EIB Backing of €400 million For Green Renewable Energy Developer

Greek renewable energy developer Mytilineos has secured backing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for €400 million (US$437 million) to support its solar and battery storage development plans.

Mytilineos has a broader plan for the development of 2.6GW of solar PV and storage assets across the EU through 2027. The total sum of the investment is expected to be around €2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion), making the EIB commitment key to securing other investors too.

The EIB said that its €400 million investment forms part of its support plan for the EU’s REPowerEU scheme which was introduced in 2022 to lessen the bloc’s dependence on fossil fuels, most notably Russian gas following the invasion of Ukraine.

In July 2023, the EIB announced a €15 billion expansion to its support for REPowerEU, targeting both renewable energy capacity deployments and asset manufacturing.

The EIB funding, even as it backs creation of energy assets as well as manufacturing on the continent, has also focused on ensuring these projects serve lower income segments of the population, and areas that find it more difficult than most to attract investors. Thus Mytilineos, even as it focuses mostly on Greece, will also look at other regions in Europe for possible capacity creation. It might even look to source key materials from the supply chain in the continent itself, although that has not been specified in the release.

European developers are counting heavily on state support and EU wide support from the likes of EIB to survive and even thrive the onslaught from Chinese and other competitors. Cost of funds remains lower in the EU as compared to most developing markets they have considered, be it in Asia or Latin America and Africa.