MADRID, 1 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The European Investment Bank Group (EIB), which includes both the entity and the European Investment Fund, signed financing worth about 11.4 billion euros in Spain in 2023, a figure 14% higher than that of 2022, according to The institution chaired by Nadia Calviño reported this Thursday.
This financing was allocated to 90 high-impact projects in renewable energy, sustainable transport and urban mobility, health and competitiveness of SMEs, among others, and is expected to support investments with an estimated value of more than 26.8 billion euros.
"The investment figure of the EIB Group in Spain reflects our determined commitment to finance the present and future of the Spanish economy, accelerating the green and digital transition, promoting the competitiveness of companies, guaranteeing energy security and promoting economic cohesion and social", declared President Calviño.
The former Spanish Minister of Economy has also highlighted that the projects promoted by the EIB place Spain among the countries "that contribute the most to reinforcing the leadership of the EU in the transition towards a more sustainable economy, renewable energies, the reinforcement of health or sustainable transportation".
"Our ability to promote public-private collaboration and our investment catalyst role are making companies compete more and better, inside and outside Spain, and giving our citizens access to more efficient and higher quality services," added Calviño. .
RECORD NUMBER IN GREEN FINANCING
For the second consecutive year, green financing allocated to climate action and environmental sustainability projects reached a record figure and exceeded 6.7 billion euros, registering an increase of 23% over the previous year. In five years, the Bank has committed more than 21 billion euros in green financing in Spain.
This transversal line of action represents 59% of the Group's total investment in Spain, thus exceeding the 50% objective established for 2025.
"Six out of every ten euros that have been invested in Spain have been for green investments and, in fact, Spain is the first market and the main European recipient, it leads the EIB's investments in the field of renewable energies," said Calviño. in statements to RNE collected by Europa Press.
The president of the EIB has also highlighted that the 2023 investment will allow the supply of energy to some four million homes in Spain, "very impressive" figures.
In this chapter, investment in renewable energies and energy efficiency are areas of action in which EIB financing in Spain led the EU in 2023.
"In an international context in which energy security is crucial for the strategic autonomy of the EU, Spain was the country that allocated the most financing to reduce Europe's dependence on fossil fuels and to guarantee access to sustainable energy for the citizens of the entire Union," President Calviño highlighted.
In 2023, the EIB will invest more than €4.5 billion in renewable energy generation, in energy efficiency projects to make buildings more sustainable or in the modernization and digitalization of electrical networks. The EIB's investment in renewable energy generation alone exceeded 2.5 billion.
The EIB Group in Spain contributed the most, with 22% of the total contributed by the bank, to the investment to reduce Europe's dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the ecological transition through the EU initiative REPowerEU.
As Calviño explained, the EIB's green financing promoted large railway infrastructure projects, urban mobility, electrification of road transport, modernization of high speed and security of Spanish airports, among others, in 2023.
"In all of our country's large investments there is usually the EIB's footprint. When we are talking about sustainability we are also referring to the efforts that are being made for energy security, also to disconnect from dependence on Russian fossil fuels," Calviño explained.
The Group has stressed that the record green financing figures "reflect its firm commitment" to supporting companies to mitigate the effects of climate change and being the main agent to achieve climate neutrality in the country.
"In 2022 and 2023 we have more than met the objective of more than 50% of investment being green and that consolidates the European Investment Bank as the Climate Bank," said President Calviño.
2,700 MILLION EUROS FOR SPANISH SMEs
The EIB Group financed the projects of more than 100,000 small and medium-sized companies and mid-cap companies in Spain with more than 2.7 billion euros, which served to support ecological transition and digitalization projects, invest in innovation and contribute to the maintenance of more than 1.3 million jobs.
"Our commitment to SMEs and mid-cap companies is total since they are the true backbone of the Spanish productive fabric. In 2023, in a context of high interest rates, our alliances with national and regional financial entities have been fundamental to guarantee access to financing for these companies so that they could carry out their ecological and digital transition," commented Calviño.
Health and education infrastructures were another of the highlighted lines of action of the EU financial arm in 2023. Among the most relevant projects are the renovation and construction of hospitals, financing to make health care centers more ecological elderly, research in the treatment of rare diseases and the construction and renovation of public education centers.
To promote economic and social cohesion, one of the EIB's priorities, more than €5 billion of its total financing was dedicated in Spain in 2023, 11% more than in 2022.
At a global level, in the EU as a whole, the EIB Group granted a total of €88 billion in financing contracts in 2023, distributed among more than 900 projects. These commitments are expected to mobilize around €320 billion in investments, supporting 400,000 businesses and 5.4 million jobs.
