Displaying items by tag: European Investment Bank

Mauritanian President El Ghazouani today met Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, to discuss cooperation with the world’s largest international public bank and agreed to strengthen cooperation to scale up wind, solar and green hydrogen investment.

  • President El Ghazouani and EIB President Werner Hoyer sign declaration on green hydrogen
  • Scaling up wind and solar energy generation key to reduce impact of global energy price shocks
  • EIB to support Mauritania green hydrogen investment plans

“Development of Mauritania’s huge renewable energy potential can both enhance access to affordable energy in our country and allow clean energy to be converted to green hydrogen. Closer cooperation with the European Investment Bank will allow Mauritania to benefit from the EIB’s unique technical experience and financial strength.” said Mohammed Ould Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

2022 06 23 105549“The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting climate action and clean energy investment across Africa. Today’s discussions with President El Ghazouani will unlock closer cooperation between the EIB and Mauritanian partners and builds on 54 years of EIB engagement in the country. We are committed to bring this cooperation to the next level, by harnessing Mauritania’s renewable energy potential and through our partnership through the Sahel Alliance.” said Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, commented: “With the joint declaration signed today at the European Development Days, Mauritania and the European Union are strengthening their cooperation to accelerate clean energy investment, drive renewable hydrogen innovation and address global energy turmoil. This demonstrates how the European Union’s Global Gateway, working in a Team Europe approach, can unlock investment to harness Africa’s renewable energy potential.”

President El Ghazouani and President Hoyer also discussed support for telecom, transport and industrial investment in Mauritania, with a special focus on national and regional electrical interconnection, and investment priorities across the Sahel and the EIB’s new dedicated development finance branch, EIB Global, launched in January this year.

The European Investment Bank is a leading financier of energy investment across Africa. Since 1965 the EIB has provided more than EUR 16 billion for energy investment in more than 49 African countries, with EUR 5.6 billion of energy financing provided over the last decade.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

EIB Global is the EIB Group’s new specialised arm dedicated to increasing the impact of international partnerships and development finance.  EIB Global is designed to foster strong, focused partnership within Team Europe, alongside fellow development finance institutions, and civil society. EIB Global brings the Group closer to local people, companies and institutions through our offices across the world

Published in Green Industry

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Hydrogen Europe, an umbrella association representing European industry, research, and national and regional associations in the hydrogen and fuel cell sector, today signed an agreement for consultancy services.

  • The European Investment Bank and Hydrogen Europe sign advisory services agreement.
  • The agreement will help to identify projects that could receive EIB financing and support their bankability.
  • Total investment in clean hydrogen in Europe is expected to reach up to €470 billion by 2050.

Under the agreement, the EU bank will provide financing advisory support for hydrogen projects introduced by Hydrogen Europe. Furthermore, it will cooperate on market development initiatives and conduct joint market outreach. Finally, the agreement will help to develop dedicated EIB financing products for green hydrogen.

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Hydrogen technology can play a crucial role in achieving a carbon neutral EU economy by 2050. The current share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix is less than 2%, but it could rise to 14% by mid-century. The European Hydrogen Strategy, which is part of the European Green Deal, aims to enable widespread use of hydrogen by 2050. According to the strategy, green hydrogen will be produced on a systemically relevant scale between 2030 and 2050. Consequently, investments in renewable or low-carbon hydrogen will need to increase. The strategy anticipates that between €180 and €470 billion will be required for production capacities in the European Union by 2050. Alongside the European Commission, Hydrogen Europe is one of the three participants of the European Joint Undertaking on Hydrogen, a public-private partnership working to facilitate the market introduction of clean hydrogen technologies in Europe.

“Green hydrogen presents an opportunity to decarbonise industrial processes, particularly in sectors where emission reduction is urgent but difficult to achieve,” said EIB President Werner Hoyer. “Many European countries are actively supporting the development of hydrogen technologies. One of the main strengths of the European Investment Bank is that it combines advisory and technical support in the initial phases of a project with attractive forms of financing later on. This model is perfect for the development and deployment of new breakthrough technologies, including those based on the use of hydrogen.”

Obtaining green, zero-emission hydrogen is very costly. In the EU context, the European Investment Bank is a key funding partner. Over the past eight years, the EU bank has provided over €2 billion in advisory and financial support to projects that use hydrogen technologies. Projects that focus on scaling up deployment in the transport sector by supporting new hydrogen fleets and related infrastructure have also received funding. With its expertise and track record in financing innovative technologies and infrastructure — notably offshore wind and batteries — the EIB is well placed to support the development of the hydrogen ecosystem in Europe. Currently, the Bank supports technologies such as electrolysers, catalysts and fuel cells. It also finances large-scale hydrogen production, including electrolysis, carbon capture and storage and hydrogen stations.

Background information

EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. The Bank provides long-term financial support for sound investments, thus contributing to the achievement of EU policy goals.

Hydrogen

There are various types of hydrogen, categorised by production process and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. Clean hydrogen (“renewable hydrogen” or “green hydrogen”) is produced by the electrolysis of water using electricity from renewable sources and does not emit any greenhouse gases during its production. It is distinct from grey hydrogen, which is produced from methane and releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and blue hydrogen, which captures those emissions and stores them underground to prevent them from causing climate change.

Published in Technology News