Brussels, 26/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank adopted new guidelines to reinforce support for investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy grids.
Over the past ten months the EIB has undertaken a comprehensive review to ensure that its energy lending criteria reflect EU energy and climate policy, as well as current investment trends. The new proposals were discussed by the EIB's Board on Tuesday 23 July, which approved them with additional clarifications on proposed exemptions to the emissions performance standard.
Technical assistance will be provided to help develop projects in these key sectors. The new energy lending criteria includes streamlined guidelines for lending for energy efficiency projects to enhance co-financing of national energy efficiency programmes and enable increased support for near-zero energy buildings.
The EIB will introduce a new emissions performance standard to be applied to all fossil fuel generation projects to screen out investments whose carbon emissions exceed a threshold level. This threshold reflects existing EU and national commitments to limit carbon emissions. The board agreed that the emissions performance standard would be kept under review and that more restrictive commitments could be considered in the future.
Since 2008, the EIB has provided more than €70 billion for long-term loans in the energy sector and its lending to fossil fuel power stations has sharply diminished, with coal and lignite power stations representing less than 1.5% of overall energy lending. (EH/transl.fl)