EIB and Matrix Renewables ink €50m loan for Spanish solar plants

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Spanish developer Matrix Renewables have signed a €50 million ($55 million) loan to support the construction of five solar PV plants in Castilla y Leon and Extremadura, Spain.

The plants will have an installed capacity of 240MW and will be operational by the end of 2025.

The new photovoltaic plants are situated in cohesion regions in Spain, where per capita income is lower than the EU average. The aim is to use these projects to boost economic growth in these areas.

The project aims to support the decarbonisation objectives of the European Green Deal and is also part of the EIB’s action plan to support REPowerEU, leading to the increase of production from renewables.

Matrix Renewables CFO, Nicolás Navas, commented in a release: “We are thrilled to partner with the EIB in this significant project that not only advances our mission of sustainable energy development but also contributes to Spain's and Europe's broader energy transition goals...The development of these new solar plants will provide clean energy to thousands of homes and businesses, reinforcing our dedication to creating a greener future.”

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The project is supported by InvestEU, the EU flagship programme to mobilise more than €372 billion ($407 billion) of additional investment from public and private sector funds to support EU policy goals in the period 2021-2027.

In 2023, the EIB Group allocated €4.5 billion ($4.9 billion) towards boosting energy security in Spain, financing projects in areas including renewable energy, energy efficiency, power grids and storage systems.

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In July 2023, the EIB Board of Directors raised the amount earmarked for REPowerEU projects to €45 billion. To boost financing for the EU manufacturing industry, the EIB will also expand the range of eligible sectors to include leading strategic technologies with net-zero carbon emissions, as well as extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials. The additional financing will be disbursed between now and 2027.

Matrix Renewables is a renewable energy platform created and backed by global alternative asset manager TPG and its $19 billion impact-investing platform TPG Rise. Matrix Renewables’ current portfolio is comprised of 14 GW of solar, storage and green hydrogen projects in Europe, the United States and Latin America.