The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €100m guarantee agreement with Landesbank Saar (SaarLB) to provide the latter with further scope to invest in renewable energy.
Under the terms of the agreement, EIB will cover up to 50% of the risk on up to 10 existing SaarLB loans for wind and solar projects in France.
The partial offloading of the risk will allow SaarLB to make available nearly €200m worth of additional loans for renewable energy projects, which do not fall under the EIB agreement.
The EIB said it is able to take part of the risk because it is itself partially covered by guarantees of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
It is the first time that EFSI guarantees have been used for this type of risk sharing, EIB said.
EFSI is part of the Investment Plan for Europe, with which the EU hopes to mobilise an additional €315bn of investment over three years.
SaarLB director Frank Eloy said: “We have long been financing renewable energy projects in Germany and France as they contribute to structural change and preparation for the future in both countries.”
Image: Morgue File
