The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a loan agreement with Spanish PV developer Matrix Renewables to support 240MW of solar PV projects in Spain.
The €50 million (US$54.5 million) green loan will support the design, construction and operation of five solar PV projects in the Spanish regions of Castilla y Leon and Extremadura.
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All of the projects will be built in areas where per capita income is lower than the EU average – called “cohesion zones” by the EIB. They are expected to be operational by the end of 2025.
The funding is backed by InvestEU, the EU’s plant to stimulate over €370 billion in public and private sector funds to support its policy goals, including decarbonisation. The EIB also said it is part of the bank’s support for REPowerEU, the scheme introduced in 2022 to lessen the bloc’s dependence on imported fossil fuels following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
The EIB said it aims to invest €1 trillion in the green economy by 2030, positioning itself as the “EU Climate Bank.”
Last month, the bank invested over €400 million in two deals to support the development of solar PV projects in Southern Europe. €390 million of that went to Greek energy company DEPA Commercial to support an 800MW solar PV portfolio across Greece.
EIB director of equity, growth capital and project finance, Alessandro Izzo, said with the Matrix Renewables investment, “The EIB continues to accelerate the energy transition in Spain by increasing renewable energy generation capacity. We are also delighted to support Independent Power Producers in their development and deployment efforts, fundamental to accelerate renewable generation investments.”
Matrix Renewables is backed by climate investment fund TPG Rise, and currently has a significant presence in Spain and the US. The company closed €179 million in financing earlier this year from Spanish bank Banco Sabadell to develop a 239MW PV portfolio in its home country, and in November last year it inked 102MWp of virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) in Spain with science and technology company Merck.
In the US, the company recently signed a PPA with Korean automaker Hyundai for power from the 284MW Stillhouse Solar project in Bell County, Texas. It also bought a 261MW Idaho PV plant last year from US developer rPlus Energies. TPG Rise also backs US renewable energy project developer Intersect Power, which began commercial operations at a massive 820MW solar PV project in Texas in January.
