The French region of Midi-Pyrénées has launched a 700 million euro ($942.75 million) renewable energy funding project for photovoltaics, wind and biogas, the first of its kind in the country.
The project will extend loans to assist public and private companies, renewable energy farms and local authorities in installing renewable resources in the region, the largest urban area of metropolitan France which spans over eight districts.
It also involves upgrading public and private buildings in the area to reduce 20 percent of energy consumption.
Midi-Pyrénées is the first French region that obtained the energy financing package from the E.I.B., as well as the only one that promotes the specified renewable sources
The European Investment Bank will finance half of the project by providing a credit line to Crédit Agricole and the BPCE Group. In addition, the two banks will jointly provide an additional 350 million euros.
The French banks will also manage the full loan package and process loan applications throughout the region.
The Midi-Pyrénées region will guarantee 25 percent of the total amount of loans granted to very small, small and medium-sized businesses and farms for renewable energy generation projects.
The European Investment Bank said the loan aims to leverage the other two banks’ lending capacity and is part of its ongoing support to European countries in establishing sustainable energy. [Check out EcoSeed’s extensive coverage of the bank’s activities here.]
With the same objectives, the E.U. bank lent 1.3 billion euros to France in 2009. The bank claims that the amount of its renewable energy loans has grown from 43 percent to 70 percent of its overall lending for power generation projects since 2005.
The E.I.B. has won awards such as “Renewable Lender of the Year” from Euromoney and Ernst &Young and the “Best Finance House” for renewables from the Environmental Finance Review.
This September, the E.I.B. granted Italy-based UniCredit Leasing two credit lines worth 550 million euros to finance investments in small and medium-sized renewable energy businesses and projects in Italy.
