The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Flemish wastewater purification company Aquafin have signed the uptake of a first tranche of €100 million euros as part of a new €200 million euro loan agreement.
The loan, which is the first part of the tenth financing agreement since the formation of Aquafin in 1990, will be used for further build-out and optimisation of the water purification infrastructure in Flanders.
Aquafin has to finance all the projects that it carries out and the company needs to constantly seek out financing - as a result this is one of the company’s core activities.
Jan Goossens, General Manager of Aquafin explained:
"The EIB has always been our most important investor and provides approximately half of our total funding needs in the long-term, from the time when a project is delivered."
"We are able to make up the other half through financing from institutional investors and other financial institutions. We bridge the period when the projects are being implemented using short-term financing."
Like many other investors, the EIB is paying more and more attention to the sustainability of the projects it supports.
Aquafin had to demonstrate that at least a quarter of the investment value of the projects for which is requesting financing will have a clear positive impact on climate change. The condition has been fully met by projects for separating rainwater from the waste water infrastructure and by optimisation projects that allow us to arm ourselves to deal with climate change. In contrast, Projects that only involve linking pollutant loads to water purification do not meet the requirement, even though they do contribute towards a better living environment.
Pim van Ballekom, Vice-President of the EIB who is responsible for Belgium, commented:
"Our collaboration with Aquafin goes back a very long way and represents a clear example of a situation where European loans can have a big impact at the local level, often without many people being aware of it. The EIB has set itself the goal of awarding at least 25% of its loans to climate-related projects, so we are pleased with the high standards that Aquafin is maintaining in that area too."
The EIB, which is part owned by the UK, has been a key source of investment for Uk water companies.
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