Icelandic energy company RARIK to replace overhead lines with underground cables using €20m Nordic Investment Bank loan

Icelandic energy company RARIK to replace overhead lines with underground cables using €20m Nordic Investment Bank loan

(IN BRIEF) The Nordic Investment Bank has signed a €20 million loan agreement with Icelandic energy company RARIK to replace overhead electricity lines with underground cables. This will improve security of electricity supply in both rural and urban areas of Iceland by reducing weather-related disturbances. The 15-year loan will finance RARIK’s investments in the electricity distribution systems and transformer stations during 2022-2024. RARIK aims to have its entire distribution system using underground cables by 2035. The Nordic Investment Bank is owned by eight member countries, including Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries.

(PRESS RELEASE) HELSINKI, 15-Feb-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —  The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), an international financial institution with focus on the Nordic and Baltic countries, and RARIK ohf. (Iceland State Electricity) have signed a loan agreement for EUR 20 million to finance the replacement of overhead electricity lines with underground cables in Iceland’s rural and urban areas. The loan will fund RARIK’s investments in its distribution system from 2022 to 2024, improving energy efficiency and weatherproofing the network to increase security of supply.

RARIK aims to replace all overhead lines with underground cables by 2035. The use of underground cables instead of overhead lines is expected to improve the security of supply by reducing the likelihood of electricity downtime caused by weather-related disturbances.

“RARIK has been driving the electrification of Iceland for over 75 years, and thanks to their continued effort in building an extensive and reliable power transmission and distribution system, more and more people can benefit from the increased security of supply it brings,” says André Küüsvek, NIB President and CEO.

The 15-year loan will finance RARIK’s investments in both rural and urban electricity distribution systems and transformer stations.

RARIK is an Icelandic state-owned distribution system operator that aims to distribute electric power, with a focus on building distribution networks in rural areas.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. NIB finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries and has the highest possible credit rating with leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact

Kari Jaukkuri, Senior Banker, Public Sector & Utilities at +358 10 618 0237, Kari.Jaukkuri@nib.int

Iiris Anttalainen, Associate Communications Officer, at +358 10 618 0258, Iiris.Anttalainen@nib.int

SOURCE: The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB)