Austria

Under a new financing arrangement, the EIB Board of Directors has made an additional €200 million available to Erste Bank, on top of the previous €600 million, for subsidised and non-profit housing. These funds can be combined under a new initiative to not only address the lack of affordable housing in Austrian cities, but also to adapt the existing housing supply to the needs of youth and older individuals.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Energie AG Oberösterreich in Upper Austria a financing package of up to €400 million to expand hydropower. Energie AG plans to invest a total of over €600 million in a new pumped storage power plant in Ebensee and a planned run-of-river hydropower plant in Roitham/Traunfall.

Almost all Austrian firms – 94% – have acted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through steps such as curbing waste, recycling and saving energy, according to a European Investment Bank (EIB) Group survey. Austrian companies also have done more than the European Union average in embracing digital technologies, new country results from the EIB Group Investment Survey (EIBIS) show.