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  • The EIB Group supported 29 projects and financial agreements in Portugal for a total volume of  €1.7 billion, in 2022,
  • As a percentage of its GDP, Portugal was the sixth-largest beneficiary of EIB Group support in the European Union,
  •  Sustainable energy and natural resources, investments in sustainable cities and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) projects received the majority of EIB Group financing in 2022,
  • Having received over €12 billion of EIB Group finance in the last 5 years, Portugal is one of the top ten recipients of the EU bank’s support.

The EIB Group (European Investment Bank (EIB), and European Investment Fund (EIF)) presented the results of its activity in Portugal in 2022. Last year, the Group signed 29 transactions in the country for a total of €1.7 billion, with a strong focus on climate action. Overall, Portugal was the sixth largest beneficiary of EIB Group support in 2022 as a percentage of its GDP. During the last 5 years, Portugal has received over €12 billion of EIB Group financing, placing the country as one of the top ten recipients of EIB Group financing.

Speaking in Lisbon, EIB Vice President Ricardo Mourinho Félix, said: “Portugal continued to benefit from targeted EIB Group financing in 2022, despite the challenging global economic situation which confirms our commitment to the Portuguese economy. Following a record year for the EIB Group in Portugal as we supported businesses during the pandemic, in 2022 we continued our funding to the economy with investments of €1.7 billion. The EIB remains committed in its support for Portugal’s transition towards a carbon neutral economy, aiming for a better and greener Portugal for all.”

EIB Group general results in Portugal and key events in 2022

Close to half of the EIB Group finance provided to Portugal, targeted sustainable energy and natural resources, bringing greener and cleaner energy sources to households. Small business finance and investments in sustainable cities and regions accounted for a substantial part of EIB Group financing in Portugal. 

The European Investment Bank is one of the world’s biggest multilateral providers of finance for projects supporting climate action and consolidated its position as the EU’s climate bank in 2022. A flagship example in Portugal is the continued support for the city of Lisbon’s resilience to climate change in recent years, where the EU bank financed several projects aimed at improving the quality of life in the capital. In 2022, these investments included the upgrading the drainage system in Lisbon to reduce the impact of flooding on the city.

2022 was also a year of key events for the EIB Group in Portugal. The EIB demonstrated its commitment to the water sector at the UN Oceans Conference in Lisbon, highlighted its investments in the innovation sector at Web Summit and its focus on sustainability and resilience at the joint Conference with ISEG (the Lisbon School of Economics and Management), under the high patronage of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Portugal.

REPowerEU and the EIB Group’s increased support for energy

The EIB Group proved to be a reliable source of finance for long-term investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Portugal in 2022.

Last year, the EIB increased its financing for sustainable energy projects worldwide, supporting the REPowerEU objective of ending Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil-fuel imports. In Portugal, the EIB invested in clean energy projects including in energy transmission and solar plants. The EIB provided a €22 million loan to finance Galp’s EV charging stations, helping to accelerate the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure for transport and contribute to reach the EU ambition of one million public recharging and refuelling stations deployed by 2025 on European roads.

The EU bank also provided a €70 million green loan for the construction of a portfolio of projects with a total capacity of around 188 megawatts (MW) - financing Iberdrola’s first solar PV farms in Portugal and a €300 million loan to REN - the electricity and gas operator in Portugal, to support the modernisation and efficient operation of the electricity transmission network in Portugal, to enable the connection and integration of new renewable energy generators and to ensure the reliability and quality of electricity supply.

EIB Group support for Portuguese SMEs

Businesses largely benefitted from support from the EIB Group to financial partners in Portugal in order to finance their investment projects. Small businesses are the backbone of the Portuguese economy and EIB support for this sector remained significant.

EIF made five equity investments in 2022, committing € 123 million, which leveraged € 500 million of equity finance. These figures highlight the largest volumes ever committed by EIF into Portuguese venture capital and private equity funds.

Overall EIB Group results

In 2022, the EIB Group provided a total of €72.5 billion in financing. This activity will help unlock around €260 billion in investment in the real economy and support the creation of 950 000 jobs by 2026. In addition, in 2022 the EIB devoted almost half (46%) of its financing to projects located in cohesion regions.

In terms of the ecological transition, the EIB once again increased its green financing to €36.5 billion (58.3% of total financing), which means that the Bank has fulfilled its commitment to devote at least half of its resources to climate action and environmental sustainability, well ahead of the 2025 target. In general terms, the EIB Group is on track to meet its goal of unlocking €1 trillion through green financing over this decade, having already supported investments worth €222 billion in the past two years.

Support for Ukraine

The EIB offered immediate aid to Ukraine, providing €1.7 billion last year to help finance the reconstruction of the country’s infrastructure.

EIB Global

In addition to supporting Ukraine, EIB Global signed €9.1 billion in new financing in 2022, bringing to €10.8 billion the total volume of activity by the EIB subsidiary launched a year ago to step up operations outside the European Union.

EIF activities

In 2022, the EIF funded small businesses and green projects with over €9 billion, aiming to unlock some €97 billion in investments supporting climate neutrality, the digital transition of EU industries and the competitiveness of entrepreneurs in the European Union. Against the backdrop of challenging economic prospects for 2023, the EIF intends to make progress with the InvestEU programme, REPowerEU and other initiatives, such as the European Tech Champions Initiative.

Response to the pandemic

To mitigate the economic consequences of the pandemic, with the support of 22 Member States the EIB Group created the European Guarantee Fund (EGF) which, in around two years of activity, has provided €20.9 billion (from €24.4 billion available) in loans, guarantees and equity financing mostly to small businesses in the European Union. The financing provided under the EGF will help unlock investments worth around €183.5 billion.

The EIB Group factsheet and video outline the Group’s support for Portugal in 2022.

Background information

The EIB’s key priorities are climate and the environment, development, innovation and skills, small and medium-sized enterprises, infrastructure and cohesion. It works closely with other EU institutions to foster European integration, promote the development of the European Union and support EU policies in more than 140 countries worldwide.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF contributes to the pursuit of key EU policy objectives such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, and climate action and environmental sustainability.

EIB and energy security: Over the past decade, the European Investment Bank Group has channelled more than €100 billion into the European Union’s energy sector. These timely investments in energy efficiency, renewables, grids and storage are now helping Member States weather the crisis triggered by the abrupt cut in Russian gas supplies. In October 2022, the EIB’s Board of Directors decided to raise the Group’s clean energy financing volumes in support of the REPowerEU objective of ending Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports. An additional €30 billion will be invested over the next five years, on top of the EIB’s already robust support for clean energy. It is estimated that the REPowerEU package will mobilise an additional €115 billion by 2027, thus making a substantial contribution to Europe’s energy independence and the EIB Group’s target to mobilise €1 trillion in climate finance this decade.