- The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Crédit Mutuel Arkéa three new lines of credit to support transition in energy efficiency, water and sanitation, and renewable energy.
- The new financing will be granted to project promoters by a subsidiary of the cooperative banking group, Arkéa Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels (ABEI).
- This financing is being provided under the EIB’s mission to support sustainable projects targeting innovation, climate and strategic infrastructure across the European Union.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle and Julien Carmona, President of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, have officially signed three financing arrangements totalling €550 million for energy efficiency (€200 million), water and sanitation (€50 million), and renewable energy (€300 million). The signing was attended by representatives of two groups that have received intermediated EIB loans from Crédit Mutuel Arkéa in the past: Volta and Technique Solaire.
This underscores Crédit Mutuel Arkéa’s commitment to sustainable regional development, in line with its Faire 2023 strategy and the EIB’s mission to finance sustainable projects targeting innovation, climate and strategic network infrastructure across the European Union.
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is a cooperative banking group with regional focus, and a long-term partner of the EIB. The group has devoted many financing arrangements to supporting a sustainable real economy, working in large part via the 21 regional business centres of its subsidiary ABEI located throughout France. With three lending themes, this new partnership with the EIB means the group can lend to eligible project promoters at favourable rates, thanks to the EU budget support.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle voiced his satisfaction at how “the EIB Group and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa are continuing and stepping up their joint work to meet the investment needs of French businesses and local governments for the energy transition and water infrastructure. This collaboration is a concrete demonstration of the importance of EU funding in supporting small and medium businesses in the green transition and responding to France’s investment priorities in order to reduce the country’s emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.”
Julien Carmona, President of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, added, “We are very proud of the trust that the EIB has once again placed in us, signing arrangements to bring EU financing to real projects that support sustainable development and climate change adaptation. This is a true recognition of the strength of our regional networks, in particular via the business centres of our subsidiary ABEI. Physical proximity and community integration are key components of our cooperative and mutual banking model. With our knowledge of the area and its particular needs, we can support project leaders, both public and private, as they develop the right solutions. Crédit Mutuel Arkéa will continue demonstrating that finance is a tool for creating a more sustainable world, and these three investment themes will help achieve this strong ambition of our Faire 2030 strategy.”
Energy efficiency: continuing cooperation begun in 2021
The EIB has granted Crédit Mutuel Arkéa a €200 million credit line, signed in December 2024, to finance energy efficiency projects. The funding will be allocated to project promoters by ABEI. Most of the selected projects will be implemented by public promoters (institutions and local authorities), each receiving financing of up to €25 million, for a minimum duration of two years. Thanks to the EU financing contributed by the EIB, beneficiaries will have access to cost-effective loans for their projects, in particular those to develop renewable energy, networks and storage, and to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.
Water and sanitation: a central theme for sustainable finance
The second segment of the lending budget concerns water and sanitation. This takes the form of a €50 million credit line signed in February 2025. Investments in this segment will also be carried out by the subsidiary ABEI, targeting projects throughout France. Projects will be selected that offer solutions around sanitation (construction or upgrade of wastewater treatment plants, extension or rehabilitation of collection networks, etc.), drinking water management, biodiversity, or fighting flooding and coastal erosion. This partnership with the EIB in the water sector works toward the sustainable finance objectives set by Crédit Mutuel Arkéa under its Faire 2030 strategy. The group seeks to make sustainable finance a real vector of economic and financial performance, by developing new growth drivers while helping strengthen regional economies.
The group has made conserving regional water resources a priority by adopting a policy for this sector from 2026. Crédit Mutuel Arkéa will also finance solutions to reduce consumption or facilitate the recovery and restoration of this resource, and will track the water footprint of its portfolios.
Renewable energy: stronger support
The third EIB financing theme for Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is renewable energy. This has been divided into two funding tranches: the first for €200 million signed in May 2025, and the second for €100 million to be signed in early 2026. The cooperative banking group will use the entire budget for this theme, totalling €300 million, to assist businesses and local authorities as they run projects that support the energy transition. The financed projects must offer solar photovoltaic, onshore wind, biomethane or electrical energy storage solutions in France.
Two independent French renewable energy producers that already received financing from Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and the EIB were at the signing of the new arrangements: the Volta group and the Technique Solaire group. Customers of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, these two companies have implemented wind, solar and biomethane projects in different regions of France.
Benoit Duval, co-founder and CEO of Volta, remarked, “This guarantee-backed financing from the EIB has enabled us to optimise our financing packages, which remain one of the most effective levers for meeting market requirements on the cost price of photovoltaics. We are also very pleased to be consolidating our partnership with ABEI, which has valuable know-how in monitoring diversified portfolios of several hundred projects under construction.”
Yacine Redifi, co-founder and Director of Technique Biogaz, a subsidiary of the Technique Solaire group, explained, “As a committed player in the energy transition, we are proud to benefit from the joint support of the EIB and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa. This partnership will enable us to put two new regional biomethane facilities into operation from 2026, for local consumption. These projects will also offer sustainable solutions for the treatment of agricultural effluents and industrial waste. We are delighted to be counting on Crédit Mutuel Arkéa to make this plan a reality, and hope to develop new high-impact projects together.”
These statements illustrate the EIB’s impact in financing sustainable infrastructure in Europe, and the role of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and subsidiaries like ABEI as local financial partners. As a banking group with a mission and a regional focus, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa’s strategy includes a sustainable finance roadmap to amplify its support for solutions that cut carbon emissions in the economy (low-carbon energy and transport, energy efficiency of buildings and materials) and improve carbon footprints throughout France.
Background information
About the European Investment Bank
The EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by the Member States. Built around eight core priorities, it finances investments that pursue EU policy objectives, by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world. The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security. In France, the EIB Group signed more than a hundred operations in 2024, for a total amount of €12.6 billion, mobilising almost €62 billion of investment in the real economy. All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Agreement, as pledged in its Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment. Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the Group supported a record of over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and unlocked €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers. Approximately half of the EIB's financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.
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About Crédit Mutuel Arkéa
A cooperative and mutual banking and insurance group, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is composed of Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne and Crédit Mutuel du Sud-Ouest, their local member banks, and forty specialised subsidiaries (Fortuneo, Monext, Arkéa Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels, Arkéa Asset Management, Arkéa Capital, Suravenir, Suravenir Assurances, etc.). Crédit Mutuel Arkéa employs 11 500 people, and has 2 600 directors, more than 5.4 million members and clients, and a balance sheet total of €198.4 billion.
With its wide-ranging expertise and unique business model, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is committed to supporting environmental and societal transitions, in line with its identity as a company with a mission. As a leading financial partner in Brittany and the south-west, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is pursuing its Faire 2030 plan to accelerate its development and transformation, in the service of a bold strategy led by a collective of employees and members committed to one promise: Avec vous, de toutes nos forces. (“With you, with all our might.”)