Eib Lends €50m To Iberdrola To Climate-proof Valencia

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted €50 cardinal to Iberdrola to rebuild and modernise flood-hit energy infrastructure successful Valencia, aiming to climate-proof nan web and amended power resilience for complete 650,000 customers.

The move comes aft devastating floods struck nan region successful October 2024, severely damaging nan section powerfulness grid. The finance is portion of Iberdrola’s il·lumina project, which is designed to redesign nan energy web pinch early ambiance challenges successful mind.

“The financing will backmost investments from il·lumina, Iberdrola’s task to reconstruct and modernise nan powerfulness distribution grid affected by devastating floods successful 2024,” the EIB said successful a property release.

How nan €50 cardinal indebtedness will beryllium used

The EIB has divided nan €50 cardinal support into 2 €25 cardinal loans:

• €25 cardinal from nan EIB’s ain resources
• €25 cardinal from Spain’s Regional Resilience Fund, managed by nan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise

The backing will thief Iberdrola:

• Rebuild and upgrade damaged infrastructure
• Move overhead lines underground
• Raise aliases resize transformer substations
• Expand automation
• Install smart transformers

The extremity is to summation nan grid’s resilience and alteration amended integration of renewable energy, each while boosting energy proviso security.

“These operations are expected to use much than 650,000 clients,” Iberdrola stated, “improving energy proviso information against a backdrop of utmost upwind events and expanding integration of renewable power production.”

A broader push for greenish transition

The EIB said this task strengthens its domiciled arsenic “the ambiance bank” and supports nan REPowerEU plan, aimed astatine accelerating nan power modulation and reducing EU dependency connected fossil substance imports.

In 2024 alone:

• The EIB directed €8.5 cardinal into powerfulness grid and retention projects crossed Europe
• In Spain, €1.5 cardinal went to energy-related investments—double nan magnitude spent successful 2023

“This financing is helping to expand, modernise and digitalise powerfulness grids, making them much resilient,” nan EIB confirmed.

Local betterment aft nan DANA disaster

Following nan DANA upwind incident successful October 2024, which caused wide harm crossed Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha, nan EIB quickly launched a €1.4 cardinal package to support location reconstruction and thief section businesses recover.

As portion of il·lumina, Iberdrola has:

• Formed a 35-person task unit to coordinate web redesign
• Hired astir 1,000 section operators to activity connected nan ground
• Focused efforts connected substations, transformer stations, and medium/low voltage lines

The institution is positioning il·lumina arsenic a semipermanent committedness to a “safer, much businesslike energy infrastructure” aligned pinch EU ambiance goals.

View each news from Valencia.

View each news from Spain.