This green financing agreement was signed in Madrid by EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro, ICO President José Carlos García de Quevedo and Iberdrola President Ignacio Galán. The EU bank will provide €145 million and ICO will provide up to €140 million for the company’s new renewable energy project, the total investment for which will reach €290 million.
Núñez de Balboa is located between the municipalities of Usagre, Hinojosa del Valle and Bienvenida in Badajoz province. It is scheduled to come on line in 2020, and the construction phase is expected to create more than 1000 jobs. The project also includes development the infrastructure required to transmit the energy generated to the electricity distribution network.
At the signing ceremony, EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro, said, “Our involvement demonstrates the EIB’s strong commitment to climate action. The EU bank is the biggest multilateral financer of projects that contribute to climate action, supporting projects like this one that reduce contaminant emissions while generating economic growth and employment.”
ICO President José Carlos García de Quevedo added that “the deal signed today secures support for financing investments that promote energy efficiency or the generation of energy from renewable, non-contaminating sources.”
Ignacio Galán, President of Iberdrola, explained during the signing ceremony that “this new agreement guarantees our investment in Núñez de Balboa, and we are continuing to work towards our target of tripling our wind and solar capacity in Spain by 2030.”
Furthermore, the financing deal signed with the EIB and ICO is in line “with Iberdrola’s commitment to a sustainable energy model that enables the transition to a low-carbon economy,” added Galán.
Iberdrola has become the world’s biggest corporate issuer of green bonds, totaling nearly €10 billion to date.
And now this joint operation between the EIB and ICO is complementing the €400 million green loan operation signed recently between ICO and Iberdrola to finance the Támega hydroelectric complex.