The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing € 41.5 million to Portuguese energy company Galp to support the deployment of a charging network in Spain and Portugal. The project provides for the establishment of 5,500 charging points by 2025.

Galp predicts that 55% of charging stations will be installed in less developed regions and in the so-called cohesion regions of the Iberian Peninsula. In total, the company wants to set up up to 10,000 charging points by 2025 – 5,000 more outside the EIB-financed project.

The European Investment Bank expects the agreement also to help “develop the market for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, improve technological performance, reduce initial equipment costs and leverage investment in electric vehicle industries, thus contributing to more efficient and affordable vehicles ”.

The € 41.5 million loan is just one of three loans granted by the EIB to the company. Their total value amounts to 406.5 million euros. The other two loans will be used to finance photovoltaic installations, Galp’s core business. The company, which employs 6,360 people and is headquartered in Lisbon, has committed to investing half of its net investment between 2021 and 2025 in projects related to the transition to a low-carbon energy model, of which 30% in renewable energy and five percent. percent in new businesses.

“Galp’s commitment to being a carbon neutral company prompts us to be bold in the actions we take today while ensuring we thrive through the energy transition,” said Andy Brown, CEO of Galp. “Our plan to remodel our portfolio is already underway, with Galp accelerating the integration of low and no carbon energy solutions into our operations. EIB support is essential to help us speed up the development of such projects.

EU bank pledged to ‘mobilize € 1 trillion in investments for climate action and environmental sustainability in the crucial decade to 2030’, in line with EU targets European Union on climate change. To this end, the Bank aims to gradually increase the share of financing it provides for these objectives to 50% by 2025.

For the decarbonisation of the transport sector, the EIB has an instrument called CTF (Cleaner Transport Facility). In addition, there is the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility), a tool intended to promote growth, employment and competitiveness through targeted investments in infrastructure at European level, and the CEF DI (CEF Debt Instrument), a another specialized branch which is mainly used in the transport and energy sectors. The latter is used to meet specific market needs for which private funding is insufficient. CEF and CEF-DI grants can be combined as needed to support projects.

bei.org