Vice-President Thomas Östros at the EU Sustainable Energy Week 2024

Dear Commissioner, Minister, ladies, and gentlemen

It is a great pleasure to be here at the European Sustainable Energy Week. I will share with you how the European Investment Bank Group is supporting the just energy transition to climate neutrality.

Let me spell it out clearly, Europe must stay the course on the European Green Deal and accelerate the green transition. And while we do this, we cannot leave anyone behind.

At the European Investment Bank, the EU Climate Bank, a successful green transition is a top priority. And we believe that we must maintain a fast pace. This is to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. It is also to preserve economic competitiveness and reinforce our strategic autonomy, security and stability in an increasingly complex geopolitical context.

The success of the green transition depends on our ability to supply clean and affordable energy to power our industry, our vehicles, our homes. This requires massive investment to develop net-zero breakthrough technologies to replace industrial processes based on fossil fuels. And the EIB stands ready to do its part.

The European Union has a robust and comprehensive policy and regulatory framework to enable the green transition. Now it is time to deliver.

The good news is that European companies are getting on with the green transition. They see this as an important and new business opportunity. 

As the EU’s climate bank, it is a key priority for the EIB Group to support the green transition and scale up of new technologies. We have consolidated our brand as the Climate Bank: last year more than half of our lending was for climate and environmental action. Almost €50 billion out of our total €88 billion went to green investments in 2023. This is more than double our lending four years ago (2019 figures).

One explanation for this increase is due to our support for the REPowerEU Plan. We have committed to an additional €45 billion in loans and equity financing for clean energy and manufacturing capacity for state-of-the-art strategic net-zero technologies and products until 2027. This financing is in addition to our regular lending to the energy sector.

In 2023, the EIB signed operations contributing to REPowerEU objectives with a volume of €21 billion. This is more than double what the Bank used to lend on average to the European energy sector. And it is €4 billion more than in 2022.

I would like to emphasise – that these are not just numbers. Beneath them are real projects. Projects that help us reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Projects that make Europe’s economy stronger and more resilient.

Let me give you some concrete examples here:

• We are financing the largest solar-panel factory in Italy,
• the first circular-production battery gigafactory in Sweden,
• offshore wind farms in the Baltic and Nordic regions,
• decarbonisation of heavy industry in Germany,
• new green hydrogen projects and infrastructure in the Iberian Peninsula,
• breakthrough green steel in Northern Sweden, and
• upgrade to Poland’s electricity transmission network.

This is just to mention a few.

We are fully committed to play our part in supporting sustainable energy projects in Europe and beyond.

First, energy efficiency investment in buildings and in businesses continues to a priority for us in the energy sector.

Second, the European Investment Bank will continue to support the entire range of renewable energy technologies as well as the integration into the energy system through smart grids, digitalisation and storage projects.

We welcome and support the work done by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency on electricity grids. This is a key enabler of the energy transition.

Ladies and gentlemen,

A third of the cuts in emissions that we need is estimated to come from technologies that are either not yet available, or at least not yet cost competitive. This means we have to bet on technologies that you cannot find on the shelves. We need to invest in research, development and innovation. In experimentation and in pilot projects.

The EIB Group has a balance sheet of €600 billion, and we are triple A-rated. Strong public institutions like this are essential to de-risk investments for the private sector.

Together, we can develop the net-zero breakthrough technologies that will really make the difference in tackling climate change. And – very importantly – to scale up existing technologies.

Just as we financed offshore wind farms when the sector was still in its infancy, we now support Europe’s technological leadership in the new green economy. We support the entire financing value chain of clean technologies, from development, demonstration to scale-up and deployment, through a wide range of financial products and advisory services.

In many cases, we work closely with the European Commission – for example under InvestEU, where the Commission provides us guarantees that enable us to support high-risk projects. This helped us, for example, to provide venture debt financing to companies like Northvolt in Sweden or Verkor in France before they could raise debt, supporting them from early-stage demonstration plants to scaling up and building their gigafactories.

Another concrete example of how we work with partners to lowering the cost of capital, to de-risk, and to crowd in private sector investment: the EU Catalyst Partnership, which we set-up with the European Commission and Breakthrough Energy. Together, we aim to accelerate the deployment of innovative low-carbon technologies while bringing their costs to a level that is competitive with fossil fuels. 

To conclude, as the EU's financing arm, the EIB Group is a powerful instrument to help deliver Europe’s green transition. For citizens, businesses, and for Europe's competitiveness.

Working together, through partnerships between the public and private investors, with practical solutions, I am confident that we in Europe have the means to make the green transition an economic success.

I wish you a successful and fruitful conference.

Thank you.