- The investments will make around 1 500 supermarkets across Spain more sustainable by optimising energy use.
- The project will also include investments in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, improving the customer experience and supply chain resilience.
- The operation supports TechEU, the European Union’s largest investment programme for accelerating technological innovation, and REPowerEU, which aims to cut reliance on fossil fuel imports.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and EROSKI have signed a €40 million framework loan to help the company roll out a major investment programme focused on energy efficiency and digital innovation across its network of facilities throughout Spain.
The loan will finance projects to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions at EROSKI’s outlets, distribution centres and headquarters, and to deploy advanced digital technologies. These investments will strengthen the competitiveness of Europe’s retail sector and help create jobs during the refurbishment works.
Energy efficiency investments will focus on upgrading industrial refrigeration systems and heating, ventilation and air‑conditioning systems in around 1 500 stores. The upgrades include switching to more sustainable refrigerants and improving energy performance to cut CO₂ emissions.
Innovation investments will tap into the potential of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics to improve the customer experience, increase efficiency and strengthen cyber resilience.
“The loan signed with EROSKI is another example of how the EIB supports the energy transition and the digital transformation of an important sector of the economy,” said Pilar Solano, director of the EIB’s corporate lending department for the European Union. “By backing EROSKI’s digitalisation and energy efficiency investments in Spain, the EIB is helping to reduce reliance on fossil fuels while strengthening competitiveness and supporting sustainable growth across Europe’s retail sector.”
“The European Investment Bank’s backing for our investment programme is part of EROSKI’s financing plan finalised in November 2025 and does not change the terms of this plan already announced. We have worked closely with the EIB over recent months, and the operation reflects its confidence in the EROSKI Group’s progress and in our cooperative business model. This support comes on top of backing from local, national and financial institutions in Spain and internationally, reinforcing the project’s credibility and its alignment with EU standards on sustainability, innovation and long‑term planning,” said Josu Mugarra Urrutia, chief financial officer of the EROSKI Group. “Beyond the financing itself, this operation directly supports our strategic priorities, particularly in efficiency and technological innovation. The investments will help us further optimise our network’s operations, reduce energy use and continue to enhance our customer offering by responding to their needs in a more agile and targeted way.”
The project will make a significant contribution to the EIB Group’s strategic priorities on climate action and digitalisation and technological innovation, as set out in the EIB Group 2024-2027 Strategic Roadmap and the Climate Bank Roadmap Phase 2 (2026-2030). The loan is part of the EIB Group’s TechEU initiative, which is designed to accelerate innovation in the European Union by mobilising €250 billion in investment for startups, scaleups and innovative companies across Europe by 2027. It is also part of the EIB’s action plan to support REPowerEU, the programme to strengthen energy security and reduce the European Union’s dependence on fossil fuel imports.
The operation is backed by InvestEU, an EU programme to unlock over €372 billion in additional investment between 2021 and 2027.
Background information
EIB Group
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investments union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations.
In 2025, the EIB Group completed financing and investment operations in Spain totalling around €11 billion, which came alongside an additional €2.9 billion under the Regional Resilience Fund (NextGenerationEU loans).
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.
In 2023, the EIF together with six Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands) launched the European Tech Champions Initiative, a fund-of-funds to scale up innovative startups. This initiative has already enabled the creation of 14 European venture capital mega funds and scaled up 40 companies, including 11 unicorns (with more than €1 billion in capital).
Photos of the EIB Group’s representatives and headquarters, logo files and video B-roll for media use are available here.
InvestEU
The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps crowd in private investment for the European Union’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, 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 deployed through implementing 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, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.
EROSKI
EROSKI is one of the leading retail groups across northern mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, holding a 12.7% market share in the region. It is the market leader in the Basque Country, Navarre and Galicia, and shares market leadership in the Balearic Islands. Its retail network comprises more than 1 500 outlets, including supermarkets, hypermarkets, cash‑and‑carry stores and online supermarkets, as well as petrol stations, sports shops and other non‑food businesses. It also has more than 6.4 million customer members and over 27 600 employees, around 9 000 of whom are member owners.