EIB Approves €575 Million Loan for Repsol’s 1.1 GW Wind & Solar Projects in Spain

The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a €575 million loan support to Spanish energy firm Repsol. The firm will utilise the fund for the rollout of wind and solar photovoltaic plants in Spain with a total capacity of 1.1 GW. Renewable energy facilities are expected to go live before the end of 2025.

Over 35 per cent of the installed capacity will be in cohesion regions, where per capita income is less than 75 per cent of the EU average, underlining the EIB’s commitment to economic and social cohesion. The projects developed will generate electricity equivalent to the annual average consumption of around 645 000 Spanish households and will help reduce annual GHG emissions by the equivalent of over 800 000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

The €400 million financing was signed on July 25, 2023 – the first tranche of an approved EIB loan of €575 million. It is aimed at accelerating the energy transition, strengthening the security of the power supply, and boosting climate action and social and economic cohesion. The loan is part of the EIB’s contribution to REPowerEU, and will also promote energy security by lowering EU dependency on fossil fuel imports.

“With this operation, the EIB is continuing to accelerate the energy transition in Spain by increasing renewable energy generation capacity and supporting Repsol’s decarbonisation strategy,” said EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix during the signing event held in Madrid.

Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz said, “This new financing supports the company’s roadmap set out in the 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, aiming to reach 6 GW of installed capacity by 2025 and 20 GW by 2030. The EIB’s support endorses our goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and is further proof that we are moving in the right direction.”

EIB has been backing Repsol’s decarbonization efforts for a while now. The Bank also sanctioned a €120 million loan to the firm, last December, for the construction and operation of the first advanced biofuels production plant in Spain, located in Cartagena (region of Murcia).

Most of the 1.9 GW of renewable energy projects portfolio of the company is located in Spain, while the firm also has a presence in the United States, Chile, Portugal, and Italy, with its renewable assets in different stages of development at these places.

The company’s roadmap includes Carbon Intensity Indicator reduction targets of 15 per cent by 2025, 28 per cent by 2030, and 55 per cent by 2040. In 2022, the EIB Group committed financing of more than €17 billion for the energy transition in Europe.