EIB Provides €46 Million Loan to Ingeteam for Renewable Energy Integration Research

EIB Provides €46 Million Loan to Ingeteam for Renewable Energy Integration Research

(IN BRIEF) The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Ingeteam, a Spanish company specializing in electrical engineering and equipment development, have signed a €46 million loan agreement for a two-year investment plan. The plan focuses on research, development, and innovation (RDI) activities, supported by InvestEU, aimed at addressing challenges related to integrating renewable energies into the power grid, energy storage, electrical mobility, and distributed energy generation. Ingeteam, with facilities in the Basque Country and Navarra, will work on maturing technologies and developing new products in areas like rotary machines, low and medium-voltage power electronics, control electronics, and improving equipment carbon footprint and digital integration. This loan aligns with the EIB’s objectives related to innovation, digitalization, climate action, and environmental sustainability while contributing to the EU’s energy security and reduced fossil fuel dependence through the REPowerEU plan.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 15-Dec-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Ingeteam have signed a €46 million loan for a two-year investment plan covering the research, development and innovation (RDI) activities of the Spanish company specialised in electrical engineering and the development of electrical equipment, motors, generators and converters.

The InvestEU-backed EIB loan will support research into developing new solutions enabling Ingeteam to address the challenges of integrating renewable energies into the power grid, energy storage, electrical mobility and distributed energy generation.

The activities included in the RDI strategy of the company (which has plants in the Basque Country and Navarra) are focused on maturing technologies and developing new products in various fields such as rotary machines, low and medium-voltage power electronics and control electronics. Ingeteam’s plans also include investing in research and development on improving the carbon footprint of its equipment and digital integration.

This loan is in line with the EIB’s innovation, digitalisation and human capital public policy goal and its climate action and environmental sustainability cross-cutting objective. Given Ingeteam’s role as an equipment provider to EU energy companies, the operation also contributes to the REPowerEU plan’s goal of increasing energy security and reducing EU dependence on fossil fuel imports.

“We are pleased to once again support Ingeteam by providing an InvestEU-backed loan to strengthen its competitiveness in strategic areas contributing to the energy transition and the European Union’s strategic autonomy,” said EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix. “This operation reinforces our commitment to supporting innovation and the roll-out of cutting-edge technology, while also driving the growth of a Spanish company and safeguarding skilled jobs.”

Ingeteam CEO Adolfo Rebollo added: “Ingeteam has been firmly committed to technology and innovation since the very beginning. That is why it is so important for us to have the EIB’s financial support enabling us to continue investing in research, development and innovation, and helping our clients move towards a sustainable electric future using our power electronics, control electronics and rotary machine technology.”

This is the third finance contract signed by the EIB and Ingeteam. The EU bank previously funded Ingeteam’s RDI investments for various projects under its strategic plans in 2015 and 2019.

EIB

The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), consisting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), reported total financing signatures of over €9.9 billion for Spain in 2022, including record financing for climate action and environmental sustainability projects.

The EIB and energy security

In 2022, the EIB Group committed financing of more than €17 billion for the energy transition in Europe. Projects in Spain received a record €3.1 billion in financing commitments for sustainable energy and natural resources in the same year, making it the second largest beneficiary in the EU. These figures confirm the EU bank’s commitment to ensuring access to sustainable energy at a time of great uncertainty. Our investments are helping Europe weather the crisis triggered by the abrupt cut in gas supplies in the aftermath of Russia’s unjustified attack against Ukraine.

In July 2023, the EIB Board of Directors decided to raise the additional funds earmarked for projects aligned with REPowerEU, the plan designed to end Europe’s dependence on fossil-fuel imports, to €45 billion. The additional funding comes on top of the EIB’s already substantial support for clean investments and represents a 50% increase compared to the original €30 billion package announced in October 2022.

The EIB Board also decided to broaden the scope of eligible sectors to boost financing for EU manufacturing in state-of-the-art strategic net-zero technologies and the extraction, processing, and recycling of critical raw materials. The additional funding will be deployed by 2027 and, in total, is expected to mobilize more than €150 billion in investment for the targeted sectors.

Find out more about the EIB’s support for the energy sector here.

InvestEU

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investments for the European Union’s policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increasing their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilising at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Ingeteam

Ingeteam has around 5 000 employees in 21 countries with over 80 years of experience in providing creative solutions to real problems, aiming to electrify society innovatively and sustainably via cutting-edge technology specialised in electrical energy conversion. Ingeteam aims to consolidate its position as a leader in renewable energy generation (wind, photovoltaic and hydroelectric power), storage, control and power systems for smart power grids, and the efficient and clean use of electricity via its electric vehicle chargers, railway traction systems, converters and motors for the marine sector, steel, mining, rectifiers for the production of green hydrogen and submersible motors and water pumps.

Media Contacts:

Maite Cordero
m.corderomunoz@eib.org
+34 606 66 82 62

Jose Vicente Alzola
j.alzola@ext.eib.org
+352 4379 – 72859

Press Office

press@eib.org
+352 4379 – 21000

SOURCE: European Investment Bank