First-ever EIB and Barclays partnership to back EUR 800m investment across Europe’s wind supply chain

• EIB and Barclays Europe cooperation targets financing bottlenecks for wind turbine manufacturers and grid suppliers
• Risk-sharing structure designed to unlock private capital for next-generation wind projects, using guarantees to back large cross-border supply contracts
• Initiative to bolster Europe’s clean-tech resilience, safeguard industrial capacity and support jobs in the wind energy supply chain across the EU.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Barclays Europe have agreed a new cooperation to back EUR 800 million of new investment in the wind energy supply chain across the EU, helping manufacturers and suppliers deliver next-generation wind projects and strengthen Europe’s energy resilience.

The initiative marks the first cooperation between the EIB and Barclays Europe and is designed to unlock finance for companies facing growing demand but constrained access to guarantees and working capital.

The agreement was formally announced at Barclays Germany headquarters in Frankfurt by Nicola Beer, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Helen Kelly, Head of Corporate Banking, Barclays Europe, and Ingrid Hengster, CEO of Barclays Germany. The event highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation between public and private financial institutions to support Europe’s green transition and strengthen critical clean-energy supply chains.

Nicola Beer, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, said “Europe’s wind industry sits at the heart of our competitiveness, energy security and climate ambitions, but too many projects are held back by gaps in guarantee and risk capacity for manufacturers and suppliers. By joining forces with Barclays Europe for the first time, the EIB and a leading international investment bank are helping to remove bottlenecks for wind energy businesses, crowd in private investment and strengthen a resilient European supply chain for next-generation wind technologies and grid connections. Through this new EUR 800 million initiative, we are backing cross-border investment in wind projects across the EU, supporting high-quality jobs and local value creation in our regions while accelerating the shift to clean, home-grown energy.”

Helen Kelly, Head of Corporate Banking, Barclays Europe, said “Barclays Europe is proud to partner with the EIB in a pioneering risk-sharing structure that allows us to do more for our clients right across the wind energy value chain. By freeing up capacity for critical advance payment and performance guarantees, we can support our customers as they deliver complex cross-border projects and scale up Europe’s wind generation. This first cooperation with the EIB demonstrates how international investment banks and public banks can work together to unlock private capital for the green transition, strengthen industrial resilience and help create new jobs in the communities where our clients operate.”

Natalie Toms, Minister-Counsellor for Economic & Global Issues at the British Embassy in Berlin said: “This partnership is a powerful example of how UK and EU financial institutions can work together to drive the green transition through innovation. By combining deep capital markets expertise with Europe's climate ambition, this initiative will accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen wind energy supply chains and support sustainable growth and jobs across Europe.”

As part of the broader pan-European wind risk-sharing envelope, the agreement with Barclays will help channel finance quickly to where it is most needed in the wind industry, complementing national schemes with a truly EU-wide approach. The cooperation is open to support projects and counterparties located across EU Member States, with a particular focus on manufacturers and suppliers with production and assembly capacity in the European Union.

New partnership to scale wind investment

The new partnership will support investments by companies involved in manufacturing and supplying key components for wind farms and grid connections, including turbines, cables, substations, foundations and grid interconnectors. By sharing risk on specialised guarantee products that underpin large supply contracts, the initiative is expected to mobilise substantial private investment into new wind projects across Barclays’ footprint in the EU.

Ingrid Hengster, CEO of Barclays Germany said “Germany and its European partners need a robust, innovative wind supply chain to meet climate goals and secure affordable, reliable energy for businesses and households. Through this partnership, Barclays can better provide additional support to leading OEMs and mid-cap suppliers across Germany and Europe, helping them invest, innovate and deliver on their order books. By combining Barclays’ sector expertise and connectivity across the EU with the EIB’s risk-sharing tools, we are lowering barriers to investment for our clients and enabling more wind projects to move from plan to construction, driving local economic development and supporting employment across Europe.”

The cooperation forms part of the EU’s wider efforts to accelerate deployment of renewable energy and strengthen strategic clean-tech value chains under the European Wind Power Package and REPowerEU. It will also contribute towards Barclays’ target to facilitate $1 trillion of Sustainable and Transition Financing for clients by the end of 2030.

Focus on supply chain resilience and jobs

Wind energy manufacturers and their suppliers across Europe face rising project pipelines, longer execution times and increased capital needs at a moment of tight guarantee capacity and sector-specific credit constraints. The new EIB–Barclays Europe cooperation aims to address this by de-risking portfolios of guarantees, helping safeguard domestic industrial capacity and avoid project delays or a shift to non-EU suppliers.

The initiative is expected to support local economic development, sustain existing jobs and enable the creation of new high-skilled roles across the wind energy supply chain, building on sector projections of strong growth in output and employment towards 2030. By bolstering EU-based production and assembly capacity, the cooperation will reinforce Europe’s ability to deliver on climate and energy security objectives while maintaining competitiveness in a strategic net-zero technology sector.

Background information  

Barclays

Barclays has operated in Europe for over 100 years and currently has offices in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and Ireland. Barclays Europe offers the strength and access of the bank’s global franchise to our European clients and provides our global clients with access to Europe. Our Investment Bank helps money managers, financial institutions, governments, supranational organisations and corporate clients manage their funding, investing, financing, and strategic and risk management needs.

EIB  

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to 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.