UESTRA HANNOVER URBAN TRANSPORT GREEN LOAN

The loan will finance the major investment programme of ÜSTRA AG, Hannover's public transport operator, approved by the municipality at the end of 2019. In detail, it concerns the purchase of new rail rolling stock to operate the urban light rail system (Stadtbahn), as well as the purchase of new electric busses, including the charging infrastructure, to operate the main bus lines across the city.

The aim is to improve and further enhance the usage of sustainable transport in Hannover, increase transport accessibility and safety, as well as reduce pollution, in line with the City's and EU's environmental and social objectives. Additionally, since it will also support EU's and the EIB's climate action objectives, the project is eligible under Article 309 point (c) "common interest" of the EU Treaty.

The project will secure and enhance the performance of Hannover's public transport system.

The renewal of the light train fleet will improve capacity, performance and reliability of the track based system, which is the backbone of the public transport system in Hannover and the surrounding area.

The introduction of electric buses substituting diesel ones will significantly improve the performance of the bus fleet in terms of pollutants and GHG emissions.

Both investments will help promote sustainable mobility and contribute to the achievement of social, environmental and climate action goals. 

The Bank's unsecured loan will be a major cornerstone of the financing for the borrower's substantial overall investment programme over the next 5 to 10 years, which goes beyond the current project and will require a substantial amount of debt financing. The maturity of the Bank's loan is expected to extend beyond the borrower's current Public Service Contract and will thus provide a much-needed basis for the stability of the financing model. The Bank will co-finance the project alongside commercial banks (partially backed by KfW) and national and regional grants. This financing combination will be highly beneficial not only for the project itself but also indirectly for the borrower's overall investment programme. Furthermore, the loan will be the borrower's first Green Loan under its new dedicated framework.

The project consists of the acquisition of rolling stock (light rail vehicles and electric buses), which is out of the scope of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (2014/52/EU amending 2011/92/EU), the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and Birds Directive (2009/147/EC). The project also includes recharging infrastructure for the electric buses, which do not fall under the EIA directive either. In addition, arrangements for the scrapping of dismissed rolling stock if any will be assessed during appraisal. By promoting the modal shift from road to rail and reducing the individual motorised traffic, the project brings significant environmental and safety benefits. Therefore, it contributes to climate action and environmental sustainability (CA&ES) objectives, in particular to climate mitigation, as well as and pollution prevention and control.

All components are needed to provide services under Public Service Contract (PSC). The current PSC has been directly awarded to ÜSTRA as the internal operator of the municipality of Hannover in 2015 and runs until 2038. The promoter has to ensure that contracts for implementation of the project will be tendered in accordance with the applicable EU procurement legislation (Directive 2014/24/EU, 2014/25/EU, as well as Directive 89/665/EEC and Directive 92/13/EEC) as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the EU Official Journal, as and where required.