ASJA WIND REPOWERING AND NEW PROJECTS

Financing a number of new wind and solar photovoltaic farms and repowering one existing wind farm in cohesion regions in Italy.

The loan will support the development of renewable energy projects in Italy, contributing to renewable energy targets in the country and consequently in the European Union.

The project supports the Bank's renewable energy and climate objectives. The schemes will produce electricity from low carbon sources (onshore wind and solar PV) and thereby contribute to the EIB's priority of supporting transition to a low carbon, environmentally friendly and climate resilient economy. Low carbon power projects reduce carbon and air pollution externalities. Therefore the financing contributes to Italy 2030 decarbonisation goals and to the Bank's lending priority objectives on Energy (Renewable Energy) as well as on climate action and environmental sustainability (transversal). The RE projects will benefit from market-based instruments, and thereby will contribute to the policy objective to support the market integration of renewable energy projects.

The onshore wind and solar PV farms are expected to generate a social benefit on a generation-weighted portfolio basis by generating electricity at a cost (on a levelised cost of energy basis or LCOE) below the cost of fossil-fuel based alternatives in Italy.

The project is supported by a good governance system and strong project management capabilities. This operation will provide critical funding at longer term to accelerate the development of Asja Ambiente Italia SpA, its RE projects, and importantly diversify its funding sources and crowd-in other co-financiers. 

The investments will generate environmental benefits in terms of reduction of air pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ultimately helping to mitigate climate change. They are expected to have limited social and environmental impacts and any such impact is expected to be mitigated. The Bank will assess the capacity and procedures of the promoter to ensure compliance with the national and European legislation.

The majority of the schemes are expected to be developed by private entities/promoters that are not subject to EU Procurement Directives. For those schemes where public procedures would apply, the Promoter will be required to confirm that procurement is carried out in line with the requirements for public sector projects under the relevant national and EU legislation.