"As the EU climate bank, we’re proud to support Poste Italiane’s ambitious decarbonisation plan."
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Summary sheet
Release date
4 April 2022
Status
Reference
Signed | 31/03/2022
20200752
Project name
Promoter - financial intermediary
POSTE ITALIANE GREEN MOBILITY
POSTE ITALIANE SPA
Proposed EIB finance (Approximate amount)
Total cost (Approximate amount)
EUR 100 million
EUR 145 million
Description
Objectives
The project consists of the financing of Poste Italiane vehicle fleet renovation in the 2021-2026 period. The project covers the deployment of about 1 300 new zero emissions battery electric tricycles and quadricycles and about 2 850 new zero emissions battery electric cars and vans, focusing on last mile delivery in urban environment. The project also covers the installation of the associated charging points and information technology (IT) systems.
The project has the objective of reducing air pollution, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering noise in urban areas. The project will also contribute to support the deployment of electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure.
Additionality and Impact
The project concerns the roll-out of a major zero-emission mobility solution (vehicles, charging stations and integrated IT platform) with the goal of considerably reducing CO2 emissions especially for last-mile deliveries in urban environment.
The project contributes to the EIB's objectives of sustainable and decarbonised road transport thereby supporting EU policy objectives. The project is consistent with the EU Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy as well as the Bank's CBR and its TLP. It mitigates negative externalities in the form of the reduction of GHG, air pollutants (Nitrogen Oxides, Particulate Matter) and noise emissions through the electrification of road transport in an urban context. These benefits are not fully captured by postal mail and parcel related tariffs.
The project has a 100% share of Climate Action and is eligible under Article 309 point (a) projects for developing less-developed regions and point (c) common interest. The EIB investment in the project support the 2030 targets set out in Italy's Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan released in December 2019.
The project is an essential component of the promoter's long-term strategy for a sustainable business development. The EIB's contribution to this investment in logistics decarbonisation is expected to materially contribute to the Promoter's effort to meet its ESG targets and crowd-in Green Finance investors.
Environmental aspects
Procurement
The acquisition of electric vehicles and electrical charging points and deployment of IT systems does not fall under Annex I or Annex II of the Directive 2014/52/EU amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (EIA Directive).
The Bank will require the Promoter to ensure that contracts for the implementation of the Project have been and will be tendered in accordance with the relevant applicable EU procurement legislation, in particular Directive 2014/25/EU, as implemented by national legislation and interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the Official Journal of the EU, as and where required.
Related documents
Documents
Environmental and Social Data Sheet (ESDS) - POSTE ITALIANE GREEN MOBILITY
Publication Date
27 Apr 2022
Document language
Main Topic
Lending
Document Number
135308380
Document Focus
Environmental Information
Document Type
Project Number
20200752
Sector(s)
Regions
Countries
Publicly available
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News & Stories
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Inside the project
How and Why
The last green mile
Why
- The boom in deliveries from online shopping since the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened transport-related carbon emissions
- Cities and logistics companies have struggled with unnecessary delivery journeys, congestion, parking and local residents’ concerns about noise and air pollution
- The trickiest part of a parcel’s journey from warehouse to doorstep is the so-called “last mile”, the final step in the delivery process from a distribution centre to the recipient.
How
- Replacement of Poste italiane fuel and petrol vehicles with 4 150 electric vehicles for deliveries
- The electricity used to charge these vehicles comes from renewable sources
- An innovative IT platform optimizes the postman’s route according to mail, distance, type of road, traffic and parcel volume.
Sectors & Countries
Story
Green parcels and a unique loan
The Green Mobility project is about the replacement of the company’s traditional fuel and petrol vehicles with 4 150 electric vehicles for deliveries in cities and their surroundings. This also includes the associated charging stations and IT platform at a total cost of €145 million.
The European Investment Bank’s loan to Poste Italiane has a number of unique features:
- It covers the rental fees for the renewal of the electric fleet, the installation of the associated recharging points and IT platform
- It finances the leasing fees of the electric fleet
- It is higher (69%) than the Bank’s 50% standard financing ceiling, to help Poste Italiane speed up its green transition.
"It's a rather small sum that can go a long way."
“Data in real time”
To further reduce its environmental impact, Poste will also use the European Investment Bank financing to support its IT platform. The innovative model optimizes the postman’s route according to mail traffic, distance, type of road, traffic restrictions and parcel volume. The route planning integrates the range limits of electric vehicles and the availability of charging stations.
“The success of this project depends on the interpretation of a big amount of data gathered in real time,” says Tiago Lopes, a European Investment Bank senior engineer who has worked on this operation. “This is the future.”
As technology evolves and battery capacity increases in the years to come, Lopes’ idea is to “go the extra mile”: to extend the project to the middle-mile fleet (from the warehouse to the local post office) and to the first-mile fleet (from the factory to the distribution centre).
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