The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Intesa Sanpaolo have agreed on a new initiative with the potential to unlock investment of up to €8 billion for the European wind industry. It forms part of the EIB’s €5 billion Wind Power Package.
The EIB wind-focused programme aims to support the production of 32 GW of the 117 GW of wind capacity needed to enable the European Union to meet its goal of generating at least 45% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.
In concrete terms, the EIB will provide a €500 million counter-guarantee to Intesa Sanpaolo, enabling the Italian bank to create a portfolio of bank guarantees of up to €1 billion. These will back the supply chain and power grid interconnection for new wind farm projects across the European Union. The leverage effect of the EIB counter-guarantee is expected to mobilise additional funding from other investors to support increasing production and accelerating wind energy development, helping to stimulate an estimated €8 billion of investment in the real economy. This follows a similar initiative between the EIB and Germany-based Deutsche Bank AG.
