The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Haizea Wind Group, a Spanish company specialising in the manufacture of components for the wind energy sector, have signed a €35 million green loan.

The loan will enable Haizea to implement advanced manufacturing technologies, automate and digitalise processes and move forward with research and development applied to the manufacture and assembly of large metal structures for wind turbines such as wind towers, monopile foundations and offshore wind park transition pieces.

The project reinforces the EIB’s role as the EU Climate Bank, backs the development of a major renewable energy technology and the international competitiveness of Europe’s offshore wind industry, and strengthens the European supply chain for renewable energy.

“Loans like the one we are signing with Haizea today reflect the EIB’s commitment to innovation and the development of renewable energy technologies enabling us to move forward with the energy transition and strengthening the competitiveness of our companies,” said EIB Director of Operations for Spain and Portugal Gilles Badot. “A robust renewable technology manufacturing sector is vital to guaranteeing the European Union’s energy security and autonomy.”

This loan is part of the EIB’s innovation support and falls under its cross-cutting climate action and environmental sustainability priority. Given Haizea’s role as an equipment and structures provider to the energy sector, the operation also contributes to the REPowerEU plan’s goal of increasing energy security and reducing EU dependence on fossil fuel imports. This loan is backed by the InvestEU programme to mobilise public and private sector funds in support of EU policy goals.

Haizea Wind Group Finance Director Alvaro Quintana added: “The signing of this loan with the EIB is part of Haizea Wind Group’s goal of helping its clients work towards a more sustainable economy by supplying large metal pieces like towers, transition pieces and large-diameter monopiles – currently key parts of the offshore wind power supply chain to achieve the green transition. The trust the EIB has shown by signing with us this green loan will enable us to implement advanced manufacturing technologies and move forward with research and development applied to the manufacture and assembly of large metal structures for wind turbines.”

The EIB and energy security

In 2023, the EIB Group provided more than €21 billion in financing for energy security in Europe. In the same year, it allocated €4.5 billion to this goal in Spain, financing projects in areas including renewable energy, energy efficiency, power grids and storage systems. These investments are helping Europe speed up its transition to sustainable energy and reduce its reliance on fossil fuel imports.

In July 2023, the EIB Board of Directors raised the amount earmarked for REPowerEU projects to €45 billion. REPowerEU is the plan designed to end Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel imports. To boost financing for the EU manufacturing industry, the EIB will also expand the range of eligible sectors to include leading strategic technologies with net-zero carbon emissions, as well as extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials. The additional financing will be disbursed between now and 2027. In total, it is expected to mobilise more than €150 billion in investment in the target sectors.

The EBRD is launching a new mobile app, Tech Selector, which will change how the Bank delivers climate finance to meet the needs of clients who are increasingly using mobile devices for commerce during and beyond the coronavirus pandemic.

Technology and digitalisation continue transforming the way in which the financial sector is operating. Innovative applications of digital technology for financial services such as the Tech Selector are altering the interface between financial institutions and their clients while improving access to information about green technologies and climate finance.

Businesses and homeowners will be able to use their phones to find more than 18,000 green technologies that improve energy efficiency, provide renewable energy, and reduce water use and soil erosion.

Users will also be able to easily identify the technologies that benefit from EBRD support –from the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), the Green Trade Facilitation Programme (Green TFP) or the Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change programme (FINTECC).

“The coronavirus pandemic is speeding up the shift to online retail and we see this as an opportunity for greening economies,” explained Ksenia Brockman, EBRD Associate Director for Energy Efficiency and Climate Change.

“Our new app improves access to information in economies where mobile internet is often more advanced than broadband services. The Tech Selector brings green technologies to the fingertips of businesses and homeowners wishing to cut their utility bills, increase their productivity and competitiveness and improve the comfort of their homes or premises,” she added.

The Tech Selector will accelerate the delivery of climate finance under GEFF and other financial instruments of the EBRD with the support of international donors and partners such as the European Union (EU), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Climate Investment Fund (CIF).

The innovative app is based on the Green Technology Selector, the first e-commerce tool launched by the EBRD in 2018. This online shopping-style platform allows users to access a global directory for green technologies and is available across the EBRD regions and beyond.

Among the more than 70 technologies included on the platform and the app, the selection ranges from energy efficient heat pumps and solar panels that produce renewable energy to water efficient drip irrigation systems and no-till seeding machines that support sustainable land management.

Together, the app and the Green Technology Selector platform are creating a marketplace that makes green technologies more easily available while promoting cross-border trade between economies in the EBRD regions.

Manufacturers from around the world can submit their products to the Green Technology Selector and local vendors can register their products and locations. If the offers meet the performance requirements, the EBRD makes them available for clients to search on both the app and the platform.