EIB Increases 2025 Financing Ceiling to Record EUR 100bn

The shareholders of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, the EU Member States, approved a record-high financing ceiling of EUR 100 billion for this year and new programmes to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, technological leadership and security.

The EIB Board of Governors, made up of European Union Finance Ministers, endorsed the 2025 financing ceiling at a meeting in Luxembourg. The Boards of Directors of the EIB and of the European Investment Fund (EIF) gave the green light earlier this week to the increase in financing for security and defence, energy grids and the new TechEU programme to boost Europe’s technological leadership. They also approved flagship projects including to support Ukraine’s economy and the construction of a major military base in Lithuania.

“The unanimous support of our shareholders, the 27 Member States, for our proposals to provide record financing for defence, energy security and tech leadership, shows the key role of the EIB Group to support Europe’s strategic priorities,” said EIB Group President Nadia Calviño. “In a world where everything everywhere is changing all at once, the EU is a beacon of clarity, confidence and stability.”

The EIB Group’s new 2025 financing ceiling of EUR 100 billion follows a mid-year review of the organisation’s operational plan, which includes an increase to 3.5% of total financing for the European security and defence sector, record financing of more than EUR 11 billion for power grids and storage in Europe, and greater support for EU technological and industrial innovation.

 

TechEU programme

The EIB Group is launching the EU’s largest financing programme to date in support of innovation and tech leadership to attract talent, capital and investment in Europe. TechEU will provide EUR 70 billion in EIB Group equity, quasi-equity, loans and guarantees in 2025-2027 and crowd in private capital to generate at least EUR 250 billion in investments.

TechEU is complementing the “Startup and Scaleup Strategy” of the European Commission to support higher risk projects and innovative companies throughout their investment journey.

TechEU provides more support for supercomputing, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, critical raw materials, green industries such as offshore wind, health, security and defence technologies, robotics and advanced materials. It will target innovative companies at every stage of their development – from initial ideas to stock listings.

 

Clean Industrial Deal

The EIB Board has also approved the first wave of instruments under TechEU to support Europe’s leadership in cleantech, in line with the EU Clean Industrial Deal, including the reinforcement of cross guarantees for wind energy production, and three new instruments to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness:

• An EUR 1.5 billion package to provide counter-guarantees through partner banks to grid component manufacturers to ensure sustainable supply, giving companies greater certainty to ramp up production of electricity networks across Europe. This will facilitate the integration of renewable energy into the grid and the delivery of affordable power to EU businesses and households.
• To help ensure predictable and affordable energy costs for businesses and accelerate investments in green energy, the EIB and European Commission are launching a EUR 500 million pilot programme to support the take-up of more corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs). The EIB will counter-guarantee, through partner banks, part of the PPAs undertaken by mid-sized as well as larger energy-intensive companies for the long-term purchase of electricity generation from clean sources.
• To provide liquidity and working capital for highly innovative small and medium-sized enterprises active in developing green technologies, the EIB and Commission are launching an EUR 250 million CleantechEU guarantee scheme.
• An EUR 1.5 billion top-up to a successful EIB programme supporting European wind turbine and component manufacturers.

 

Energy security, defence and global partnerships

Before the Board of Governors, the EIB and EIF Boards of Directors approved new operations totalling EUR 12.8 billion to strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities, competitiveness, energy security and partnerships worldwide. This includes initiatives under the EIB Group Clean Industrial Deal package and support for the development in Lithuania of the Rūdninkai military base, for the German Bundeswehr brigade, a key project to enhance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operations and regional security.

The EIB Board approved three solar photovoltaic plants in Romania, water infrastructure in Ireland and the Netherlands, electricity grids in Germany and education facilities in Finland. In addition, the EIB is strengthening Europe’s global partnerships by backing renewable energy in Colombia, sustainable waterway transport in Nigeria and water sanitation services in Tanzania.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) Board approved a guarantee transaction with the German national export credit agency to strengthen support for German companies exporting to Ukraine, as well as two guarantee transactions with Ukrainian banks to improve access to finance for more than 1,500 Ukrainian businesses. This follows the first signature in May with the Danish Export Credit Agency to provide a pan-European guarantee for companies exporting to Ukraine.

In addition, the EIF approved investments in four infrastructure funds that will support greenfield data centres, wireless and fibre investments, decarbonization of the shipping sector, sustainable mobility, and student housing.

 

Dobrun & Sadova Solar project in Romania

The project will finance the development, construction and operation of a portfolio of 3 solar photovoltaic (PV) plants with a total capacity of approximately 190 MW, located in southern Romania, in the Olt and Dolj counties.

The aim is to contribute towards both national and EU energy and decarbonisation objectives. The project aligns with the EIB’s lending policy on social cohesion, renewable energy and climate action. Its revenues will rely on a contract for differences (CfD) and sales on the wholesale market. Consequently, the project contributes to support the market integration of renewable energy projects. Situated in a Cohesion Priority Region, the project will contribute to support less-developed regions.