- The €120 million loan supports the company’s transition to electric heat pumps and improved energy efficiency.
- The EIB loan is strictly linked to environmental criteria.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a €120 million loan to the heating systems manufacturer Vaillant Group, supporting the company’s ongoing investments into research, development and innovation related to modern heating technologies. The project will be implemented primarily at the group’s headquarters in Remscheid, Germany, and will include investments in other EU countries such as France, Spain and Slovakia.
The Vaillant Group, founded in 1874 and fully family-owned ever since, is the global market leader in central heating units and is pushing forward with its rapid transformation into a leading supplier of electric heat pumps. The company has already increased its investments into new technologies to €300 million in 2021 and plans to increase them further in the coming years. The €120 million EIB loan will supports the company’s ambitious transition. In each of the past two fiscal years, the company increased its heat pump sales by more than 50%.
The heating technology industry is undergoing a transformation driven by government regulation, digitalisation and changing customer requirements. The effects of climate change and the ongoing discussion about the supply of natural gas in the light of the war in Ukraine have led European governments to increasingly support the electrification of the building sector. In Germany, the overall sale of heat pumps in the first half of 2022 was already 25% higher than during the same period in 2021.
The EU bank generally expects positive environmental spill over from products with enhanced energy efficiency and lower use of fossil fuels. The project is therefore fully in line with the climate goals of the Bank and the European Union.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, who oversees activities in Germany, said: “We are proud to support the transformation of Europe’s heating systems industry via this financing for the Vaillant Group. Projects like this will help to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector, which is currently responsible for one-fifth of overall emissions.”
“We have set a clear course to becoming a leading supplier of environmentally friendly heat pumps. With the EIB loan, which is linked to strict environmental criteria, we have an even greater financial scope to accelerate our transformation in line with our green and ESG-linked financing strategy,” said Vaillant Group CFO Dr Stefan Borchers.
Background information
The EIB’s activities focus on the following priority areas: climate and environment, development, innovation and skills, small and medium-sized businesses, infrastructure and cohesion. The EIB works closely with other EU institutions to foster European integration, promote the development of the European Union and support EU policies in over 140 countries around the world.
The Vaillant Group is an internationally active company based in Remscheid, Germany, which operates in the fields of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technology. As one of the global market and technology leaders, the Vaillant Group develops and manufactures customised products, systems and services to provide a comfortable living environment. Its product portfolio ranges from efficient heating devices based on conventional energy sources to system solutions for using renewable energy. In the financial year 2021, the company, which has been family-owned since its foundation in 1874, generated sales of around €3.3 billion with its workforce of about 16 000.