07/14/2017

Gas Natural Fenosa and EIB sign loan of 450 million for wind farms and electricity distribution in Spain

The loan will be allocated to financing part of the electricity distribution business, as well as a number of investments in renewable energy by the power group in Spain / The agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) forms part of the goal to increase average debt life and diversify the company's funding sources by enlarging the proportion of institutional financing

Image: Gas Natural Fenosa

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and GAS NATURAL FENOSA have signed a loan for a total amount of 450 million euros, which the power group will allocate to financing part of its electricity distribution business and developing renewable energy projects in Spain.

The EIB financing will help GAS NATURAL FENOSA’s electricity distributor, Unión Fenosa Distribución, implement its 2016-2019 investment plan to modernise and expand the distribution network in eight autonomous regions of Spain: The Canary Islands, Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, Castile-Leon, Catalonia, the Region of Madrid, Extremadura and Galicia.

Furthermore, Gas Natural Fenosa will also spend the EIB loan on financing the construction (through Gas Natural Fenosa Renovables) of 11 wind farms on the islands of Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura with a total installed power of 49.6 MW.

Overall, these investments will improve the operation and coverage of the country’s electricity distribution network, which will lead to improvements in efficiency, service and supply quality for the public.

Furthermore, the projects developed by GAS NATURAL FENOSA with EIB financing will lead to the creation of over 5,000 jobs (indirect and direct) during their implementation stage.

This new financing complements the two bond issues for 2 billion euros at 7 and 10 years undertaken during the first half of 2017.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union and is owned by the EU Member States. The EIB offers long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU development policy goals.