France, each holding a 16.2% stake in the Bank.