EU bank continues wind power push with loan to boost offshore industry
Loan will allow Spain's Haizea to automate and digitalise manufacturing processes and ramp up offshore wind production
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has continued its recent push to boost the bloc’s wind power sector by issuing a €35m ($38m) loan to a Spanish manufacturer of offshore wind components.
Haizea Wind Group announced today that it had signed the loan with the EIB to ramp up its offshore wind manufacturing capacity.
Haizea said the loan will allow it to roll out and implement advanced manufacturing technologies, automate and digitalise processes and move forward with research and development.
This will apply to the manufacture and assembly of large metal structures for wind turbines such as wind towers, monopile foundations and offshore wind components.
“Loans like the one we are signing with Haizea today reflect the EIB’s commitment to innovation and the development of renewable energy technologies enabling us to move forward with the energy transition and strengthening the competitiveness of our companies,” said EIB director of operations for Spain and Portugal Gilles Badot.
“A robust renewable technology manufacturing sector is vital to guaranteeing the European Union’s energy security and autonomy.”
Haizea was only founded in 2017 but has been expanding rapidly with multiple acquisitions to become one of Europe’s major suppliers of offshore wind steel components.
A €500m counter-guarantee issued by EIB will allow the German bank to set up a portfolio of up to €1bn of guarantees for new investment in wind farms.
The EIB also last month raised the size of its REPowerEU package – aimed at making the bloc independent from Russian fossil fuels – by 50% to €45bn.
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